Daily life of the newly retrenched
     By Lee Kun Siang



"It's depressing," says Mr Lim Ming Le, 50. Mr Lim, a bachelor, was out of a job as a result of the economic crisis that has everyone worried.

He is currently living off his savings, and his future looks grim, as his savings are depleting extremely fast.

Mr Lim was once a professional working in the retail industry. "I once made three, four thousand dollars as a salesman, plus commission", Mr Lim laments. "Overnight, my company closed down and suddenly, I was without a job."

"Now, I have to lead a frugal lifestyle."

He is not alone. Ms Toh Mei Lin lost her job as a clerk, and is now is also living on savings and aid from family. Many more have gone out of a job. Everywhere, even in one's homely coffeeshop, one can see people frantically searching the recruitment sections of newspapers, desperately huntingffor a job.

Everywhere in Singapore, Singaporeans are feeling the pinch of the economic crisis, and pinching pennies accordingly.

According to NTUC Fairprice, a leading chain of supermarkets, their budget house brand products are now more in demand than ever.

"Singaporeans are now more conscious of their expenditure, and often purchase products with better value for money." says a spokeman for NTUC. "Consumers are spending less and less. Supermarkets around Singapore are all feeling the crunch, with profits seeing a dropping trend."

"We do find that unemployment does affect our business," he admits when asked about the impact of the increased rates of unemployment.

"Retrenched people can't be expected to spend much when they're already out of a job."

Indeed, the economic crisis has caused Singapore's unemployment rate to go on the rise. In April 2009, the unemployment rate has reached a whopping 4.8%, the highest unemployment rate ever since the SARS season in 2003. In the second quarter of the year, unemployment rate has reached an average of 3.7%, showing the severity of the economic recession.

"Growth in the global economy as well as in Singapore last year fell well below what was expected." said Minister of Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam. "We are now in the midst of a simultaneous recession in all major regions of the world. Prospects for 2009 remain highly uncertain."

However, Minister of Manpower, Mr Lee Boon Yang, remains positive about the current economic situation, and promises to reduce the unemployment rate as much as possible. He tells the press, "Despite the current economic recession, we must still adopt a positive attitude. The government is also doing as much as we can to reduce the unemployment rate by creating more jobs for Singaporeans. One example would be the job opportunities available in the Integrated Resorts. It is estimated that the two Integrated Resorts would create approximately 30,000 jobs for Singaporeans. There are also many job fares that offer as much as 10,000 jobs of all variety. However, Singaporeans ourselves also have to be more open when looking for jobs, in terms of the job scope and variety. Instead of being fickle-minded, we have to change our attitude such that we are willing to take up all kinds of jobs. Upgrading one's skills is also very important in helping one find jobs."

Indeed, more Singaporeans are being more open-minded when looking for jobs. Instead of simply looking for jobs that they are most familiar with, Singaporeans are looking to a wide variety of job opportunities. Mr Koh Ho Shin, who just found a job as a receptionist after being retrenched from his managerial occupation, is a testimony to this statement.

It is true that our economic prospects are very grim now, with unemployment rate expected to continue rising. However, if the government, citizens and external organisations can work together, the economic situation would definitely improve over time, and unemployment rate would also be reduced. While the government do all they can to create job opportunities for Singaporeans, as well as reduce the retrenchment rate in companies, Singaporeans themselves have to do their utmost by grabbing all the job oppotunities they receive, and also by upgrading their skills. With this, unemployment would not be a major problem to the Singaporeans.   
posted by blackfire123 at 9:19 PM