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Singapore Income Inequality

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Income Inequality in Singapore
In the recent years, the issue of income inequality has been extensively discussed. It has been highlighted that the world’s richest 85 people across the globe shares a combined wealth as much as the poorest 3.5 billion of the world’s population. (Wearden, 2014) Widening income gap has resulted in dissatisfaction and rising social tension across various communities. In 2011, Americans started the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest to stand up against income inequality in the States. In 2014, the ‘Umbrella Revolution’ has unfolded as a result of demand for democracy and widening economic gap. Such protests are not uncommon, even in Singapore.
In May 2013, thousands of Singaporeans gathered at the Speaker’s corner to …show more content…

This is because the poorer households often feel and associate the rich and foreigners as the cause of their state. Such dissatisfaction has been evident all over the internet, social media, at speeches held at the Speaker’s Corner and even in daily conversations. The author feels that income inequality is bad for Singapore as it has undoubtedly caused unhappiness and increasing social discrimination within the society.
There is a need to reduce income inequality before the social tension grows out of hand. The government has many policies in place to help the lower income families and reduce the income gap. Examples include the permanent GST Vouchers scheme, ComCare assistance care scheme, Public Assistance Scheme etc. The author has checked on the respective eligibility criteria and sign up procedures. However, it has been noticed that for most policies, the sign up processes are extremely long and cumbersome. Many documents and steps are required to prove that the applicant is truly needy before assistance is …show more content…

A good example would be the ‘Singaporeans Against Poverty’ campaign launched by voluntary organisations in 2013. Singaporeans were asked to live on $5 for a day to put themselves in the shoes of the lower income families and understand their difficultly. As Singapore does not have an official poverty line and there are little official statistics regarding poverty in Singapore, many Singaporeans are actually unaware that there are many poorer households that need help. By raising awareness, more people would be willing and able to lend a helping hand to the lower income

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