Soylent Green is a 1973 American science fiction classic about the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources, poverty, dying oceans, and a hot climate attributed to the greenhouse effect. Except for the dying ocean bit, we are all too familiar with the haze, congestion, infrastructure shortfalls, income gap, and the hot & humid climate of Singapore Inc.
Most of the population in the movie survives on rations produced by the Soylent Corporation, whose newest product is Soylent Green, a green wafer marketed as containing "high-energy plankton". But even the oceans soon ran short of the nutritious plankton from which Soylent Green is supposedly made, and - spoiler alert! - the only conceivable supply of protein that matches the known production rate must be sourced from human remains.
Okay, we are not at that stage yet. But senior citizens are now asked to rejoin the work force, albeit at lower wages. Forget about your education levels, your extensive work experience, you are older, you should get less. Just as young men are roped in as cannon fodder for 2 years of national service, the seniors are to be deployed as grist to the mill of the economic machine.
"At age 65, we are not as strong as before... Rather than expect 'same job, same pay', why not consider suitable jobs, reasonable pay," is a cogent argument. Apparently 800 civil servants are now working beyond age 65, but we are not told what they are doing or how much they are paid. Surely they can't all be members of parliament drawing full allowance without having to show up at meet-the-people-sessions?
At least3 2 ministers in the cabinet will hit 65 in the year 2017 (Lee Hsien Loong, Khaw Boon Wan, Vivian Balakrishnan were born in 1952) and 3 in 2019 (Teo Chee Hean, Lim Hng Kiang, Lim Swee Say). Will they still be expecting 'same job, same pay'? Can't wait to see how the wayang turns out.
Most of the population in the movie survives on rations produced by the Soylent Corporation, whose newest product is Soylent Green, a green wafer marketed as containing "high-energy plankton". But even the oceans soon ran short of the nutritious plankton from which Soylent Green is supposedly made, and - spoiler alert! - the only conceivable supply of protein that matches the known production rate must be sourced from human remains.
Okay, we are not at that stage yet. But senior citizens are now asked to rejoin the work force, albeit at lower wages. Forget about your education levels, your extensive work experience, you are older, you should get less. Just as young men are roped in as cannon fodder for 2 years of national service, the seniors are to be deployed as grist to the mill of the economic machine.
"At age 65, we are not as strong as before... Rather than expect 'same job, same pay', why not consider suitable jobs, reasonable pay," is a cogent argument. Apparently 800 civil servants are now working beyond age 65, but we are not told what they are doing or how much they are paid. Surely they can't all be members of parliament drawing full allowance without having to show up at meet-the-people-sessions?
At least