The years ahead

The front page of Mypaper, the Chinese version, splashed a headling about the exciting future. It talked about the Singapore Flyer, F1, Orchard Central and even KPE as the great things that Singaporeans can look forward to. I wonder how many Singaporeans could afford these great stuff. Oh, it forgot about the IRs coming on stream. What I think Singaporeans can look forward to is high salaries. Starting from the cleaners in the hawker stalls, they can easily look at $3000 pm in 2015. And the taxi drivers can look at $10000 pm. Officer workers, the clerical staff and assistance should be happy with $5000. Managerial grade should be about $50000 pm. Don't worry about the ministers and top civil servants, $1m a month should not be a problem. Cost of living would be up a little. A plate of chicken rice may be $15. A taxi ride may be $100. MRT or buses may start at $5 minimum. Just a few years back the worry was driving up business costs. Salaries and rentals were kept down, including all kinds of commissions and fees. That looked like a wrong concept. Now we should be aiming for the sky. All costs can go up. No problem. We are the best and we need to be paid the best, including our cleaners and sweepers and taxi drivers. It is an exciting future to look forward to.