Opinion | Coronavirus pandemic has exposed inequality in Singapore and Hong Kong. To tackle it, start with wages
- While Covid-19 pandemic has made clear the importance of essential workers, showing appreciation should translate into better pay and working conditions
Growing up in Singapore and perhaps other Asian societies, you would have heard your elders warn, “If you don’t study hard, you’ll grow up to be a road sweeper/garbage collector/labourer.”
In these societies, blue-collar jobs have traditionally been seen as undesirable and even a sign of failure in life. While we may be embarrassed to voice such thoughts aloud today, the bias against blue-collar jobs persists.
Thanks to these essential workers – whose modest earnings are grossly incommensurate with their contributions to society – the rest of us can carry on with our everyday life with little deprivation in these challenging times.
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Disabled food delivery rider on front line of Malaysia’s fight against Covid-19 pandemic
But how have essential workers fared in this pandemic?