The Sad Truth about Tan Jee Say

The Sad Truth is that Tan Jee Say is a liar

In a 24 March 2013 article published on The Real Singapore, Tan Jee Say related an incident where a middle-aged woman approached him while he was campaigning two years ago. According to Jee Say, the Singaporean waitress in a restaurant told him that "five years ago, she earned S$1,500 a month as a waitress. How come she now only earns S$800?”  Tan Jee Say then goes on to blame the problem on government’s decision to rely on foreign migrant workers.
 

The sad truth is that self-proclaimed “senior civil servant in the Ministry of Trade and Industry”, “former principal private secretary to the Prime Minister” and recipient of a “Singapore government scholarship”, failed to tell the whole truth.

 

While it may be true that a PRC waitress (we cannot confirm this as he has failed to provide any verifiable information) is paid less than a Singaporean worker, the truth is that there are foreign worker levies. Hence, while the PRC waitress may be paid less, the cost to the employer is as much as (if not more than) that of a Singaporean employee. On top of that, the government has also imposed quota restrictions that forces employers to hire Singaporeans so that they can hire foreigners.

 

I find it difficult to accept that Mr Tan Jee Say does not know all this. As such, I can therefore only conclude that Tan Jee Say made the statement in a deliberate effort to mislead the public. In fact, if you check the JobStreet website, waitresses are being paid between $1,650 and $2,000 per month.

 

Do you want someone who misleads the public for his personal gains in Parliament? The answer is a definite "no!"