I refer to the article “Close to 90% of fresh graduates employed in 2013: Joint university survey” (Straits Times, Feb 28).

Graduates’ starting pay comparable to last year?

It states that “The average gross monthly salary among fresh graduates in full-time jobs was $3,229, while the median gross monthly salary was $3,050. These figures are comparable to what fresh graduates received in 2012.”

Real pay decreased 3.4%?

Since the median gross monthly salary in last year’s survey was also $3,050 – what it means is that in real terms after adjusting for inflation – the salary has declined.

In fact, the average gross monthly salary has dropped from last year’s $3,260 to this year’s $3,229. As inflation was 2.4% in 2013 – in real terms – the average salary decreased by about 3.4%.

2nd consecutive year of decline?

Comparing to the previous year (2011) – the median gross monthly salary of $3,050 in 2012 to 2011’s $3,000 – after adjusting for inflation of about 4.6 per cent in 2012, the real salary increase was about minus 2.9 per cent in 2012.

So, we have a second consecutive year of negative real salary increase.

7 years of negative real growth in salary? 

Well, you may be thinking if its negative for 2 consecutive years – what about the previous years?

Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be able to find the median salary in 2006.

Mean pay was $2,700 in 2006?

In this connection, according to Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) ClassAct Issue 51, June 2007, “NTU graduates from the Class of 2006″ had “a mean gross monthly salary of $2,700″.

In this regard, according to www.salary.sg, “Channelnewsasia.com (said) this is higher than both NUS and SMU“.

Nominal salary grew 1.8% p.a.?

Does this means that starting salaries for NTU (assuming the $3,050 median salary for all 3 universities now in 2013) grew by about 1.8 per cent per annum, from 2006 to 2013?

Real salary minus 1.7 p.a.%?

Since inflation was about 3,5 per cent per annum for the same 7-year period from 2006 (CPI 91.3) to 2013 (CPI 115.8), does it mean that the real increase in salaries per annum was about minus 1.7 per cent?

Median worse than mean?

Since my above calculations are based on the mean salaries because I cannot find the data on the median salaries in 2006, is the real growth in the median salaries even worse than that for mean salaries computed above?

Now have median and mean salaries, but only mean in the past?

Why is it that media reports now report both the median and mean salaries, but only the mean salaries in the past?

Was it because the Graduate Employment Survey reports only reported the mean in some of the previous years?

Foreign workers?

To what extent has the liberal issuance of Employment passes which have a minimum salary of  $3,200 (previously $2,800) and the S-Pass which has a minimum salary of  $2,200 (previously $1,800), contributed to the drop in real salary growth of both university and poly graduates?

Graduate Employment Survey should report real salaries?

I would like to suggest that the annual Graduate Employment Survey report the starting salaries of graduates in real terms too, instead of just the nominal increase (or decrease in the average gross salary like this year’s).

After reading today’s media report – you probably wouldn’t have realised that salaries have dropped again.

Press Freedom ranking?

By the way, why do you think our Press Freedom ranking has dropped another notch to 150th in the world?

Leong Sze Hian