We refer to the article “NTUC wanted more workers to get minimum pay hike” (Straits Times, Jun 2).

Fewer workers earning less than $1,000?

It states that “Still, despite the hiccup this year, he said that the NTUC is happy that the wages council’s efforts to raise low-wage workers’ pay have borne fruit, saying that fewer workers earn below $1,000 now.

150,000 or 114,100 earning less than $1,000 in 2012?

The Manpower Ministry told The Straits Times yesterday that there were 117,500 local full-time workers earning $1,000 and below last year, down from 150,000 in 2012.”

– The above statistics are puzzling, because the total number working full-time and earning less than $1,000 was 114,100 in 2012, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Labour Force in Singapore 2012 (Table 25, page 126).

Earning less than $1,000 increased 3%?

Now that we know from the subject news report that the number of full-time workers earning less than $1,000 was 117,500 last year – does it mean that it actually increased by about 3% from 114,100 in 2012?

Those earning less than $1,000 keep increasing?

There was an increase of about 3.4 per cent for 2012, from 2011′s 110,400 (in spite of NWC recommendations and not even accounting for inflation).

238,000 (full-time and part-time) earning less than $1,000?

The number of locals (full-time and part-time) earning less than $500 and between $500 and $1,000 was 51,300 and 186,700, respectively in 2012.

This means that a total of 238,000 locals (full-time and part-time) earned less than $1,000. Now, this is gross income which includes the employees’ CPF contribution of up to about 20 per cent. So, the net take-home pay may be even lower.

So, arguably, if the NWC recommendations had been effective in the past, and the labour movement was doing its job – the number of workers earning less than $1,000 should be declining.

Those earning below $1,000 increased in 2012 and 2013?

Unfortunately (for low-wage Singaporeans), the number earning less than $1,000 in 2012, actually increased by about 1 per cent from 2011′s 236,300.

If you factor in inflation for 2012, which was about 4.6 per cent (not to mention the NWC’s recommendation that year to increase by $50) – the situation is pathetic.

“Wayang” “broken tape recorder”?

Don’t you get sick and tired of listening to all this talk and wayang all these years, about trying so hard to raise the wages of the lower-income, like a “broken tape recorder” – but the number earning less than $1,000 keeps increasing!

SY Lee and Leong Sze Hian