Chitchat Why Jamus Lim join Workers' Party ?

[jw5]

WP and Jamus support Team Singapore.

The Workers' Party
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3 hrs ·
A huge shout out from The Workers' Party to all of our Team Singapore athletes who are keeping our flag flying proudly at the Tokyo Olympics! All the very best!

 

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Jamus has some ideas for improving funding for education.

Jamus Lim​

5 mins ·
When I was in school (some, like Mom, would argue that I never left), I was lucky enough to have secured various bursaries, scholarships, and grants that saw me through part of my undergraduate studies and most of my graduate work. But not everyone may chance on these opportunities (I certainly wouldn’t have, based on my “A” level results alone).
Still, I believe that we should always feed a hunger to learn, and that money shouldn’t be an insurmountable barrier. This sense of spending whatever it takes for education was fostered in me as a young child. Money was often tight as I was growing up, but Mom would never deny me any book I wanted to buy (even if it meant postponing the purchase till payday).
I’m far from unusual, of course. Many Asian parents would do all that they can to ensure that their children secure the best education they can afford. For some, this means dipping into their CPF savings, which they do with nary a regret. But this inevitably draws down on their retirement savings, which should be accumulating interest to support their retirement (Mom would just say that I *am* the investment, so I had better pay it back during her later years!) The challenges of education financing is especially acute for the middle class. Those on the lower end of the income distribution are often able to secure grants and bursaries; those at the top end have parents that can afford to help.
Since the main beneficiaries of an outstanding education is the student themselves, I believe that the individual should actually be the one to bear the primary burden of financing their own education. This isn’t always straightforward, however. Many banks here limit the amounts they will offer for student loans; usually, the total extended would only my cover, at best, a years’ tuition and expenses at a foreign university.
This is complicated by the fact that loans to students can be risky. It is often unclear whether the person would be able to secure a well-paying job after graduation, and have the wherewithal to repay what was borrowed. But this is the sort of risk that can be taken on by governments, who are in a position—and have the incentive—to help their people realize their long-run potential. Society as a whole will be better off when we bet on our people. The key is to design a system whereby students who graduate with good jobs repay (with interest), with the profits thus earned going toward writing off the partial or full debt of those who have been less successful.
This is the objective of income-contingent repayment student loans. Students make repayments, subject to their eventual earnings. If they do well, they will happily pay off their debts. If they go through a tough patch, they get relief in the meantime.
Such schemes exist elsewhere. Australia, Hungary, New Zealand, the Netherlands, South Korea, the UK, and the U.S. all have variations. In Singapore, we have a small, narrow Work-Study degree program, but it requires employer matches in advance. Similarly, SkillsFuture is designed for retraining, not general education, while existing subsidized tertiary education doesn’t cover the full bill (especially if you’re not lower-income), and is constrained to just local institutions.
In my recent speech on the budget in Parliament, I proposed using SINGA infrastructure bonds to seed an initial fund that can be used to finance income-contingent student loans. Once the scheme is up and running, it can be made self-sustaining. My hope is that we can complement the existing suite of education financing modes with another option, which caters to an underserved segment, who will nevertheless benefit from burden-free education. #makingyourvotecount

 

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Jamus comments on the filing of Parliamentary Questions.

Jamus Lim​

8 hrs ·
One of the somewhat arcane procedures in Parliament is the process surrounding filing Parliamentary Questions (or PQs). PQs—which typically occupy the first hour and a half every time Parliament convenes—are one of the main ways that Opposition MPs (as well as ruling party backbenchers) pose queries to the Government. Every MP can file up to 5 PQs for each sitting.
According to the standing orders, PQs must be filed 7 working days prior to a sitting (which is why some questions seem irrelevant by the time they are formally answered, as they may have been overtaken by events; or if the Government chooses to disclose the information prior to the sitting). They may be oral or written, but the former permits us to pose supplementary questions when they are answered live (but we only have a maximum number of PQs we can request an oral answer for). And because there is almost always more PQs than time to answer them, usually only the first twenty or so end up being tackled (the rest get relegated to written answers).
Moreover, if a PQ was adequately answered in Ministerial statements, members are often asked to withdraw their original PQs. This turned out to be the case for a number of PQs I filed regarding the KTV COVID cluster. While doing so means that they will not formally appear as part of the record, I believe it is nevertheless important to know that the #workersparty continues to work to hold Government accountable, and so in the interest of sharing how we do so, here are the PQs that were withdrawn but nevertheless answered as a result of our probing. #makingyourvotecount
Postscript: There is significant latitude in precisely how the Government responds to a given PQ, which means that some PQs are never adequately or fully answered. Procedure dictates that we can no longer pose the same question (as frustrating as that may be). But if the question was worth asking, we will typically await a future opportunity where the spirit of the question may again be advanced, albeit via a differently-worded and contextualizad question.

 

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Jamus also has questions for OYK.

 

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Jamus speaks up for the construction sector.

Jamus Lim​

1 hr ·
Construction has been one of the harder-hit sectors during this pandemic. In the second quarter of this year, it actually shrank by 11 percent, even as other challenged sectors (like food and hospitality) fared a little less worse off. The reason is evident: construction projects have been delayed due to COVID-imposed shutdowns, with funds diverted toward other sources of support for the economy (such as payouts for job support).
To be clear, support for struggling workers and businesses is both necessary to sustain aggregate demand, as well as a mark of solidarity to ensure that nobody in our society will be left behind. The #workersparty supports initiatives that help our people through this crisis. But the diverted funds—$0.6 billion from the original budget—has meant that construction has seen a contraction in demand. Granted, these were otherwise unused (since projects were postponed). But instead of simply shifting funds, could we instead accelerate spending, to make up for lost ground? It would also offer a nice boost to demand for the sector, and help get it back on its feet.
These funds would come from a logical place: borrowing via SINGA, which is already designated for infrastructure. It also locks in low interest rates, which had already begun to rise in past months (although they fell again recently).
Admittedly, the demand collapse in construction has been compounded by rising costs on the supply side. Construction materials, like commodities more generally, have become ever more dear (steel prices are up 200%). Immigration restrictions have also put upward pressure on construction worker wages. This isn’t necessarily bad—paying better could even entice more locals back into the sector—but the transition will be disruptive. Efforts to accelerating our slate of construction projects could well run into such constraints, which would limit our ability to fully ramp up to previous levels. But it strikes me as something worth trying. Ultimately, these delays have also meant difficulties faced by us, the end consumer. BTO flats have been significantly delayed, complicating living arrangements for many newlyweds and young families.
In my recent speech in response to the latest budget, I made the arguments above. In response, Minister Wong explained that it would not be possible to accelerate spending, because of manpower shortages. I still disagree. I believe manpower shortages are partly due to our policy choices, and the risk of imported cases can be minimized with pre-arrival testing and tightly-managed dedicated quarantine facilities. #makingyourvotecount

 

[jw5]

Jamus encourages Team Singapore.

Jamus Lim​

9 hrs ·
Like many Singaporeans, I felt a twinge of disappointment when Mengyu and Joseph—two of our medal prospects—bowed out of their Games. As a former sportsman (although, admittedly, never a very distinguished one), I understand how it feels like to do your best, but still come up short. No athlete ever goes into a game or competition without a fierce desire to win. But so many things can vary on a given day: a physical hiccup, one’s mental state, an opponent who is on a roll. It just doesn’t always go the way one imagines. And ultimately, the one whom you disappoint the most is yourself.
Some of our younger athletes will see their loss as a formative experience, and come back stronger, and more determined, to do better. Others have less runway, and are competing in their last Olympics. The time for review and reevaluation of what went wrong will come. But for now, let’s keep egging on those who are still in competition. Regardless of the eventual outcome, all our Olympians will all have memories to last their lifetimes, and we have been privileged to have been able to bask in their success. In my view, that’s the true spirit and purpose of sport: the ability to bring our nation, diverse as we are, together. #TeamSingapore

 

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WP encourages seniors to get vaccinated.

The Workers' Party
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6 hrs ·
The Workers' Party is sharing a special message from Secretary-General Pritam Singh and Mr Low Thia Khiang to our seniors, in Mandarin and Teochew, on the importance of vaccination. Please share this with your loved ones.
工人党两位前后任秘书长刘程强与毕丹星特别以潮语和华语同我们的年长者分享接种疫苗的重要性。请转发给您身边的长辈，一起为他们献上一份关怀。

 

[jw5]

Jamus speaks on the Child Development Co-Savings Bill.

The Workers' Party
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3 hrs ·
In his speech on amendments to the Child Development Co-Savings Bill, Jamus Lim spoke of his family’s experience with stillbirth and adoption, and why society should absolutely offer support to parents facing such circumstances. He also asked about why child development accounts do not enjoy legislative protections in the way CPF does. (2 August 2021)
Video Credit: Mediacorp

 

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Jamus discusses gender equality in the labour force.

Jamus Lim​

1 hr ·
After the Second World War, there was a burst of marriages and childbirth as people worldwide celebrated the newfound peace, giving rise to what is often referred to as the Baby Boomer generation (that’s who the pejorative “OK Boomer” refers to). This generation came of age alongside the global women’s liberation movement. Young women joined the workforce in droves from the 1960s onward, driving up the female labor force participation rate, and entrenching women as a permanent feature in the workplace. Some contemporary observers fretted about this development. Their concern was that these workers would “take jobs away” from the (incumbent) men, giving rise to mass unemployment. Some called for restrictions on women’s participation in the labor force.
As we all now know, this fear turned out to be unfounded. Even with a doubling of the share of women taking up jobs, unemployment rates typically fell. The reason is actually blatantly obvious, once one wraps one’s head around why: women generate demand, too. Women that work spend their hard-earned salaries on a wide range of goods and services. To the extent that some of these are distinct from those that men desire, new industries are born. Women also contribute to growth on the supply side, too, with new ideas and capacities. The exit of women from unpaid housework also lays bare the economic value that women contribute, unpaid, on the home front. Indeed, the noninclusion of household production is one of the shortcomings of GDP measurement, taught to 1st year undergrads. So the takeaway is that there is little to worry (and much to celebrate) about the wider participation of women in the economy. There is no single “lump of labor.” Gender equality is therefore not just a moral or social issue: it is a force for economic progress.
While Singapore has made remarkable progress in recent years, it still has a way to go. The participation rate of men in the labor force (around 79 percent) still exceeds that of women (about 62 percent). The most lucrative sectors—tech, finance, data science—are still dominated by bros, which contributes to a 16 percent wage gap (lest one thinks this be small, the difference for a median wage earner, over a 40-year career, comes up to the price of an HDB flat). This is even the case if we account for differences in career choices and work experience (the gap shrinks to a nontrivial 6 percent). The pandemic may have also set back progress, as low-wage women were more likely to exit the labor force.
The #workersparty hopes that we can address the remaining shortcomings in participation and wage differentials. Policies include better childcare availability, postpartum reentry programs, more flexible work arrangements, and routine publication of gender wage gaps. I dream of a future world where the fact that my daughter does not has a Y chromosome will not be an impediment to her achieving her dreams. To usher in that world, the steps that must taken have to occur today. #makingyourvotecount
Postscript: With some caveats, the lump of labor fallacy also applies, by and large, to immigration. This is why arguments about managing the rate of migrant inflows are best understood in terms of wage distribution and sociocultural disruption, rather than jobs per se.

 

[jw5]

Jamus Lim​

9 mins ·

The Workers' Party
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55 mins ·
In his speech on the gender equality motion, Jamus Lim shared about the importance of gender equality for economic performance, and the current state of womenomics in Singapore. He pointed to continued gaps in wages and labor force participation between the two genders, and suggested a number of policy actions to ameliorate them. (3 August 2021)
Video Credit: Mediacorp

 

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from Jamus Lim facebook:

 

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from theindependent.sg:

Jamus Lim tells story of stillborn brother, says SG should do all to help families with of stillbirth, adoption issues​

Dr Lim underlined the importance of the amendments to the Bill, since there is no difference in what a mother suffers in a healthy birth and a stillbirth.

Singapore — Member of Parliament Jamus Lim (WP Sengkang GRC) made an appeal on behalf of families who experience stillbirths and adoption.

He shared stories from his own family’s experiences with both, having had a stillborn brother, and with his own mother being adopted.

Dr Lim said he was speaking of “the dejected, the downtrodden, and the disaffected. Parents of stillborn children, parents who have adopted children, and working women in a precarious position due to pregnancy.”

“As a society, we should absolutely help them in every way we can,” he said in the context of his speech on amendments to the Child Development Co-Savings Bill, which he “more than welcomed”.​

He said that in 1989 his mother became unexpectedly pregnant. This was when he was 13, and his younger sister was 6.

As they were a family of “modest means,” his mother continued to work. And, as an older mother, she endured a difficult pregnancy.

“In final months I recall how she had to sleep upright on many nights due to the discomfort.”

But the family looked forward to the new baby who would come exactly seven years after his younger sister, and 14 years after him. They saw it “as a sign that my brother’s conception was a gift from God.”

“Seven being the perfect number. But his birth was not to be,” said the Sengkang MP.

He went on to say that his father woke him early on the morning of May 6.

“HE HAD TEARS IN HIS EYES, ONE OF ONLY THREE TIMES IN MY LIFE THAT I HAD SEEN HIM CRY.
‘WE LOST JARON,’ HE SAID.
MY BROTHER HAD BEEN STILLBORN. THE SIGN OF THE SEVEN HAD NOT BEEN PERFECT AFTER ALL.”

Dr Lim said that it took a long while for his mother to recover, and underlined the importance of the amendments to the Bill, since there is no difference in what a mother suffers in a healthy birth and a stillbirth.

They might, in fact, need a longer maternity leave because of the trauma they experienced, he added, citing studies to support his point.

The MP also said that his mother, one of ten children, had been adopted. Since her father had died early, it would have been impossible for Dr Lim’s grandmother to raise all of her children on her own.


He said that adoption may become more and more prevalent in Singapore, given the rising age of women when they get married, as well as the falling fertility rate in the country.

This is another reason why he is supporting the amendment, although he raised some questions about some of its wording.

The video of Dr Lim’s speech may be viewed here.

Minister of State for Education, Social and Family Development Sun Xueling discussed the amendments to the CDCA with the Members of Parliament on Monday (Aug 2), which has two new schemes: the Government-Paid Paternity Benefit (GPPB) and the Government-Paid Adoption Benefit (GPAB).

 

[jw5]

Jamus is going to the USA to spend some time with his wife's family.

Jamus Lim​

21 hrs ·
One of the most major lifestyle changes that I have faced as academic transitioning to public service has been the change in our summer schedules. Academic summers are typically occupied with conference travel and research, which can often be done (and is often done) out of the office. The demands of political service, in contrast, have generally required that I remain within reach, and I haven’t really had much time off since the election (other than a handful of stolen staycation days).
Be that as it may, family reasons now dictate that I must spend some time in the U.S. together with my wife’s family. Hence, I will be departing tonight. While COVID-19 restrictions remain in place, I will be attending to my meet-the-people sessions virtually, as I have been doing over the past few weeks. Should restrictions relax thereafter, #TeamSengkang and #workersparty MPs have generously offered to help with cover, including house visits and estate walks (our retired ex-chief Mr Low has already hit the ground running, as can be seen by his walkabout this morning). I am deeply grateful for their support.
If there are no changes to current quarantine policy, I expect to be back on the ground on Sep 10. And I remain, as always, at the service of the people of #SengkangGRC, and will always be contactable by electronic means.