In the week-long debate on the President’s Address (22–26 Sept 2025), NTUC’s Melvin Yong and Dr Wan Rizal stated that Singapore’s next leap for lower-wage workers hinges on a stronger Progressive Wage Model (PWM), productivity gains that translate into pay, and care for workers’ mental health.
Here’s what they said, summarised and simplified for you.
What NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong Said
On 22 September, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong opened with a clear scorecard of the Progressive Wage Model (PWM): over the last five years, real wages at the 20th percentile rose 5.9%, outpacing 3.6% at the median, evidence that policy is reaching the base of the wage ladder, not just the middle.
He added that more than 155,000 workers across nine sectors and occupations now benefit from the PWM.
The transformation is most visible in security work. An entry-level officer who earned about $1,100 in 2016 now has a basic wage of at least $2,870 from 1 Jan 2025, with a trajectory to about $3,530 by 2028 under the PWM schedule, paired with redesigned roles that increasingly involve digital systems and crowd-management skills.
But Yong’s message was not “mission accomplished.”
He called for a refreshed Tripartite Workgroup on Lower-Wage Workers to lock in gains and push the next chapter. Because progress, he cautioned, came from tripartite trust and the 18 recommendations fully implemented by July 2023, not luck.
He also called for reviews to the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS), which was raised to $1,600 in July 2024, so the floor for keeps pace with the median.
Crucially, he located the engine for sustainable wage growth in productivity. One ground example: 800 Super Waste Management, working with BATU via a Company Training Committee, deployed AI-enabled recycling bins that raised productivity, reduced contamination and enabled a 5% pay rise for 100 workers: the kind of concrete redesign that moves workers up the value chain.
Yes, an AI-enabled recycling bin.
NTUC’s ecosystem, Yong added, must keep everyday essentials within reach as wages rise. He pointed to FairPrice Group’s role in cushioning household costs, complementing wage ladders with affordability measures.
New Labour MP Dr Wan Rizal Asked for More Funding
Dr Wan Rizal, newly speaking as NTUC’s e2i Director (Stakeholder Management), pressed for funding that follows outcomes.
He highlighted that the Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS), which disbursed more than S$2.7 billion in 2022–2023, benefited over 520,000 employees. He urged the Government to sustain enhancements so firms can keep lifting pay without pulling back on hiring.
He also stated that well-being is part of productivity. He called out the toll of fatigue and burnout, and urged employers to train managers in mental-health literacy and adopt inclusive return-to-work practices, pointing to resources from TAFEP and the Workplace Safety and Health Council that companies can adopt today.
He also underlined community pathways. Through M³ Focus Area 4 (Employment & Employability), NTUC partners MENDAKI and other agencies to help Malay-Muslim workers with career guidance, job matching and upskilling: practical conduits that make the PWM’s promises real in households.
And for youth who are just stepping on the escalator, *e2i’s Youth Skills & Career Fair @ SCAPE runs 6–7 October 2025, 11am–7pm at 2 Orchard Link, alongside a same-day resilience workshop for 18–35 year-olds.
But behind the policy acronyms sits a broader arc.
As Yong noted, inequality has narrowed over the decade: Singapore’s Gini coefficient in 2024 stood at 0.435 before and 0.364 after taxes and transfers, the lowest after-transfer figure since 2000.
