Workers in China

1. Is the era of cheap Chinese labour almost over?
A string of suicides at the Foxconn plant in southern China that makes iPads and iPhones for Apple
has focused attention on wages and conditions there.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10294850.stm

2. In China, Unlikely Labor Leader Just Wanted a Middle-Class Life
Tan Guocheng is hardly a self-styled labor leader.
Age 23 and introverted, he grew up among rice paddies and orange groves far from China’s big factory towns.
But last month, an hour into his shift at a Honda factory in the southern city of Foshan,
Mr. Tan pressed an emergency button that shut down his production line.
“Let’s go out on strike!” he shouted.
Within minutes, hundreds of workers were abandoning their posts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/business/global/14honda.html


3. What Do China’s Workers Want?
What do these protests say about China’s new generation of workers?
How should multinationals respond, given their huge investment in China’s labor market?
Five experts share their views.
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/what-do-chinas-workers-want/

My views
The low wages in China is not the only problem. This is made worse by the high cost of living and the high property prices. These issues have to be addressed, so that there is a proper balance between wages, cost of living and cost of a home. These challenges apply to Singapore as well.