Labour Day
The first day of May in Singapore is Labor Day, a national holiday in honor of Singapore’s labor movement. There are about 70 trade unions and associations in Singapore affiliated with the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). While the government and NTUC provide in many ways for the individual workers, there is no codified minimum wage. The economy favors business enterprise.
In the Christian calendar Ascension Day fell this year on May Day. The challenge of Jesus in Acts 1 is a kind of call to be co-laborers in God’s mission in the world. God’s mission is to establish the Kingdom, and all of us have a role in that effort. In various ways our task is to bear witness to the good news of God's kingdom.
I like the economy of the kingdom. In Jesus' story of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20, everyone gets the same wage, regardless of whether they started at the beginning of the day or the end. The parable was probably not intended to advocate fair wages. But every time I hear or read this story, I can't help but identify with late afternoon workers who, by common sense, didn't deserve the full pay. But in ultimate matters, the late comer, or the poor worker, is just as worthy of just treatment as the early bird workers who, by merit, should have received the better pay. I'm not sure this parable could be legislated, but us something about the value of unskilled foreign workers from poor countries, about the value of hard-working heartlanders who keep the factories running, about the value of tired aunties clearing tables in the food courts, about the value of women and men who are the thankless workers that keep the economy going. They all count. They all deserve appreciation.
--georgos
I like the economy of the kingdom. In Jesus' story of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20, everyone gets the same wage, regardless of whether they started at the beginning of the day or the end. The parable was probably not intended to advocate fair wages. But every time I hear or read this story, I can't help but identify with late afternoon workers who, by common sense, didn't deserve the full pay. But in ultimate matters, the late comer, or the poor worker, is just as worthy of just treatment as the early bird workers who, by merit, should have received the better pay. I'm not sure this parable could be legislated, but us something about the value of unskilled foreign workers from poor countries, about the value of hard-working heartlanders who keep the factories running, about the value of tired aunties clearing tables in the food courts, about the value of women and men who are the thankless workers that keep the economy going. They all count. They all deserve appreciation.
--georgos
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