I applaud the Government's stand of "zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind" (Fairness in hiring, skills transfer help ensure locals benefit, Aug 30).

In January, the penalties were raised for all forms of workplace discrimination, including age, race, nationality and mental health condition.

While the changes have done much to curb workplace discrimination, I also believe that the practice of discrimination now takes a more subtle form.

For instance, I recently came across a job advertisement for a quality assurance inspector. The potential employer was looking for a computer-literate Singaporean and the monthly salary on offer was $1,300 in basic pay for a five-day work week.

A salary of $1,300 is not sufficient even for someone who is single with no family commitments, what more older married candidates who have family dependants. It is essentially a discriminatory act.

The company offers a salary that practically rules out older candidates, even though no experience or age preference was specified.

Whether a young or older candidate, the $1,300 salary is too low to be reasonably sufficient to cope with Singapore's cost of living.

Foo Sing Kheng

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/forum-workplace-discrimination-takes-subtle-forms