By Benson Ang

SINGAPORE - This retail assistant is delighted.

She can expect to get a pay rise of $140 from next month.

Madam Boon Lye Chan, 54, who works at the FairPrice Finest supermarket in Thomson Plaza, is among the 4,000 FairPrice staff who will see a pay rise soon.

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Last month, the Government accepted a proposal to raise the pay of low-wage workers.

It was recommended that workers earning a basic monthly salary of up to $1,000 get at least a $50 built-in wage increase.

On May 24, FairPrice announced that its non-executive staff drawing a basic salary of up to $1,000 will get a pay rise of about $140.

Madam Boon's basic monthly salary just falls in that range.

She told The New Paper that she will use the extra money for her children's education.

The mother of three is saving up so her 24-year-old daughter can pursue a communications course at the Singapore Institute of Management later this year.

Her son, 22, will study aerospace engineering at the Nanyang Technological University later in the year.

She said: "As parents, we want our children to study as much as they can and have better lives.

"The money will definitely come in handy."

She has another daughter, who is 21 and works in the food and beverage industry.

Her husband, 60, is a driver and the family lives in a four-room flat in Ang Mo Kio.

They have no car and most of their income goes to food, utilities and transport.