Age Discrimination - It's OK as Long as We Make More Money?

A couple of articles in The Straits Times struck me today. The first, on page 3, was titled "They're young, they're foreign and they're helping to save your job". According to the article, a drinks seller had complained to Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Mr Lim Boon Heng, about feeling threatened by a "sweet, young lady from China who sells beer at the same joint." In recounting the anecdote at the Singapore Tripartism Forum yesterday, Mr Lim was quoted as having said, "Obviously, if Tiger or Carlsberg asks this mature lady to sell beer, it will not have the same result."

Then, on page H8 of the same newspaper, there was an article entitled, "Young image of SIA cabin crew: A wrong signal?" In the article, SIA Chairman, Mr Stephen Lee called the flight attendants a "special group" and said, "This has to do with SIA's past consistent effort in branding the airline in a certain way and we think it's a competitive edge."

Even if it's true that youth sells, and I'm not saying that it is, is it right to discriminate against middle-aged to older folks just to make more money? Hmm... food for thought.