publichouse.sg

6 comments

• Comment Link Friday, 25 November 2011 15:22 posted by WmuleW

  Just because manufacturing has large numbers of foreigners = must eliminate is a very naive an simplistic view of the situation. Some points
  
  1)Even if the % is not 50+ to 40+ percent but vice versa, it still constutite to a substantial amt of jobs available to workers.
  2)The indirect jobs created to support such industries, the finance services, supply chain, etc.
  3)The bulk of the manufacturing jobs cater to the lower educated. What will happen to this group if the industry is move out, does she want to make the situation for the poor even worse?
  
  Don't be so blinded by your hatred for FTs as to condemn everything related to them. Closing down 1 factory doesn't just mean that 1 factory worth of workers will lose their jobs. It also means that whatever other businesses that were supporting them will be cutting back their staff due to loss of business. The effects can be very significant. Just look at the US and how they are trying to use all ways and means to force manufacturing out of China to move back to the US.
• Comment Link Thursday, 24 November 2011 18:54 posted by sgporc

  question is informative to a certain extent but also wasted in a way... why ask for derived values (ie. percentages) when absolute numbers will be even more informative (percentages can be easily calculated). then we can see whether there is actually any local job growth to substantiate the government stand that foreigners help grow the local economy...
• Comment Link Thursday, 24 November 2011 16:01 posted by jay

  do note, many singapore companies put retired family members name into working staff so that they can employ foreigners. MOM is turning a blind eye to this matters. if they are series about abusing they would have caught easily. just go to " no sigbboard resturants at geylang" i dont even see a single singaporeans working there. the quota can be said 100:0.
• Comment Link Thursday, 24 November 2011 13:04 posted by quzy

  Just because there're many foreigners in the various industries doesn't mean "foreigners are taking away jobs from locals". It's bordering on demagogy.
  
  If u have a policy of developing only industries in which Singaporeans are able to work, then u can wait til the cows come home before any critical mass of workers and professionals gets built up. It never will, because in a given industry that's new to Sg, it's well established somewhere else. The few Singaporeans who r trained in that would rather work at the established places. Why come back and wait til there are enough Singaporeans to start an industry? Meanwhile do what?
  
  If there are industries where there are not enough Singaporeans, can we also ask ourselves why? Chemical industry - how many Singaporeans choose to study science? Got money meh? Marine Industry - oily, dangerous and dirty. In the 90s the default course was engineering. Now it's business and finance. Singaporeans only take the bandwagon.
  
  If the purpose of Lina's question is to hint at a policy where every single Singaporean is employed before hiring foreigners, then u'll be lowering the skills of Singapore as a nation to the lowest common denominator -i.e. we can't hire Indian chemical scientists because we still have 2% locals unemployed - but can they do chemistry research?
  
  Of course, the main question is - why target to grow these industries? I dun think MTI and EDB gets it right all the time, but the principle is simple - look at what the World needs, where we can squeeze in and try to fill the gap, i.e. demand driven. If we're to choose industries in which Singaporeans are good, then it'll be supply-driven. It's generally agreed upon that demand will lead to supply, but supply rarely leads to demand. We're no longer in a village scenario where people just put their wares to sell outside their door, hoping a passerby will buy. In fact, even in a village, if both you and your neighbours are selling bread, and his is way more popular than yours, you should start thinking of selling other stuff.
  
  The problem with the gov now is not the economic growth policies. These seem to be doing quite well. It's the distribution of the growth. All these high value added industries (including Chemical and Marine) generate alot of downstream jobs and revenue, and tax income. But unfortunately, not everyone is sharing the fruits of the growth.
  
  Lina, wrong question lah.
• Comment Link Thursday, 24 November 2011 12:07 posted by Daniel Lee

  One has to look into the sort of jobs (frontline, operation, supervisory, managerial). What if Singaporeans in the Marine and Chemical industry are generally in managerial and supervisory?
• Comment Link Thursday, 24 November 2011 11:05 posted by Melody Chan

  Good effort there, Mrs Chiam!
  
  Given that the data do not differentiate between Singaporeans and PRs, who are rightfully foreigners, it is indeed a worrying issue. The government should explain why it chooses to engage in such economic activities that offer so few direct opportunities to Singaporeans. The GDP may be pushed up, but so is inflation with the hordes of foreign workers - not forgetting the stagnating wages of Singaporeans.