26 August
2010 Last updated at 23:07 GMT
Overlooking Singapore's central business
district, construction workers are busy building a new high-end
restaurant on the rooftop park of Marina Bay Sands
hotel.
Located on the 57th floor, the SkyPark is the latest attraction
that Singapore boasts.
Despite the ongoing construction, the hotels and the casino
downstairs are already open to the public.
So visitors, whether or not they like it, get a glimpse at the
driving force behind Singapore's construction boom: foreign
workers.
Jay Chiu, chief executive of Grandworks, employs 150 of them to
work on projects across the city state.
Jay Chiu: "Singaporeans are not willing to take on this
type of job"
"Our workers are from Malaysia, Bangladesh and China," he
says.
Others also come from India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bangladesh,
Burma, the Philippines, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and
Taiwan.
They are part of a huge army of 245,000 construction workers in
Singapore.
"In our industry, all the work is very tough. Singaporeans are
not willing to take up this kind of job," Mr Chiu says.
"So we have no choice but to rely on foreign workers to help us
in our industry."
They are also much cheaper to hire than Singaporeans.
Immigration control
However, the industry is facing a big challenge.
The government has reduced the annual intake of immigrant
workers from 150,000 to 100,000.
It has also raised levies on foreign workers to make it less
attractive for companies to import labour.
This means higher costs or not enough workers for Mr Chiu.
"If we don't have enough manpower, it will slow down our whole
work progress," he says.
"We might need to pay more in order to get more skilled workers
to work for us."
"If the government controls the entry of foreign workers, how
can we complete projects on time?"
Foreign talent
Singapore has also been trying to attract more foreign
professionals.
"Singapore's future rests on growing a deep pool of highly
talented and entrepreneurial people," says the Economic Strategies
Committee chaired by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugratnam.
One of them, British project manager Duncan Craig, came to
Singapore five years ago.
"I decided to come here because Asia's economy was going off
back then. Since then, Singapore in particular has been booming,"
he says.
However, employment agent R. Narayanamohan says that the
government is being increasingly selective of foreign
professionals, too.
"They are taking a more qualitative approach," he says.
"Over the past year, a few visa applications have been rejected
and the government asked for more information. When we went back to
them with extra documents, we got them approved."
"I think they want to check the background of the applicants
more thoroughly."
Growing complaints
So why is the government restricting the entry of foreign
workers?
The issue, it seems, is political.
Singapore's citizens have been complaining about the soaring
number of immigrants.
The country now has the highest proportion of them in Asia, as
foreigners make up one third of the island's workforce of 3
million. It is a sharp jump from a mere 3% in 1970.
"Without warning, the floodgates were opened to allow foreigners
into the country indiscriminately," says an opinion piece on the popular online forum
Temasek Review.
"In the past, the foreigners [who were] given a permit to work
in Singapore were either highly qualified or filled positions
[which were] shunned by Singaporeans. They are now competing
directly with them (Singaporeans) for limited jobs."
The latest National Orientations of Singaporeans Survey,
conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies, shows that more than
six out of 10 Singaporeans believe that the government's
immigration policy was weakening national unity.
Dilemma
It is a dilemma that the government faces.
Singapore's birth rate of 9.9 per 1,000 people in 2009 is one of
the lowest in the world.
At the current rate, the population is expected to begin
shrinking in 2020.
However, ahead of the next general election, which the
government must call by February 2012, Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong is keen to ease concerns of its citizens.
He has addressed the issue on many occasions, including on the
eve of Singapore's 45th National Day.
"I understand Singaporeans' concerns about taking in so many
foreign workers and immigrants," he says.
"We will control the inflow, to ensure that it is not too fast,
and not too large."
"We will only bring in people who can contribute to Singapore
and work harder to integrate them into our society."
It is a likely hot topic when he addresses the nation in his
National Day Rally speech, equivalent of the State of the Union in
America, on August 29.
But it's a tough balancing act.
The government is well aware that it needs immigrant workers to
continue its speculator economic growth.
"We will develop and invest in our people, but we also need to
reinforce the Singapore team with talent and numbers from abroad,"
Prime Minister Lee says.
"We must make up for the shortage of Singaporean workers in our
economy and the shortfall of babies in our population."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11100813
