An economist and associate professor from the Lee Kuan Yew
School of Public Policy Dr Tan Khee Giap has lashed out at
Singaporeans for complaining about foreigners taking away their
jobs.
Echoing PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew’s views that Singaporeans are
“champion grumblers”, Dr Tan claimed that Singaporeans are
“protesting too much” at a roundtable session at the Tax Academy of
Singapore’s annual Budget seminar yesterday.
He told the audience presence that figures last year showed that
about three out of ten job vacancies had been unfilled for at least
six months which implied that Sinagporeans are turning away the
jobs.
Dr Tan did not provide any explanation as to why the unfilled
jobs are not accepted by Singaporeans. Perhaps the pay is too low
and the working hours are too long.
The PAP and the state media have been busy trying to portray
Singaporeans are being “fussy” in job application to deflect blame
from their discriminatory labor polices which favor the
foreigners.
In the last few weeks alone, the Temasek Review has published
job advertisements put up by companies based in Singapore seeking
foreigners for positions which can otherwise be filled by
Singaporeans.
Dr Tan accused some Singaporeans of being “voluntarily
unemployed” and suggested that “every resident worker who is
unemployed for more than three months should be made to register
with the Workforce Development Agency (WDA), which will have to
help him find a job based on his last drawn pay.”
“The WDA can then track how many times each unemployed
person turns down a job – much like the statistics the Housing
Board recently revealed of new flat buyers turning down flat
options,” he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times.
He believes that WDA rejection rate will be “fairly high”
without substantiating his statements and that this will “quash the
perception there are not enough jobs to go around for
Singaporeans.”
“WDA should work actively to help citizens get jobs. When
these people turn down jobs once, twice, three times, the
Government then doesn’t have to make apologies about bringing in
foreign workers,” he added.
Being an economist by training, it is appalling that Dr Tan is
not aware of the basic fact that having jobs alone is not enough –
the jobs must pay reasonably well to ensure a decent standard of
living for Singapore workers.
The PAP has opened the floodgates to foreign workers without
putting in adequate measures to safeguard the interests of
Singaporeans. It is impossible to expect Singaporeans to compete
directly with the cheaper foreigners while remaining “cheaper,
better and faster” at the same time.
Despite recent promises made by PAP leaders to “slow” the inflow
of foreigners to placate angry Singaporeans, Dr Tan continues to
call for foreign workers to spur Singapore’s growth:
“Foreign workers, while unpopular, are necessary for
Singapore’s growth, which may not be able to rise on higher
productivity alone. This is especially so as the Government has
been spending more than it earns – for instance, on help for the
needy – and running budget deficits for a number of years
now,” Dr Tan said.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, the
relentless influx of foreign workers in recent years has depressed
the ordinary wages of Singaporeans, increased the cost of living
and led to an overall decline in the standards of living.
It is pretty obvious that there will not be any major overhaul
of the PAP’s disastrous liberal immigration and pro-foreigner
policies so long it remains in power.
Unless Singaporeans reclaim their rights as citizens of their
country and vote out the despotic PAP regime in the next general
election, they will soon be relegated to second class minorities in
their own homeland with the males having to serve two years of
National Service to protect the lives and wealth of the PAP elites
and the immigrants.
TR mar 23 2010
See letter and reply from Kojak and Tan Khee Giap on Pages 2 and 3 of
this thread
http://www.sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/394304?page=2
http://www.sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/394304?page=3
