March 3, 2010
In one of the most stunning and outlandish remarks made to date
by a PAP MP on the Budget, Mr Koo Tsai Kee seems to have forgotten
to put on his thinking cap in his eagerness to please his superior
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Tanjong Pagar MP Koo Tsai Kee
who is also the Minister of State for Defence heaped generous
praises on DPM Teo as being the “best man” to lead the National
Productivity and Continuing Education Council because of his long
years in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
Mr Koo claimed that SAF has been “practising productivity all
this while” because “there are no foreign workers or foreign talent
in the SAF, which is made up entirely of Singapore soldiers.”
“The SAF, despite its manpower constraints, has been able to
face up to a widening range of security threats in recent years
under Defence Minister Teo….And I am not saying this because he’s
my boss,” he added.
With due respect to Mr Koo, one need not be a MP or Minister of
State for the matter to realize the simple fact that foreigners
will not be employed by SAF or any armies in the world for security
reasons unless they are mercenaries and any Singapore male who has
served two years of National Service will be able to attest to the
amount of wastage which is going on within SAF.
It is an oxymoron to deduce that SAF is “productive” just
because there are no foreigners on its payroll.
As for his “trust” in his superior, it appears to be misplaced
too. DPM Teo told CNA a few days ago that Singapore has made
“progress” previously in its productivity drive:
“We have made good progress in the past in our productivity
drive and that is why we have been able to move our economy forward
and have good jobs for many Singaporeans. But this is a constant
effort and we have to renew and re-double our efforts,” he was
quoted as saying.
However, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor,
Singapore’s productivity has been dropping for the last three years
with the steepest decline in 2008 at 6.6 per cent. It averaged a
miserable 0.7 percent increase per year for the last decade, the
lowest among developed nations. How such a dismal performance can
be misconstrued as “good progress” is anybody’s guess.
Singaporeans should not place too much hope on either DPM Teo or
Mr Koo to spear-head Singapore’s productivity drive to reach its
lofty target of 3 percent increase per year for they still seem
clueless of the reality on the ground.
