This article was originally written for The Online
Citizen.
Written by Ng E-Jay
9 Feb 2010
The government appears to be sending out conflicting signals
over its foreign manpower policy, a possible indication that rising
concerns over the liberal import of foreign workers in recent years
are starting to overwhelm decision makers in the PAP cabinet.
Last Sunday, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told the media
during a visit to Nee Soon Central that when scaling down our
dependence on foreign workers, we have to take into account
business cycles. [1]
Mr Gan said that when the economy is doing very well, we need to
allow it (the import of foreign labour) to expand a little bit
within some limits.
In his own words as quoted by Channel News Asia: “In a
recession, we have to monitor the situation and allow the foreign
worker population to come down, but when the economy recovers, we
have to be very careful, (and) calibrate our response carefully,
otherwise you may stifle the economic recovery.”
The Manpower Minister appears to be articulating the point that
the government will adjust the inflow of foreign workers according
to economic conditions so as to balance the supply and demand of
labour.
As Singapore is currently embarking on an economic recovery
after being severely hit by the global recession in 2008, is Mr Gan
suggesting that more foreign workers will be allowed in at this
point in time, in response to our new-found economic expansion?
If so, then Mr Gan’s remarks could be in contradiction with the
position taken by the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC), as well
as the views expressed by the Prime Minister, Senior Minister, and
Minister Mentor, who in the past couple of weeks went all out in
assuring Singaporeans that the inflow of foreign workers will be
moderated.
Speaking at the sidelines of a community function on 24 Jan,
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said that “If you want to
grow fast, it means a larger foreign workforce, which I don’t think
is advisable because already, we have too huge a presence (of such
workers) and we’re not emphasizing productivity.” [2]
A day later, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong added on to SM Goh’s
remarks, saying that “we cannot indefinitely expand our
workforce by importing more and more workers from abroad,”
and that Singapore is to adopt a new economic growth strategy
focused more on improving productivity than pursuing growth at all
costs, as we are faced with physical constraints such as limited
land. [3]
Assurance that there would be fewer foreign workers in five
years also came from Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who was the
first minister to put a time line on the Government’s pledge since
last year to reduce the inflow of foreign workers. Speaking at an
event to mark the Housing and Development Board’s 50th anniversary,
MM Lee said that “The next five years, we have decided we
will tier down our need for foreign workers“. [4]
The suggestion for Singapore to cut back its dependence on, and
moderate the inflow foreign labour, with a renewed emphasis on
raising productivity in place of mere expansion of the pool of
workers, was formally articulated by the Economic Strategies
Committee (ESC) which released its report in early February.
The ESC report, taken in conjunction with the statements made by
the Prime Minister, Senior Minister, and Minister Mentor, clearly
indicate that the government is committed to reducing the inflow of
foreign labour as the current rate of import cannot be
sustained.
Although the ESC had based its report solely on economic
considerations, it does not take a genius to figure out that the
government, in deciding to fine-tune its foreign manpower policy,
must have also taken into consideration rising concerns on the
ground concerning foreign workers depriving Singaporeans of jobs or
suppressing wages at the lower end of the income spectrum.
Given that the deadline for the next general election is fast
approaching, it would be politically foolhardy for the ruling party
to ignore the rising groundswell and the legitimate concerns voters
have over the impact of the government’s foreign manpower policy on
their livelihoods as well as on the social fabric.
Yet, the Manpower Minister has made remarks which suggest that
the inflow of foreign workers will be raised if economic conditions
warrant it.
This seems to call into doubt the government’s sincerity in
reducing the reliance on foreign workers in a five year
time-frame.
To add to the confusion, Mr Gan also said that foreigners
“abroad” are the real competition, not foreigners who work within
our shores. [5]
The Straits Times quoted Mr Gan as saying that everyone working
and living here — be they citizens or foreigners — should be
considered the “in-group” who are contributing to the country,
competing against the real “out-group”, who are those (foreigners)
working outside Singapore.
Is Mr Gan therefore suggesting that foreigners working here are
to be considered on equal footing with born and bred citizens, by
mere virtue of the fact that both groups are collectively competing
against the rest of the world?
How can that ever be a realistic or reasonable notion?
The government’s clumsy attempts at addressing voters’ concerns
over its foreign manpower policy has created more confusion than
clarity.
If this is not cleared up in time, voters may well express their
dissatisfaction over the way the government has handled the foreign
labour issue at the ballot box.
http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=3825
Measures to encourage low-wage workers to take
up training expected during Budget
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 07 February 2010 1719 hrs
SINGAPORE : Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong
has hinted that issues such as making it easier for low-wage
workers to continue to upgrade themselves, and making the Workfare
Income Supplement Scheme more accessible, will be tackled in the
Budget later this month.
Mr Gan's visit to Nee Soon Central on Sunday comes hot on the heels
of the Economic Strategies Committee's recommendations.
Among them are enhancing productivity levels in Singapore and
scaling down dependence on foreign workers.
Mr Gan said: "We also have to bear in mind that we have to take
into account business cycles, so when the economy is doing very
well, you need to allow it to expand a little bit within some
limits. As the economy comes down, you have to allow the foreign
worker population to come down.
"In a recession, we have to monitor the situation and allow the
foreign worker population to come down, but when the economy
recovers, we have to be very careful, (and) calibrate our response
carefully, otherwise you may stifle the economic recovery."
For now, an immediate priority for the tripartite partners is to
improve the well-being of low-wage workers.
Mr Gan noted that low-wage workers do face some obstacles to go for
training, and this was discovered from a survey of a group of such
workers.
He said: "Some of the feedback that we get includes for example
(the fact that) some of the older low-wage workers...do not have
literacy or basic numeracy. Their language ability is low and so
they are unable to absorb many of the training programmes.
"One of the key areas we have to focus on is how to improve the
literacy and numeracy of these low-wage workers, so that they would
be able to benefit from the higher level training that would give
them really usable skills."
Mr Gan added: "Many of these low-wage workers depend a lot on
overtime pay; some of them take part-time jobs and that means that
if they go to study and (go for) training, they would have to stop
work and forego some of the income.
"So the cost to them can be quite significant. So for these older
low-wage workers, we have got to find a way to encourage them to
help them to cope with a potential income loss if they were to give
up their part-time job and concentrate on training.
"Some of them are unable to sustain their training programme.
Sometimes, their training may last two or three weeks and sometimes
one month. And it is not just one programme. They may have to go
back for multiple modules so that they can continue to upgrade
themselves. These low-wage workers sometimes...have a good job
offer and they will decide to take up the job and will stop their
training.
"By the time they come back to their training programme again, they
have to start all over again. So we have to look at how we can help
these low-wage workers pursue sustained training efforts, encourage
them to go for the programme and complete the programme and also
encourage them to upgrade regularly and consistently, not just once
in a while whenever they are free."
The Manpower Minister also emphasised that employers are important
players in encouraging low-wage workers to go for training and
upgrading.
Mr Gan said that some employers find it challenging to send their
workers for training. That is because employers need them to work
and hence are less willing to send them for training.
Singaporeans also want to know if the payout for the Workfare
Income Supplement can be tweaked.
Jeffrey Tong, a grassroots leader from Nee Soon Central, asked: "Is
there a possibility that you can look into it, to fine tune it to
give it out maybe on a more frequent basis, maybe monthly or twice
monthly?"
Mr Gan said his Ministry is studying if the qualifying period for
Workfare should be shortened.
To qualify, low-wage workers must have worked for at least three
months in a six-month period during a calendar year, or at least
six months in a year.
Mr Gan said: "Having discussed this at length with our tripartite
partners, we feel that an important objective of Workfare is to
encourage regular work.
"As part of the Workfare qualifying criteria, we will still require
a minimum qualifying period and hopefully we encourage our Workfare
recipients to go for regular work all the time, so that they can
receive Workfare on a regular basis."
Mr Gan said a decision on this will be announced during the Budget
session. - CNA/ms
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1035944/1/.html