RAS urges govt to review curbs on foreign workers

QX179R SG

SINGAPORE: The Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) has urged the government to re-assess curbs on the inflow of foreign workers or businesses will face dire consequences.

It added if nothing is done, Singapore may also lose its reputation as a global city with a vibrant F&B sector.

The association was responding to the Population White Paper, which was recently endorsed in Parliament. The paper charts the roadmap for Singapore's future policies on population and immigration.

In a statement, the association which has more than 300 members accounting for over 1,300 restaurant outlets, also called for a review of the Foreign Worker Levies (FWL), in view of what has been described as "the severe labour shortage faced by the F&B sector".

The association said the sector is facing a dire situation. That is because many Singaporeans tend to shun F&B jobs, leaving the industry with little choice but to rely on foreign workers.

It added the White Paper should be viewed objectively by all parties and policies need to be realistic.

The association then listed various scenarios that may happen, under the current labour shortage. They include -- businesses shutting down or moving out of Singapore, as well as consumers facing higher food prices.

"Businesses may be forced to shut down or move their operations to other countries, a situation which will deprive the Singapore government of tax income; consumers can expect food prices to increase, due to high operating costs caused by artificial wage inflation, high-cost productivity drive and high rentals.

"Consumers can expect higher food prices without a concomitant increase in quality and service standards due to lack of manpower. In fact, quality and service may decline," it said.

"The government cannot benefit if businesses are unable to sustain themselves, as this will have a chain reaction," the association added.

The association has also suggested several measures for the government to consider. Among them -- adjusting either the Foreign Worker quota or the levy quantum, not both so as to avoid causing further detriment to F&B/restaurant businesses; channelling the levy collected to further help businesses enhance their productivity; and considering alternative sources of labour.

One example of alternative sources is allowing foreign students studying in Singapore to work part-time.

The association said: "In reviewing the White Paper, the RAS is of the view that, in general, a larger population can have a positive impact on the economy and the government which derives its revenue primarily from various forms of taxation, such as Consumption Tax, Income Tax, and Property Tax.

"But for business to be able to pay tax, they must be profitable. It is, therefore, imperative to have sustainable business activities, and for our population and workforce to be able to support our economy.

"This justifies the need for more manpower. If the dire situation persists, not only will revenue be channelled abroad, the reputation of Singapore as a global city and its F&B/restaurant sector as one of the most vibrant, could be severely affected."

-CNA/ac

SJS6638 SG

the damn govt is continuing their plan to destroy singapore ..............................

get the damn lee hsien loong out ./............... lhl is the cause of many problems.

they are causing shortage of foreign workers to counterattack many complaints from sinkingporeans that they are briniging in too many foreigners.

troublemaker2005 SG

he act blur or what? when we tok and bout foreign manpower ther ehas to be seggregations. they have to classify by types.

foreign talents - specialised skilled professionals and personnel, bosses who cum here start busineeses,

foreign labor - skilled pmets, medical personnel, any other professional that requires foreign workers to udnersatnd enlish and are trained in the technical aspects to execute the job.

foreign cheap labor - service people liek waiters waitresses, laborers and construction workers., maual wore=kers

he is purposely restructing all so that businesses have problem. come on ther eshould never be a mandate figure. for the pmets of the company need 4 workers, then an example of the balance ratio of 3 sgrenas against 1 foreigner is the setting.

for jobs like construciton and service line people we can work out a differnt model of acceptance for that. its not like you give a number 69 then we have to let in 69 number of people. manay of them willbe reducdant, wondering the streets creating many socual problems. what each cimpany need, they submit to mom mom review and have a part in play in accepting them.

come on son of the father, dont act blur now!

SJS6638 SG

he act blur or what? when we tok and bout foreign manpower ther ehas to be seggregations. they have to classify by types.

foreign talents - specialised skilled professionals and personnel, bosses who cum here start busineeses,

foreign labor - skilled pmets, medical personnel, any other professional that requires foreign workers to udnersatnd enlish and are trained in the technical aspects to execute the job.

foreign cheap labor - service people liek waiters waitresses, laborers and construction workers., maual wore=kers

come on son of the father, dont act blur now!

i don't tink this evil acts blut. it purposely wants to sabotage the workforce for service industry. i believe it is taking revenge on sinkingporeans for showing unhappiness about it bringing in too many foreigners.

hope something happen and it cannot be pm any more. it is a very super evil person.

troublemaker2005 SG

hope something happen and it cannot be pm any more. it is a very super evil person.

if his constituency lost this 2016 how? he left with pm only. then he can have more time to thingg and work properly.

SJS6638 SG

if his constituency lost this 2016 how? he left with pm only. then he can have more time to thingg and work properly.

i guess amk grc idiots will still continue to give it votes to continue be their mp. they love futile "branded good" . The residents there most have no brains and don't care ..................

charlize SG

the Bear SG

you know what the problem is?

if they give out work permits, whatever employment passes, it doesn't matter.. when the job is over, the people go home...

stop giving out PRs and citizenship to them!

charlize SG

you know what the problem is?

if they give out work permits, whatever employment passes, it doesn't matter.. when the job is over, the people go home...

stop giving out PRs and citizenship to them!

Who will vote for them then?

Who?

the Bear SG

Who will vote for them then?

Who?

you think the new citizens will vote for them?

say only lah.. see what they did in PE?

charlize SG

That's why they need 6.9 million.

20K a year not enough.

Must make it 100k a year.

troublemaker2005 SG

aiyah dont anyhow tok cock.

say we have 1 company in singapore. it has 100 foreign workers. when 10 times up and have to leave, they go apply for 10 more to replace them. so what's so complicated?

as if this latest adjustments gahmen tighten a lot meh? all the same except maine industries a 0.5 percent reduction.

if you have an army of 100 heacount, only 0.5 heacount is affected.

if you have 1,000 workers, only 5 is affected.

if you have 10,000 workers, only 50 is affected.

its continuous improvedment. productivity has to increase. so as businessmen you should know how to tune your businesses to suite the economic situation. and please review on the ground, there are lots of redundant foreign workers and posts. dont turn a blind eye to that. make things easy fot you, youmake things very difficult for the social cohesion and overconjestion for singapore.

charlize SG

SJS6638 SG

i believe miw doing this to sabotage sinkingporeans. they fed up sinkingporeans complain they import too many foreigners.