SINGAPORE: Labour Chief Lim Swee Say said the
biggest challenge now is ensuring that Singaporeans take shared
ownership of the country's future. He called for a consensus to
forge new success areas for Singapore in the two decades, including
having a more gracious and inclusive society.
Mr Lim on Monday asked the Labour Movement to take action in a
National Day Observance Ceremony.
Shaping the country's future involves everyone and Mr Lim said the
next chapter of the Singapore story does not belong to the
government alone.
He said: "Instead of spending time pointing fingers and blaming
each other, I think we should all play our part, take action to
create and re-create, to make sure that this new Singapore will be
something we can all be proud of."
Recognising domestic tensions that have developed due to the influx
of foreign workers, Mr Lim said a better Singapore would mean a
nation where both locals and non-locals understand the need for
each other.
He said having foreign manpower supplement the labour force
reflects the country's success, where there is a shortage of
workers because jobs outnumber the local workforce.
Turning to low-wage workers, Mr Lim said what they do must be
respected, and noted that a key problem lies in how people view
certain types of work.
He said: "To succeed, it's not so much about changing the
legislation for this to happen, because if legislation can make
this happen, then we will not have the issue of a widening income
gap, or low-wage workers. Because at the end of the day, the
solution has more to do with changing mindsets."
Touching on the national conversation the government wants to have
with Singaporeans, Mr Lim said it is an "all-way engagement". He
urged members of the labour movement to actively participate in
this dialogue to chart a shared vision for Singapore for current
and future generations.
Since when do Singaporeans look down on low wage workers, it is
loose foreign policy that drive every one wage low.
So, we are looking down at the man or woman in the mirror ?
The people are already engaged but their engagement is deemed as
negative and xenophobic.
So, do they want to waste time and money to form useless
committee to conduct fruitless conversation with single eye
dragonian singaporean ?
In the end to tell us the same thing, dun rely on cheng hu and
you better integrate.
When there is no more noise but lots of licking, the place is
doomed.
