Let's do a re-visit of what Ng Eng Hen said back in 2003. First,
the headlines, says "9 in 10 jobs went to Singaporeans" but if you
read the article, it actually meant "to Singaporeans and PRs". Then
now we must question why do we see so many foreign faces around
after 8 years since so many jobs went to Singaporeans and PRs? The
only answer can be.....PRs are also considered foreigners and many
of the jobs must have gone to them.
Today you are young and you have the earning power. Tomorrow
when you're highly paid and older, your market value suddenly
plummets because of these PRs. So think wisely if you think PAP is
serious about change.
______________________________________________________
NTU wrong, 9 in 10 new jobs went to S'poreans
by Sue-Ann Chia
ACTING Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen said yesterday that Nanyang
Technological
University (NTU) economists were way off the mark by claiming that
most new jobs
created in the past five years had gone to foreigners.
The economists had said that three in four jobs had gone to
foreigners, but the minister revealed that, in fact, nine in 10 new
jobs went to Singaporeans
and residents, and only one went to a
foreigner.
He called a press briefing yesterday, after the findings by the NTU
team,
comprising former National Wages Council chairman Lim Chong Yah, Dr
Tan Khee
Giap and Dr Chen Kang, were reported in the media.
Dr Ng said he was disappointed by their report and did not mince
his words when
he criticised them for failing to verify their figures with his
ministry or the
Department of Statistics before going public with
'sensationalistic' claims.
Researchers were duty-bound to check, he said, adding: 'If your
findings show
something different or if it stands out, you want to be careful not
to be
sensationalist even if your figures are right.
'But if your figures are wrong, it is irresponsible: It is
unprofessional to
put out those figures and then when the damage is done, to expect
others to
check those findings.'
He also made public another set of government figures, some
released for the
first time.
Between the high-growth years of 1992 and 1997, there were 474,800
new jobs
created - almost double the 250,000 figure cited by the NTU team.
For every five
jobs created, two went to residents and three to foreigners - quite
different
from the NTU team's claim that four jobs went to residents and one
to a
foreigner.
Then, during the downturn from 1997 to 2002, only 102,000 jobs were
created, Dr
Ng said, not 187,000 as claimed in the NTU report.
During that period, nine in 10 new jobs went to residents, and only
one to a
foreigner - again, a reversal of the NTU team's claim.
The economists called for a re-look at Singapore's dependence on
foreigners,
but Dr Ng defended the Government's foreign worker policy.
'As we look at our figures, our policies are correctly crafted,' he
said.
'Foreign workers serve as a useful buffer. In good times, when
there are
plentiful jobs, they serve to meet the demand. In difficult times,
they serve to
moderate wages and increase the economic pie.'
Yesterday, the NTU economists stood by their findings.
In a statement signed only by Dr Tan and Dr Chen, they said they
had studied
statistics available in the Manpower Ministry's website.
'If our findings are not reflective of the actual situation, then
the Ministry
of Manpower has a duty to revise its statistics on the website,'
they said.
'As professional economists who take a committed interest in the
well-being of
Singapore, we have never been sensational and will always be
professional in our
work.'
They also said that the figures revealed by the minister yesterday
came from
sources they did not have access to.
But ministry officials called a second press briefing yesterday
evening and
insisted that there was no way a properly conducted study of
available data
could have arrived at the NTU team's conclusions.
'Data in the public domain clearly provides an entirely different
picture if
used correctly,' said Ms Elizabeth Quah, director of the manpower
policy and
planning division.
She said the ministry was disappointed that the NTU economists
refused to meet
officials yesterday to explain their methodology and data
sources.
But as the issue was of 'great concern and interest to the public,
especially
in this difficult employment market', the ministry felt it was best
to explain
how the discrepancies could have arisen.
Mrs Tan Leng Leng, director of manpower research and statistics,
said the
figures used by the NTU economists missed two factors: the
construction industry
and Malaysians who commute to Singapore to work.
Another figure, which should have set off 'alarm bells', was the
low increase
in residents' employment, which the NTU report put at only 46,100
for the last
five years.
As a general rule of thumb, about 30,000 people join the workforce
each year -
after deducting those who retire, stop working or are retrenched.
Multiply that
by five years and the total should be 150,000.
What it all added up to, Ms Quah said, was that the NTU findings
were 'totally
flawed'.
'It is important for the public to understand the true picture and
why the NTU
team is wrong,' she said.
