Opening the door wider to foreigners

[BlueBrother]

I not PAP, never voted for them in my life. I was cheering WP in recent BE. So happy WP won. Met LHL once in HK at a Singapore Association event, he look no-up as I was not from the financial industry. PAP too elite mentality.

I think PAP got a more qualified candidate than WP in Punggong East but Singapore really need more oppostion in Parliament. I think PAP has done a great job in the past but I feel they are slipping in recent years. I doubt the opposition can be big enough to form the gov't but by taking more seats from PAP, PAP will not be so arrogant and really listen to the ppl. They always think they so smart and can decide everything for us. During LKY days, the ppl in Gov't are indeed smarter and more committed which allow them to make all the decisions for Singapore without much consultation. The leaders today are not so great and today's world is much more complicated plus Singaporean today are much better educated & informed. They shud listen more and talk less. Not shoot 1st and then back-track. Not much substance in their speeches, perhaps they shud publish the white paper and let academics/scholars/economist/environmentalist debate what is the best for Singapore. Not keep it by themselves. Singapore belongs to every Singaporean, we shud hv right to have our voice heard.

There will always be competitive in life. We should create a environment for our ppl to develop the right skills and mindset to compete.

 

[Fook Seng]

then create more jobs which the local likes lah... simple...

Like being PAP IB? Wah kill two birds with one stone.

 

[beegs]

The foreign workforce has never been a buffer against local retrenchment. In fact, the foreign workforce has displaced more locals, pushing more locals into the unemployment line.


well that true , we the local were ask to leave and all FT were retain.it seen that the local are buffer.

 

[The_Hypocrite]

Another point is what about the 'useless' Foreign trashes already here? is pap going to get rid of them?

also what about abolition of all scholarships to Foreigners and increasing the cost to foreigners who use public goods and preventing them from buying public housing?

just these 3 categories mentioned is not going to help singaporeans,,

 

[YaoSiuKia]

Ya loh, like those FL in geylang, massage palour... Etc

We need more construction workers and toilet cleaners

 

[BlueBrother]

What NTUC is doing. Singapore Trade Union is to protect Singaporean workers. They should prevent foreigners from taking jobs that locals are doing and want to continue doing. There should be a law protecting workers in such a case and require employers to provide valid reasons for replacing locals with foreigners. Low pay or having to serve in-camp training should not be a reason.
Singaporeans should have a place to address such unfair retrenchment or replacement. Labour Ministry has a duty to protect our workers. It's not just how many million ppl we need, the 1st priority for the Singapore Gov't is to it's ppl. Take care of our own 1st and then give a fair employment opportunity to the foreigners.

 

[SichuanGeGe]

What NTUC is doing. Singapore Trade Union is to protect Singaporean workers. They should prevent foreigners from taking jobs that locals are doing and want to continue doing.

You really believe the craps that the government is spewing? NTUC is just the govt's mouthpiece. If not, why let a minister helm it?

 

[kingrant]

I have yet to see any FT that fits this bill so far. Motherhood statement easy to make, impressive to hear, but like an onion when you peel off layer after layer - you find nothing.

I hope they dont mean those armies of IT darkies you trip over at Changi South.

The third group of foreigners whom Singapore will continue to welcome are global talent with cutting-edge skills and abilities.

These foreigners will help "kick-start" new industries in Singapore, said the White Paper, and through the transfer of skills train local workers in these sectors.

Plus, it added, a foreign contingent in the workforce acts as a buffer against local retrenchment in a recession.

The last line sounds ominous. They are already talking about possibility of retrenching locals and restuffing with foreign contingents!

 

[DuYunQi]

I disagree with what Bluebrother has posted.

Those PRC scholars that your daughter face in school are here on whose money? Who granted them their scholarships to come HERE? Why do we need THEM in our schools? And why are our taxes used to bring THEM into our schools?

For competition? Why not give scholarships to locals who REALLY need it? Those from families who may not be able to provide for higher education(university.. your daughter is in Uni rite?).

As if competition from among our very own citizens is not good enough, we need to create MORE competition for our very own PEOPLE? No wonder Singaporeans are NOT a HAPPY LOT!

Imagine you are in a family of 3 siblings, and suddenly your parents decide to make competition even more fierce for the family inheritance.. so they adopt another one, two or three children. What kind of logic is that?

Plus, the PRC bus drivers (i dun wan to refer to them as captains cos they only drive.. what else do they do?) is not just a HR issue. From what I heard, before they protested, they even went to MOM to complain and gripe.. but nothing was done for more than 12 months. Well, PRCs not so "docile" as Sg people, and they showed that they will have none of the treatment Sg people tolerate.

I think we can learn from these PRC bus drivers. They knew what they were getting into, and they also knew that if they were done for in Sg, they can ALWAYS GO BACK TO PRC!!

Now.. isn't that a serious message to us Singaporeans? If they screw-up here and end up jobless, they can always do something and force US to send them back home. How many of those PRC bus drivers who were sacked/terminated and sent back home paid for their air tickets? Or maybe the tix fare got deducted.. I don't know.. but they SENT A MESSAGE.. and we all RECEIVED IT.

NTUC protect Singaporean workers? When? How?

Bluebrother posts that he/she is not a PAP supporter, but from his posts.. I can't see anything that shows he is AGAINST PAP, or even against the now unpopular population white paper.

He says compeition is good.. and seems to agree to allow more foreigner in to join the competition.
I say, YOU ARE WRONG!
We don't need more competition from more foreigners. We need foreigners who can set up businesses here and CREATE JOBS FOR SINGAPOREANS!
WE DON'T NEED CHEAP LABOUR! WE SHOULD RAISE WAGES AND MAKE UNPOPULAR JOBS MORE APPEALING SO THAT MORE SINGAPOREANS FILL THOSE UP AND REMOVE CHEAP FOREIGN LABOUR ALTOGETHER!

If we don't do this, employers will FOREVER give excuses that Singaporeans don't want "this job" and give it to a foreigner.. or deliberately SUPPRESS WAGES and say it is to answer the government's call for raising PRODUCTIVITY.
And.. who says more democracy will lead to a country's economic growth stalling? Is there any such proof or evidence from around the world?

Read what Bluebrother and all supporters of this unpopular white paper are saying. Don't think that competition from FOREIGNERS is a MUST! We need investments or business creations that creates jobs.. not fcuking allow foreigners to come in and SQUEEZE AND FIGHT WITH US FOR JOBS THAT WE WANT, OR HELP CONTRIBUTE TO LOW WAGES!!

 

[SichuanGeGe]

Foreigners are here on paid scholarships while sinkies have to dig their family members CPF to pay for their education. Some more must return with interest after graduation :(

 

[Spock]

Plus, it added, a foreign contingent in the workforce acts as a buffer against local retrenchment in a recession.

Biggest lie I have ever heard.

During a recession, the local workforce will be the first to go as they are usually paid more. Secondly, when an industry is extremely dependent on the foreign workforce, there are not enough locals with sufficient skills and knowledge to take over them if the foreigners are to be retrenched.

Once the foreign workforce is established, there is no way to get rid of them easily, recession or no recession. During a recession, only the hiring process is slowed, which affects everyone (locals might even have it worse due to their higher costs of living), the locals are not going to benefit from this buffer bullshit.

 

[Spock]

My daughter hv some China scholars in her class. Her ranking at level dropped after they joined her school but I have seen it has really raised her game quite a lot. She now works harder because her competition is very strong. If she doesn't face this competition in school now, she will face them later in life. Better for her to face it now which help to improve herself dramatically than later and not be able to compete globally.

Ho ho ho, I don't see the angmos needing a lot of competition to come up with innovation and inventions. The competition you are talking about is competition for who can be a better slave. That is not the kind of competition we need. If we go down that path, it will soon be an endless spiral to the bottom of the heap.

Too much competition at a young age will only lead to burnout earlier in life.

 

[BlueBrother]

The finance/scholarship to support a foreign student and raising the standard of our students are 2 different matter. If there is a scholar from China that is as good as any student in a top grade school like Raffles studying in a medium grade school, the standard of the students in the medium grade school may be enhanced. Some of these overseas scholar are studying till 1-2 in the morning and they are really smart. I have seen it happen to my daughter and see greater passion in her study after the foreign scholars joined. They have also helped my daughter in her studies. Of course the gov't should also address the financial problems of poor citizens and offer support that matches or exceed the foreign students. I believe Singapore is wealthy enough to support its citizen and some foreign students to enhance it's overall standard.

I am a Singaporean and I am proud to be one. There are many good and capable people in our country but it is always better if we can add diversity to make ourselves better. I have been away from Singapore for over 20 years and was lucky to have worked and learn from many nationalities when living in a number of countries. As good as we Singaporean are, we have our short-comings. Some came and get benefits and then leave, but more importantly some stay behind and contribute to a better Singapore. It's unavoidable but to shut the door completely, we will lose out from learning from real overseas talent. Would you agree if Chinese is better taught in Singapore by a China teacher than one of our local Chinglish teachers. Let's not be frogs in a well. Today we are not just competing among Singaporean. We are competing with other countries that may have cheaper workforce or better talent. It's not just asking foreign workers not to come and all Singaporean will have jobs. It's having a diverse competitive workforce that can attract foreign investment to create better jobs for Singaporean and leaving lower paid manual jobs to overseas workers, that's the plan. Can you imagine what will happen tomorrow if Singapore Gov't decides on a whole scale deportation of all foreign workers, there will be chaos. I do not like to have so many foreigners in Singapore but it has now become a necessary evil. Foreign workers also have their skills which they can impart to us if we are not too arrogrant to learn from them. I was fortunate to have even junior staff from other counties teach me a thing or 2. If we have only 100% Singapore workers in Singapore, we may be too costly for investors to invest or we may not have the diverse sets of skills they need. Singaporeans are really good world-class workers/executives but we cannot possibly excel in every field.

I do agree NTUC is not doing their job properly and acted only as a mouthpiece for the PAP. If they have done correctly, Singaporean will enjoy higher employement rate and rightly get a fair wage. NTUC should not have such a close link with the gov't as we can now clearly see they have been severely compromised and not acting in the best interest of the Singapore workforce. Singapore employers should not just take advantage of cheaper foreign workers and should be required by law to give priorities to Singapore labour. It's the elites taking care of the elites while the common people suffer.

I do not support PAP but I support policy that makes Singapore better for Singaporean. I support a stronger labour movement that truly takes care of the Singapore worker. I support letting in just the right amount of foreign talent and workers without compromising on the livelilhood of the Singapore workers and this can only be done by an independent labour union not controlled by PAP .

 

[laksaboy]

You really believe the craps that the government is spewing? NTUC is just the govt's mouthpiece. If not, why let a minister helm it?

Yup, yup. No conflict of interest at all.

 

[laksaboy]

Ho ho ho, I don't see the angmos needing a lot of competition to come up with innovation and inventions. The competition you are talking about is competition for who can be a better slave. That is not the kind of competition we need. If we go down that path, it will soon be an endless spiral to the bottom of the heap.

Too much competition at a young age will only lead to burnout earlier in life.

Yeah. Overly stressed kids end up as delinquents, suicide statistics or mental patients. Take your pick.

And many Sinkies have the thinking that 'stress is a necessary part of life' (no it is not), and the more stress you endure the better you are as a person... an unbelievable slave mentality that can only be explained by them being conditioned to the PAP govt's decades of shafting. They did a similar experiment on animals.

 

[BlueBrother]

Angmo where got no competition. Look at how many Asian immigrants now in USA and competing at all levels. I have seen Pakistani taxi drivers in New York, Taiwanese merchandisers at Nike in Portland, a host of Asian holding executive position plus innovation done by Asian in American labs and companies. Angmo may lose their jobs to Asian & Latinos if they take it easy. Everywhere in the world have competition. It's the competition that makes us work better, work smarter and work faster. This is what the world has become. Even Communist China is now highly competitive. In Singapore, if you have a good prawn noodle stall and get good reviews on paper, a number of prawn noodles stalls will open up to compete. Check out Kallang Airport Hawker centre and you will know.

Talk about innovation, Angmo Apple is losing share to Korean Samsung. More and more innovation may be coming from Asian than Angmo in the future.

You may consider going to North Korea, maybe the competition is less severe but you have to be careful not to piss off Mr. Kim as he may send you to a rehabitation camp. Joining the Taleban may be another option if you don't want competition but you have to hide in caves and dodge bombs. In Singapore, you can work at MacDonald, I think the competition and stress will be much lower as you are competing with quite a few old retired people if you can live with the pay from MacDonald.

The only way is to train yourself and your mind to deal with stress from competition and still perform effectively. That's why these days, people are doing yoga and meditation. Regular exercise is also another option. I try mediation time to time and I swim 2-3 times a week for 40 minutes/20 laps not just to keep my body healthy but also my mind in a better condition. I find I need to work harder to relax my mind more than keep fit. Even LKY swims regularly at his age. It's a holistic approach to better living.

 

[BlueBrother]

The slave mentality is not created by the PAP, it's everywhere. The people that do not have, wants it and are willing to work like a slave to get it. It's especially so with most Asian countries with a high concentration of Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese.

I enjoy my school days day dreaming, watching TV and playing football. Unfortunately the kids today do not have it easy. Maybe in 30 years time their kids will be in a much more stressful environment. So spending time with kids is important. Talk to them, go exercise with them, make sure they have healthy meals, share a joke with you regularly. Parenting has become much more involved today than 30 years ago if you want your kids to cope with the pressure of modern living. 30 years ago, my parents hardly have anythings to say to me. Today me and my wife make time for talking with our daughter, we can discuss anything and everything.

 

[RogerK]

Perfectly logical. There are many jobs that locals don't like to do. We need foreigners

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[watchman8]

It is good to have foreign talent if they can really contribute, we should pay them for their worth. If you pay peanuts, u get monkey. The point is whether there are good stringent assessment for these foreign talent.

My daughter hv some China scholars in her class. Her ranking at level dropped after they joined her school but I have seen it has really raised her game quite a lot. She now works harder because her competition is very strong. If she doesn't face this competition in school now, she will face them later in life. Better for her to face it now which help to improve herself dramatically than later and not be able to compete globally.

We now live in a global economy and we need good foreign talent to help rasie our game. Just hope the Gov't and companies have good assessment and judgement to choose the right ppl to come. A higher level of Human Resources Management should be developed so that we can develop the right resources. I have interviewed countless of ppl in my career and it's not easy to pick the right ppl. It takes experience and training to do it well. Not many companies provide training on recruitment & interview process. I attended a training on how to assess ppl's behaviour on dealing with issues. Most just conduct interrogation and not communicate expectations properly. A big plus will be to help sell Singapore correctly so that foreigners will try blend in better and contribute more productively. Education Ministry & Mgmt schools shud develop good programs in HR so that we can recruit the right talent across the board.

You are describing a situation of mild competition. That we have for many years, where ASEAN scholars came and competed with local JC and uni students. I believe most sinkies are not against moderate level of competition where local students are motivated to up their game, but not crowded out of the game.

What pap has done over past decade was to up the intake of foreigners so much that locals are crowded out and marginalized. Singapore is a single city with three million locals. If you allow all the top 1% of every other country in the world to have free and full access to Singapore, then the locals will be crowded out, simple as that. Even china and usa spread its talent across the country.

 

[StinkiePeasants]

There are many countries in the world that face sinkapore's limitation but have chosen the path of letting wages rise and people adapting to it, instead of flooding their land with foreigners. Learn from the Swiss.

FYI, 1 out of every 4 workers in Switzerland is a foreigner. The difference is that the Swiss also pay high wages to foreigners and are able to pass on the higher wage cost to the end users because most of their industries have higher added value. Take manufacturing Rolex watches as an example. They are overpriced and increase the prices of Rolex watches every year and people around the world are still buying them.

http://www.swissworld.org/en/economy/workers_and_jobs/foreign_workers/

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_n..._from_foreign_workers_wages.html?cid=28771588