When you hire top talent in soccer to replace home grown and club trained ones, ultimately, the home grown ones have no chance to develope into world class players.
>> ASIAONE / NEWS / THE NEW PAPER / STORY
Sun, Feb 21, 2010
The New Paper
MM Lee on S'pore's competitiveness: If we didn't have foreign workers...
By Lediati Tan and Gan Ling Kai
SINCE we're a football-mad nation, picture Team Singapore playing in the top league.
Can it do well without foreign players in the team?
Losing good players might lead to relegation. Playing the lower divisions would mean a lost of sponsorship money and an exodus of even top local talent.
Is that a risk worth taking?
Could Singapore have done well in the top league - achieving good growth and higher incomes - without foreigners'
No, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. He spoke at this year's Tanjong Pagar GRC Lunar New Year Celebration Dinner.
"That is why the Government decided in the past five years that it was better to grow the economy and manage the accompanying social pressures rather than slow down the economy," he said.
"If our neighbours grow and we stagnate, Singapore will face a very different geo-political environment in the future."
So to take advantage of economic opportunities and make up for low birth rates here, there was an increase in immigration of people from Malaysia, China and India.
But some people have complained that resources are being taxed and that the distinction in benefits for locals and foreigners were not clear enough.
MM Lee spelt out the benefits that Singaporeans already received - from HDB grants to subsidised fees for public hospitals.
Even then, the Government took further steps to widen the differentiation between citizens and permanent residents (PR).
Foreign workers are human beings, here to earn a living and to do the heavy work for us, he said. They work in construction, manufacturing and service industries.
IMPORTANT: Hard-working foreign workers have helped build much of the nation's infrastructure, from our schools to our homes.
MM Lee said: "Foreign workers also built housing and infrastructure projects like public transport, schools and hospitals all over Singapore.
"Without them, these projects could not have proceeded and our economy would slow down, to the detriment of Singaporeans."
Now imagine if the league introduces a cap on foreign players. Team Singapore has to slow down on the number of foreign players it can recruit.
But there are real opportunities for the team to grow. So what does Team Singapore do?
MM Lee said the same number of Singaporean workers must then produce more than before.
They must be better trained, more skilful, be able to work smart and make a collective effort as the Japanese do to make their companies succeed.
MM Lee said: "If we cannot increase the productivity or the output of our citizens, our economy will slow down.
"Then Singapore will discover that instead of many job opportunities and rising asset values, including prices for resale HDB flats, the reverse will happen across the board."
Achieve a Recognised Accounting Qualification with Kaplan
That means playing in the lower leagues with smaller payouts for the players and less sponsorship money.
And that could mean an exodus of the top players with the value of the club diminishing.
MM Lee said: "When this happens, many of our own talents will leave for greener pastures, which will exacerbate the downward spiral and eventually lead to Singapore's decline."
He spelt out training programmes that employers, NTUC, workers and the Government must adopt to continue playing at the top.
He said: "Every worker has to be re-skilled, re-trained and re-educated to achieve higher standards of capabilities."
The dinner last night was organised by the Queenstown Grassroots Organisations and was also attended by the other five MPs for Tanjong Pagar GRC.
>> ASIAONE / NEWS / THE NEW PAPER / STORY
Sun, Feb 21, 2010
The New Paper
MM Lee on S'pore's competitiveness: If we didn't have foreign workers...
By Lediati Tan and Gan Ling Kai
SINCE we're a football-mad nation, picture Team Singapore playing in the top league.
Can it do well without foreign players in the team?
Losing good players might lead to relegation. Playing the lower divisions would mean a lost of sponsorship money and an exodus of even top local talent.
Is that a risk worth taking?
Could Singapore have done well in the top league - achieving good growth and higher incomes - without foreigners'
No, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. He spoke at this year's Tanjong Pagar GRC Lunar New Year Celebration Dinner.
"That is why the Government decided in the past five years that it was better to grow the economy and manage the accompanying social pressures rather than slow down the economy," he said.
"If our neighbours grow and we stagnate, Singapore will face a very different geo-political environment in the future."
So to take advantage of economic opportunities and make up for low birth rates here, there was an increase in immigration of people from Malaysia, China and India.
But some people have complained that resources are being taxed and that the distinction in benefits for locals and foreigners were not clear enough.
MM Lee spelt out the benefits that Singaporeans already received - from HDB grants to subsidised fees for public hospitals.
Even then, the Government took further steps to widen the differentiation between citizens and permanent residents (PR).
Foreign workers are human beings, here to earn a living and to do the heavy work for us, he said. They work in construction, manufacturing and service industries.
IMPORTANT: Hard-working foreign workers have helped build much of the nation's infrastructure, from our schools to our homes.
MM Lee said: "Foreign workers also built housing and infrastructure projects like public transport, schools and hospitals all over Singapore.
"Without them, these projects could not have proceeded and our economy would slow down, to the detriment of Singaporeans."
Now imagine if the league introduces a cap on foreign players. Team Singapore has to slow down on the number of foreign players it can recruit.
But there are real opportunities for the team to grow. So what does Team Singapore do?
MM Lee said the same number of Singaporean workers must then produce more than before.
They must be better trained, more skilful, be able to work smart and make a collective effort as the Japanese do to make their companies succeed.
MM Lee said: "If we cannot increase the productivity or the output of our citizens, our economy will slow down.
"Then Singapore will discover that instead of many job opportunities and rising asset values, including prices for resale HDB flats, the reverse will happen across the board."
Achieve a Recognised Accounting Qualification with Kaplan
That means playing in the lower leagues with smaller payouts for the players and less sponsorship money.
And that could mean an exodus of the top players with the value of the club diminishing.
MM Lee said: "When this happens, many of our own talents will leave for greener pastures, which will exacerbate the downward spiral and eventually lead to Singapore's decline."
He spelt out training programmes that employers, NTUC, workers and the Government must adopt to continue playing at the top.
He said: "Every worker has to be re-skilled, re-trained and re-educated to achieve higher standards of capabilities."
The dinner last night was organised by the Queenstown Grassroots Organisations and was also attended by the other five MPs for Tanjong Pagar GRC.
, it's NOT all about the money... if it is, then why don't you go to other places like the Malaysian Chinese?
