Serious It's Official! CECA Creates Good Jobs For Sinkies! PAP Rebuts PSP Lies! Oppie Bock Really Lose Face Today!

[Hypocrite-The]

Just shows bloody wankers party is useless..

Theindependent
Home News Ong Ye Kung praises Pritam Singh, but says it's a shame PSP...
Ong Ye Kung praises Pritam Singh, but says it’s a shame PSP refused to withdraw allegations about CECA
It is a shame that PSP colleagues, after listening to the facts, would only say that they will study the matter further, and refuse to withdraw their wrongful allegations about CECA. Nonetheless, I take comfort that Mr Pritam Singh accepted our corrections of the falsehoods about CECA. He made the point that Government could have come out with data and information earlier to correct the falsehoods – a point which I accepted, he said.


Ong Ye Kung, Leong Mun Wai (photos from Facebook)
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Singapore — Health Minister Ong Ye Kung had good words to say about the Leader of the Opposition, Workers’ Party head Pritam Singh, for accepting the Government’s clarifications on CECA.

However, in the same social media post, he called it a shame that “colleagues” from Progress Singapore Party only said it would study CECA further and refused to withdraw allegations against it.

Over Facebook on Sunday (Jul 11), Mr Ong looked back on the previous week in Parliament, noting that “two good days of robust debate” had occurred—one on the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) last Monday (Jul 5) and the other on Free Trade Agreements (FTA), particularly CECA, India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement on Tuesday (Jul 6).

On Monday, Mr Singh had been in a debate with Mr Desmond Lee, the Minister of National Development, concerning the EIP, as the minister questioned the WP head on what seemed to be a change in their stance, as the party called for the policy’s immediate abolition in its election manifesto in 2006.

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Mr Ong wrote in his post that the administration also hopes that the EIP will not be needed one day.

The debate the following day was more contentious. Mr Ong, as a former trade negotiator and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng explained why FTAs, particularly CECA, are necessary, and sought to clarify the contentious issues around the agreement, tackling what they called “falsehoods” that the PSP had spread about CECA.

“It is a shame that PSP colleagues, after listening to the facts, would only say that they will study the matter further, and refuse to withdraw their wrongful allegations about CECA.
Nonetheless, I take comfort that Mr Pritam Singh accepted our corrections of the falsehoods about CECA. He made the point that Government could have come out with data and information earlier to correct the falsehoods – a point which I accepted,” wrote Mr Ong.
He also underlined that “it is very important” that political parties “achieve common ground on the fundamentals, that are vital to Singapore.”

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While acknowledging that there could be differences in perspectives, “the fundamentals that keep Singapore stable and successful are not in doubt, and not shaken.”

He added at the end of his post that if “this sort of politics in Singapore” wherein common ground can be achieved between parties, “we can be confident that better days are still ahead.”

The ministerial speeches last Tuesday were followed by an hour-long debate that saw PSP Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai sparring with the ministers.

Mr Leong said that while he and fellow PSP NCMP Hazel Poa are “for FTAs,” the party will look further as to “whether CECA has contributed to the influx of some of the PMETs into Singapore in relation to our overall foreign talent policy”.

“We don’t agree that CECA is net beneficial to Singapore at this stage,” he also said, adding, “We know the importance of the FTAs for Singapore as an open economy and especially as a small city state. However, what we are concerned about is what price we are paying.”
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/TISG

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[Hypocrite-The]

Theindependent
Sense And Nonsense by Tan Bah Bah


Ong Ye Kung (L), Tan See Leng. Photos from Facebook.
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Finally, the government has decided to “debate” CECA – after stalling for some time. Last Tuesday’s (June 6) Parliament sitting saw two ministers delivering lengthy statements on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and, specifically, the Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CEC A). Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat then joined Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng in a concerted attempt to “defang” Progress Singapore Party’s NCMPs Leong Wai Mun and Hazel Poa – even before an expected full debate at a later sitting.

Immediately after the Tuesday session, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also addressed the issue. “Singaporeans are anxious about jobs, foreign competition, as well as the impact of the large number of foreigners working and living here,” he said. “These are valid concerns which we will address. But if we put the blame on CECA, that will not solve our problem but instead make it worse.”

Looks like the government chose to bring the whole battalion to bear on the NCMPs who were just doing their job: asking for information for a proper public discourse. Remember the 1980s when SDP’s lonely MP Chiam See Tong never gave up on asking the government to explain the linkage of land priceto the pricing of HDB flats, whether the government had properly passed the benefit of low pricing to the public. Lots of government stalling, including the release of official files with every other page heavily redacted. Similarly, dribs and drabs on CECA until now.

CECA was signed in 2005 with a couple of reviews in subsequent years. It went largely unnoticed in the public eye until the 2010s. This was when Singaporeans began to feel the pressure of living almost cheek to jowl with an influx of foreigners – in public transport and at work places. Complaints of unfair job practices which put Singaporeans at a disadvantage in their own country started to appear. This led to the setting up of the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP) to deal with these infringements which reportedly tended to involve an unnamed country which was not too hard to guess. The very fact that TAFEP had to be set up showed that CECA had made life difficult for Singaporeans: they were being blatantly discriminated in their own country.

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Long before Leong and Poa brought the issue to Parliament, Workers’ Party MPs had already been asking questions.

One of the concerns has been intra-corporate transferees (ICTs) who do not seem to come under the usual employment rules and, hence, can be used to game the system. Under World Trade Agreement regulations governing FTAs, ICTsare allowed, meaning, companies can move their personnel around from country to country, provided overseas employees at an MNC have worked for at least a year in the company, before being posted to a branch or subsidiary in Singapore.WP’s Leon Perera asked in 2016 for a breakdown of such employees working through CECA but was stonewalled. Leong Mun Wai succeeded in getting a figure in February this year – 5 per cent of all Employment Pass holders.

Even earlier than that, WP’s Gerald Giam also brought up in 2014 some issues involving ICTs under CECA. New Delhi was reportedly asking for better privileges.

“Gerald Giam Yean Song: I have two supplementary questions, Madam. I understand that India is claiming that our Work Pass framework, which has been tightened in recent years, somehow violates CECA, or they are saying that they are entitled to allow more workers to come in here. So, can the Minister share with us his interpretation of what India’s claims are?

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Secondly, can the Minister also share Ministry of Trade and Industry’s position on this, and also give us an assurance that the government will stand up to pressure from the Indians to allow more of their nationals to work here?

Then Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang: Under the FTAs that we negotiated, there is an exchange of preferential treatment. In India’s case, in CECA’s case, one of the privileges we extend to India was to create greater conveniences for business people to move between the two countries, Singaporean businessmen to India, and vice versa.

Under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) in World Trade Organization (WTO), we grant such ICTs, say five years. In India’s case, we allow them to do so for eight years. These are the kind of privileges.”

Leong and Poa were similarly asking for clarifications and more information to clear doubts on Singaporeans’ minds. In the exchange of words on Tuesday, the PSP stuck by their position that they fully supported FTAs but reserved judgement on CECA, presumably until more information was forthcoming or more was done to prevent our PMETs from being marginalised in their own country.

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No one was “barking up the wrong tree”. No one was xenophobic. No one was making scapegoats out of anything. No one was “against Indians” (that literally came out of one of the ministers’ mouth).

Singaporeans are worried. Just look at this perceptive comment from a reader of one of the websites that the government is so eager to dismiss as “toxic”:

“SC: Just top 1% of South Asia equals 13.8 million. Certainly our 50k top is no match when it comes to any kind of competition. It’s a no brainer. The men have to serve reservist at the same time.”

If something is not done, that “only 500” of 42,000 transferees (ICTs) in 2020 (what about the other years before Covid-19?) will turn into a deluge that will drown all Singaporeans.

Tan Bah Bah, consulting editor of TheIndependent.Sg, is a former senior leader writer with The Straits Times. He was also managing editor of a local magazine publishing company.

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[syed putra]

Seems like only Singapore signed CECA,; either we are stupid or extremely smart ... only time will tell

Of course it is smart. Sinkie gets a bigger option in choosing where to work in either Singapore, jaipur, Kanpur or sultanpur

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Dr Tan Cheng Bock calls Minister K Shanmugam a “bully” in the way he addressed PSP’s Leong Mun Wai in Parliament - The Online Citizen Asia
The chairman of Progress Singapore Party (PSP) Dr Tan Cheng Bock has called Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam a “bully” in the way he asked a question to PSP’s Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai in Parliament last May.

“I think Shanmugam is a bully… It’s the manner he posed that question to him, it’s very not gentleman for a minister,” said Dr Tan in an interview with Yahoo News Singapore.

Dr Tan was referring to the Parliament session in May when Mr Shanmugam openly challenged Mr Leong to file a motion to debate on the controversial India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to find out if Singaporeans are benefitting or losing from the free trade agreement.

“There have been several canards about CECA promoted by whispering campaign. If anyone here believes that CECA is a problem, put it up for a motion, debate it openly, and let’s hear if Singaporeans benefit or lose from it,” Mr Shanmugam said.

He added, “I’m looking at you, Mr Leong. I invite you to put up a motion to debate CECA. You know that most of what is said about CECA is false.”

In response to the Law Minister’s challenge, Mr Leong said that PSP is interested in taking up the issue of CECA at “some point in time”.

Later in June, Mr Leong wrote in a Facebook post that the PSP has accepted the challenge to have “a thorough debate” on Singapore’s employment policies and the CECA, in the spirit of “protecting our domestic economy and our people”.

Following that, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng delivered ministerial statements to defend the Government’s position on CECA in Parliament earlier this month (6 July). Mr Ong accused PSP of using CECA as a “political scapegoat” to discredit the People’s Action Party (PAP).

Commenting on this, Dr Tan said in the interview that PSP is being targeted by the ruling party, adding that he is glad that Mr Leong took up the challenge thrown by Mr Shanmugam.

When asked if he played a role in getting Mr Leong to accept the challenge, the 81-year-old chairman said: “I think to a large extent he was also influenced by my opening remarks when I wanted to form the party (a few years ago) and said one of the areas that we should really look into is this review (of) CECA, on our employment of PMETs.

“I’m happy for him, I am glad he took the challenge. If he didn’t take the challenge I would have scolded him,” said Dr Tan.

However, the former veteran PAP MP agreed that it was a daunting challenge for Mr Leong to face off the ministers.

He also noted that it is good sign that ministers are challenging his party and that the PAP is worried about PSP.

“They know that the PSP is not just a fly-by-night party now,” he added.

Dr Tan also pointed out that the NCMPs have strong support from others in the party to prepare for parliamentary debates.

“You think Mun Wai, when he goes to Parliament he’s not backed by people? Of course I have team to back him. I have a special parliamentary team manned by very good people, smart people, to give him the ammunition… for both of them.”

According to Dr Tan, although the party may not have “great debaters”, but it tries to raise concerns of Singaporeans. “This is what the people have told us, so this what we are telling you.”

PSP’s NCMPs have had credible performances
Speaking about the NCMPs, both Mr Leong and Ms Hazel Poa, Dr Tan expressed that they had credible performances with the ministers since the opening of Parliament on 24 August last year, adding that the duo managed to articulate PSP’s positions on different issues.

“So Mun Wai is quite cautious, he has all these figures, and it’s up to the government to challenge him. And I find that they (the ministers) have not been able to challenge him so well,” he said.

He continued, “And then Hazel is very, very quiet, in her own way, not confrontational but she will tell you something I think the government will have to take note. Look at her educational speeches.”

Dr Tan, a retired general practitioner, also remembered the advice he gave to Mr Leong and Ms Poa upon their entry into the Parliament. He told them that being under constant scrutiny in Parliament is par for the course as they are the minority, adding that they should always remain calm when debating issues.

“You will get a lot of parliamentary wounds, you will get hit. But don’t worry, this is part and parcel of the growing up process of any NCMP in Parliament. But it is important that they maintain their stature and cool, because they will be the example, where many people are watching (them) and they are hoping that they will be of value as MPs in the future. So it’s a tough journey.”

PSP’s future
Speaking about the party’s future, the octogenarian said that he is focusing on cultivating PSP’s network with external associations as well as professionals, adding that this is part of PSP’s long-term goals to move away from a party that has been closely associated with him.

“PSP was formed by Tan Cheng Bock but it is the people’s party, not my party… and Singaporeans must come to realise there is hope in joining this party because we are giving a different perspective of how things should be managed and how things should be run,” he said.

Dr Tan strongly hopes that his and the PSP’s efforts will show positive results at future elections.

“This is very important, must get that message across that there is an alternative to the PAP. The PAP has got no prerogative to run, to rule this country forever,” he stated.

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[Hypocrite-The]

MAS Chief now says SG anxieties need to be addressed after intense debate on CECA in Parliament - The Online Citizen Asia
by Correspondent
15/07/2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Last Tue (6 Jul) in Parliament, the People’s Action Party (PAP) government continued to maintain that the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) does not allow Indian nationals free entry to Singapore.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and CECA have not curtailed the power of Singapore immigration authorities to regulate the entry of foreign PMETs into Singapore.

He further dismissed Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) claim that the 127 categories of professionals listed in CECA allow Indian nationals to flood Singapore’s job market, saying that all foreign PMETs have to meet the relevant criteria set by the government to work here.

Manpower Minister Tan See Leng added, “None of our FTAs, including the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Ceca), gives intra-corporate transferees unfettered access to our labour market.”

Many netizens, however, remain unconvinced. Some claimed that they have first-hand knowledge of how CECA has caused an influx of Indian nationals in their previous workplaces. Others ridiculed Ong asking why the need to list down the 127 professions in CECA in the first place.

MAS Chairman now talks about need for Singaporean core
After an intense Parliamentary debate over CECA last week, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon gave a speech at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) yesterday (14 Jul), saying that there is a need for a Singaporean core.

Just 2 months ago (4 May), he told everyone at a conference that Singapore will have to rely on foreigners to fill the vacancies for technology jobs in the next few years. He said that Singaporeans make up only one-third of the estimated 25,000 tech workforce in the financial sector. That is to say, Singaporeans are not the core tech workers at least in the finance sector.

He added that the pipeline of local tech graduates wasn’t enough to fill the vacancies. The large mismatch between demand and supply meant that “we have to continue to depend on foreigners to fill the growing vacancies for technology jobs over the next few years,” he emphasized.

“If we tighten this inflow excessively, it will impair not just the competitiveness of our financial centre but dampen the prospects for creating good jobs in the future, especially for Singaporeans.”

But yesterday, he turned around acknowledging that Singapore’s strategy of growing a strong Singaporean core while attracting foreign talents is “coming under strain” amid growing unhappiness among locals over job competition from foreigners.

He now said that the anxieties of how some Singaporeans feel about the influx of foreigners are real and need to be addressed. “We need to resolve this effective divide… Singapore cannot afford to be seen either as lacking in opportunity for our own citizens or unwelcoming of foreigners.”

He shared that some steps could be taken to raise the qualifying salaries of foreign workers here, as well as to do more to stop discriminatory hiring practices.

He suggested continue to raise the minimum qualifying salary for S Pass and Employment Pass (EP) holders with the S Pass minimum salary raised to around $4,500 from the present $2,500. But he cautioned against tightening EPs at the higher end, as it could lead to the loss of adjacent local jobs.

Secondly, he also suggested to do more to stop discriminatory hiring. “We might want to consider directly punishing the individuals in the firm found to have engaged in discriminatory hiring,” he said. Such measures could include imposing financial penalties, reducing bonuses and freezing promotions.

“We can accept this as long as the foreigners who come here are of high quality, help to expand economic activity, and thereby help to create job opportunities for Singaporeans… and Singaporeans are always treated fairly,” he added.

In any case, it’s not known how he is going to address the issue of growing a Singaporean core among tech workers in the financial industry, since Singaporeans only compose of one-third in that sector.

It’s also not known if Menon still wants to continue the practice of importing Indian nationals to fill the tech gap since Manpower Minister Tan told Parliament last week that the huge growth of Indian nationals from 14 percent in 2005 to 25 percent last year was due to the “growth of digital economy”.

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[Hypocrite-The]

Theindependent
Despite his disclaimer, many still felt that his post was racist and discriminatory. However, there were others who also agreed with him.


FB screengrab Singapore CBD
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Singapore — A man working in a local bank wrote that the job market is all about demand and supply. He added that the higher the supply of labour, the lower our salaries.

In a Reddit post on Sunday (Jul 11), the netizen shared: “I work in a local bank, IT department. And yes our development team of 100 people are mostly from India, ive not gone around counting everyone, but i can say that in my team of 8, there is only 2 SG”.

He added that during Covid-19, the Singaporeans were mostly hired because of a government programme, but noted that recently his bank had “begun hiring Indians again”.

The netizen wrote that the jobs are well paying and suitable for Singaporeans, so there is no reason why the latter cannot be trained.

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“the problem with opening the flood gates, is that all our salaries go down over time. As long as there is more supply then demand, wages will be suppressed”, he wrote.

The netizen said that Singapore was about corporations, and not citizens, so he opined that ultimately the hiring process was about what benefitted companies the most.

At the end of his post, the man added a disclaimer: “And if any one wants to accuse me of being racist, im indian too, so kindly f**k off”.

Despite his disclaimer, many still felt that his post was racist and discriminatory. However, there were others who also agreed with him.

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[Leckmichamarsch]

how many yeendians now fucking your mother?

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Straits Times supports Ministers and criticises PSP Leong for not retracting statements against CECA - The Online Citizen Asia​

by Correspondent
18/07/2021
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Two weeks ago (6 Jul), a heated debate over India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) erupted in Parliament with the People’s Action Party (PAP) crossing swords with the Progress Singapore Party (PSP).
PSP’s Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai raised more questions on Singapore’s foreign worker policies after PAP Ministers Ong Ye Kung and Tan See Leng delivered their official statements with regard to accusations levelled at CECA.
Mr Leong refused to back down entirely despite Ong pressing him more than once during the debate to acknowledge that some of PSP’s statements about CECA were false.
“The whole purpose of this statement is that I know PSP is preparing for a motion debate, but I’m also hoping that we all go into the debate with some common ground … Let’s put aside the falsehoods … and don’t bring them into the motion,” said Ong. Nevertheless, Mr Leong did not back down.

ST criticises PSP​

Today, Straits Times’ Senior Political Correspondent Grace Ho decided to write an opinion piece to further criticise Mr Leong (‘Ceca is not a four-letter word’, 18 Jul).
She said amid Singapore’s increasingly complex challenges, the last thing Singapore needs is the non-constructive circularity in the trade pact’s debate. “PSP’s refusal to walk back on its past statements is troubling,” she said.
Praising the 2 ministers, Ms Ho wrote, “I thought that Health Minister Ong Ye Kung – a former trade negotiator – and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng supplied useful facts and gave an accurate steer on how Ceca works.”
She cited how Singapore has long tapped foreign manpower to overcome the limitations of its human capital since the 80s. “In the 1980s, programmes to draw skilled labour here included the Professionals Information and Placement Service, and the Committee on Attracting Talents to Singapore,” she said.
“Later, an international manpower division was created within the Manpower Ministry (MOM) to oversee Contact Singapore offices in global cities and draw overseas talent to work here.”
The efforts paid off, she said citing a 2016 study by Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) saying that net migration numbers “increased drastically” in 2005 and peaked in 2008. This helped to counter falling birth rates in Singapore, she noted.
Ms Ho went on to argue that no amount of data can prevent some people from viewing CECA as inherently suspect.
“Knowing this, and also knowing how racially charged the public discourse on Ceca is, PSP’s refusal to walk back on its past statements is troubling,” she criticised PSP.
Bringing in trade into her argument, she warned, “It sets up a dangerous dynamic for Singapore, which relies on trade to expand its economic space and enhance its labour market flexibility. Already, some foreign investors and residents feel Singapore is anti-foreigner.”
She stressed that the bottom line is this: CECA does not interfere with Singapore authorities’ powers to decide whether foreigners can enter and live here.

Number of Indian EP professionals skyrocketed from 2005 after signing of CECA​

It is indeed true that there are no legal clauses inside CECA mandating that Singapore must allow a certain number or even free rein of Indian professionals to work here.
However, it’s interesting to note that, as admitted by Minister Tan, the proportion of Indian professionals grew from 14 percent in 2005 to 25 percent last year among all EP holders in Singapore.
That is to say, among the nearly 200 countries on Earth today, 25 percent of all foreign EP professionals working in Singapore came from 1 single country alone – India. And this explosion in growth of Indian professionals working here occurred right after CECA was signed in 2005.
And if we were to put the figures in actual numbers, the growth is not double (100%) as in 14 percent to 25 percent as what ST had earlier reported, but in fact, 486 percent from 9,100 to 44,250.
Minister Tan explained in Parliament that this “rise” in Indian professionals here is attributed to the “rapid growth of Singapore’s digital economy, rather than the result of more favourable treatment for Indian EP holders due to CECA”.
And speaking of “tech talent” needed for Singapore’s digital economy, HackerRank, a global technology hiring platform for assessing IT developer skills, conducted a study some time ago to see which country has the best IT programmers and developers.
As part of the study, HackerRank ranked more than 1.5 million IT developers who took part in solving challenging coding problems on its site. The ranking was based on factors such as accuracy and speed.
It was found that IT developers from India were ranked at a lowly 31st position in terms of talent, with people from 30 other countries beating those from India. Even Singapore was ranked 13th in the world way ahead of India.

Furthermore, no figures have been provided by the Ministers as to how local Singaporean workforce benefited from CECA.
Conversely, from figures shown in United Nations’ data show that the number of Singaporeans living in India had dropped since 2005 instead of the expected growth if CECA had allowed Singaporeans to tap into a larger market as ST article seems to have suggested at its start.

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[kaninabuchaojibye]

fuck ceca
fuck pap

 

[batman1]

CECA Variant create good jobs for sinkees ?

 

[Hypocrite-The]

NCMP Leong Mun Wai: No credibility to a narrative without comprehensive data to support it - The Online Citizen Asia
PSP NCMP Leong Mun Wai questions the PA’s huge budget of S$796 million; asks if its role can be redefined
Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai took to Facebook on Tuesday (20 July) to highlight that the ministerial statements delivered by Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng earlier this month in Parliament failed to provide all the data that PSP filed in its parliamentary questions.

Mr Leong said that PSP had filed seven questions which required the Government to disclose hundreds of data points from different nationalities and work pass categories over the last 20 years. However, he noted that only two ministerial statements regarding this was delivered by the Government, with only “a few scattered point of data”.

“Besides the lack of data, we also found the presentation of data to be problematic. E.g. data points were presented in convoluted and confusing ways, we requested for data on PMETs but the data given only covered PMEs, and so on,” he added.

Earlier on 6 July, Mr Ong and Dr Tan delivered two ministerial statements regarding the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that PSP had filed for.

Learn more
Mr Ong wrote in a Facebook post prior to that saying that the ministerial statements will address the “false allegations” that FTAs permit foreign professionals a free hand to live and work in Singapore.

Coming back to Mr Leong’s Facebook post yesterday, the NCMP expressed that he is “greatly encouraged” by the enormous interest shown by Singaporeans on the issues raised by the ministerial statements.

He noted that Dr Tan had pointed out that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and tripartite partners are looking into the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices so as to “to strengthen measures to tackle workplace discrimination”, adding that “it will not be long” before the relevant parties come back with a recommendation.

Besides that, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon had also suggested to tighten the qualifying salaries for Employment Pass and S Pass foreign PMETs, in addition to “targeting individuals in firms found to be guilty of discriminatory hiring in favour of foreigners”.

Mr Ravi spoke about this during a lecture at the Institute of Policy Studies, said Mr Leong.

“It is motivating to feel the winds of change and heartening to see the effect of PSP raising the right questions in parliament,” he expressed.

PSP to file eight more parliamentary questions
However, Mr Leong asserted that just tweaking and adjusting current policies is insufficient as they “do not address fundamental problems that stemmed from the lack of foresight in striking a balance in the job market from the very beginning”.

He added that PSP wants to see a “thorough review of the impact of the Foreign Talent policy” as well as the large number of foreign PMETs entering into Singapore’s labour market over the last 20 years.

“We wish to see a clear plan of action from the government that can bring about tangible improvements to address the sufferings of affected Singaporeans,” Mr Leong stressed.

In order to do so, he noted that PSP needs more data from the Government, adding that the data provided in the ministerial statements were inadequate.

Hence, PSP will be filing another eight parliament questions at the next parliamentary sitting next week (26 July). The questions will be requesting for fuller data sets and clarifications on the few data points that the Ministers had disclosed, said Mr Leong.

“For example, we will be requesting for time series data from 2005-2020 involving professionals, managers and executives (PMEs). Health Minister Ong Ye Kung only provided two single data points from that time period, which is that the total number of PME jobs created for residents (Singaporeans and PRs) and foreigners were 380,000 and 112,000 respectively,” he elaborated.

Mr Leong continued, “We will also be asking for more details about the 97,000 jobs that the Minister said had been created for residents by the 660 Singapore companies that have invested in India since 2005.”

Additionally, he also mentioned that Dr Tan’s reasoning on why the Government doesn’t publish detailed statistics of Singapore’s foreign workforce, especially based on nationality, is “vague”.

Dr Tan had earlier said that this information is not published due to “foreign policy reasons”.

“If there are no specific concerns, I would urge the Minister to provide whatever data he can in the spirit of, in his own words, allowing for ‘meaning engagement’ on the issue. We need to examine the data and ascertain the facts before we reach meaningful conclusion,” Mr Leong asserted.

“In attempting to present a narrative without comprehensive data to support it, the Ministerial Statements simply do not carry the credibility that such statements normally do. Accordingly, there is also little credibility in any mainstream media reports trying to support the same narrative,” he added.

Mr Leong went on to say that the Government must know that it is not good enough to deliver “sweeping statements and give reassurances when it provides scant evidence to back up its assertions”.

As an example, he stated that Mr Ong tried to frame certain questions in a binary form which forced him to give a simple “yes or no” answer.

To this, Mr Leong said: “I believe that Singaporeans are sophisticated enough to understand that we can have nuanced positions on complex issues. For instance, I have repeatedly said in parliament that PSP fully supports FTAs in general. But how beneficial FTAs are depend on their specific terms in relation to our domestic conditions.”

“While FTAs do not take away our sovereign right to regulate immigration, some may still constrain our latitude to formulate and implement our immigration policies,” he added.

Mr Leong also urged Singaporeans to not be distracted by allegations made against the alternative party, noting that PSP never said that CECA gives “unfettered access” to Singapore’s labour markets and that such constant accusations are “regrettable”.

“They [PAP] shift the focus away from the real and pressing issues that genuinely concern Singaporeans,” he wrote.

Mr Leong concluded his post saying that PSP will keep asking the “right questions in the run-up and during the #PSPJobsDebate to enable us to get a fuller picture of the situation of displaced Singaporeans”.

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[Leongsam]

Talk is cheap. One look at this chart tells the whole story. Circulate and let sinkies decide for themselves.

 

[Linglinglonglong]

Never let pap pull u into their narrative. Jus review the current situation at CBP. Scrub thru how the number of ceca got so big. How? And what is the annualised growth rate and if it's slowing down.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Talk is cheap. One look at this chart tells the whole story. Circulate and let sinkies decide for themselves.

View attachment 116887

How come these shitcas can do 'well' in singkieland banks. But in shitcaland ...will they do better?

 

[Hypocrite-The]

The whole CECA, FTA saga is an obfuscation - The Online Citizen Asia
by Henry Tan

The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) became effective on 1 Aug 2005, and a Second Protocol amending certain parts came into force on 14 Sept 2018.

The Second Protocol did not amend Chapter 9 on Movement of Natural Persons which relates to Indian National entering Singapore.

CECA came into the spotlight after an incident in 2019 involving an Indian man who was later found to have taken Singapore citizenship.

The incident provoked activists to organise an event at Hong Lim Park in November the same year that rode on general unhappiness over the Government’s plan to raise Singapore’s population to 6.9 million and deteriorating employment for certain layers of society despite a growing economy.

CECA then simmered until a few short video clips surfaced on social media during the COVID-19 restrictions, showing Indian-looking persons receiving racial remarks.

The Law and Home Affairs minister believed that rumors about CECA had something to do with the racial exhibits, and challenged a Member of Parliament (MP) to table a debate on CECA, which he did. The debate has been reported.

Unfortunately, this whole saga is an obfuscation.

If the Chapter 9 in CECA was already enshrined in 2005, why did the government not explain that in 2019 when it first became an issue? In fact, it should have been explained earlier in 2005.

Neglecting this and withholding data have given currency to the reasonable deduction that the large influx of Indian nationals can be associated with CECA.

The MPs who raised this issue outside or inside parliament are giving their constituency a voice for their unhappiness as they increasingly encounter large groups of Indian nationals.

Senior parliamentarians tried to confuse the issue by claiming that such acts were just stirring up rumours and causing trouble.

The saga was further muddied by implying that not supporting CECA per se amounts to not supporting FTAs in general, or being xenophobic or nationalistic – none of which are really true.

The same unhappiness would have developed had CECA been made with another nation.

This is an opinion piece from a member of the public, and does not reflect TOC’s position on any matter.
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[batman1]

Talk is cheap. One look at this chart tells the whole story. Circulate and let sinkies decide for themselves.

View attachment 116887

Sam, Are they all from the same village ?

 

[Hypocrite-The]

TAFEP says will look into discriminatory job recruitment adv that offered $2,500 to $3,700 for various appointments in Singapore - The Online Citizen Asia
by Correspondent
24/07/2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
TAFEP says will look into discriminatory job recruitment adv that offered $2,500 to $3,700 for various appointments in Singapore
On Mon (19 Jul), the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) made a post on its Facebook page, advising people to ensure that their job advertisements adhere to TAFEP guidelines so as to “avoid being discriminatory”, regardless of the recruitment platform used.

The post even included further write-ups to help employers write a “fair job advertisement”. TAFEP was set up in 2006 by the Ministry of Manpower, NTUC and Singapore National Employers Federation to promote the adoption of fair, responsible and progressive employment practices in Singapore.

Not long after TAFEP made the post, a netizen made a follow-up post on Wed (21 Jul) showing TAFEP that a discriminatory advertisement has been made on Facebook.

The netizen asked TAFEP if the advertisement is considered acceptable. “The wording seems to indicate that they are ONLY recruiting people from India for these jobs and no one else,” the netizen noted.

Learn more
TAFEP replied on Thursday (22 Jul) saying, “We will look into this recruitment ad. Thanks.”


Discriminatory job advertisement comes from Maclareen Consulting
Further online checks reveal that the job advertisement actually came from the Facebook page of Maclareen Consulting, an education consulting firm based in the city of Thane which lies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region of India.

The advertisement asked for numerous positions with salaries offered ranging from S$2,500 to S$3,700. The advertisement is asking for S Pass job applicants. The job advertisement was on Maclareen Consulting’s Facebook page since 30 Mar this year.


It’s not known if Maclareen Consulting has a local representative but if the job advertisement was uploaded outside of Singapore, TAFEP may not necessary have the power to stop the advertisement.

In any case, it appears that Maclareen Consulting is only an agent. It’s not known if any of the companies in Singapore have asked them directly to help recruit foreign S Pass job applicants. If it was indeed the case, then these companies would unlikely be willing to recruit any local job applicants since they have already bent on recruiting S Pass foreigners.

Then, any job advertisements put up by these companies on the Singapore’s National Jobs Bank to recruit Singaporeans will be futile.

Whistleblower needed to stop company from identifying pre-hires
Currently, companies need to put up jobs ads on the Jobs Bank to give the locals a chance to apply before they are allowed to hire foreigners.

Last Oct, the media published an article highlighting an unfair hiring case involving a finance and insurance company. The company was caught pre-selecting a foreign candidate for a managerial role at its Singapore office, after a whisleblower, the firm’s human resources manager subsequently filed a complaint with TAFEP against the company.

It was found that while the company posted a job advertisement on the Jobs Bank for the minimum period of 14 days as stipulated under the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF), the company went on to sign the employment contract with the pre-selected foreign applicant even before the job advertisement on the Jobs Bank had expired.

Furthermore, it was found that the work experience and educational qualifications of the pre-selected foreigner, a British national based at the company’s London office, also did not meet the advertised requirements.

The advertisement received more than 60 applications, with 28 fulfilling the advertised requirements, but none of the applicants were invited for interviews.

The case was subsequently referred to MOM but MOM decided to suspend the work pass privileges of the offending firm for only 6 months.

If it wasn’t for the whisleblower, the said firm mentioned earlier would have successfully recruited the British national from its London office to Singapore.

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[Hypocrite-The]

Theindependent
The salary offered by the company was misleading, as according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) website, Employment Pass holders need to be given a fixed minimum monthly salary of $4,500 (more experienced candidates need higher salaries).


Author

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Singapore — A hiring advertisement posted online by an Indian company drew flak from netizens for having a number of issues.

The company which posted the listing, one Maclareen Consulting, advertised a 2-year Employment Pass (E-Pass) and a confirmed job with accommodation

According to the job listing, the salary offered was S$2500 to S$3200. Positions offered were store keeper, system administrator, warehouse keeper, computer operator, front office executive, accountant and office supervisor and assistant.

The listing also said that quarantine charges were borne by the employer.

- Advertisement -
The salary offered by the company was misleading, as according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) website, Employment Pass holders need to be given a fixed monthly salary of at least $4,500 (more experienced candidates need higher salaries). This amount is the minimum salary.

On Facebook, the job listing was posted by one Nithya on Tuesday (Jul 20), who wrote: “We’re hiring for Singapore. Indian candidates can apply”.

According to cnplaw.com, “In order to obtain work passes for their foreign employees, many of the convicted employers have attempted to circumvent the minimum salary requirement to obtain EPs. Such attempts usually involve compelling the foreign employees to return monthly amounts to the employer as reimbursement for the provision of food, accommodation or transport, after paying them the declared salaries. Such repayments are usually paid in cash in order to avoid detection”.

cnplaw.com wrote that one Harry’s International Pte Ltd was guilty of this practice, where the former President and Chief Operating Officer of HIPL instructed her subordinates to declare the monthly salaries of 20 foreign employees as $3,100 to meet the minimum salary requirement needed to obtain EPs (as it was then).

- Advertisement -
“These employees were paid a monthly salary of $3,100 but were compelled to return cash amounts of $1,600 to “reimburse” the company for the costs of meals and transportation the day after receiving their salaries. Investigations subsequently revealed that not all foreign employees enjoyed such employee benefits and where provided, the actual cost was less than $1,600. The convicted director was fined $40,000”, they added.

While it is unclear if this is a practice by Maclareen Consulting, TISG has reached out to the company and to the MOM for comment and clarification.

Netizens who commented on the job listing were also unhappy that the job was only open to Indians, and not to locals.


/TISG

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[Hypocrite-The]

Singapore Govt produces Youtube videos to explain “serious falsehoods” about CECA - The Online Citizen Asia
Singapore Govt produces Youtube videos to explain “serious falsehoods” about CECA
The Singapore government has once again made efforts to debunk the misconceptions about the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), this time in two Youtube videos explaining two “serious falsehoods” relating to CECA.

However, viewers do not seem to react positively to the videos based on the comments left on the videos and the number of dislikes.

The first video, which was posted by the Gov.sg on Monday (23 Aug) as an “abridged version” of the video, started off with the fact that CECA is one of the 26 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that was signed by Singapore in 2005.

It revealed that the investments made by Singapore companies to India have grown to S$61 billion since the inception of CECA, of which these companies supported a total of 97,000 local jobs in Singapore as of 2019.

Learn more
At the same time, Singapore gained help from Indian companies to boost its Infocomm sector.

The video also highlighted two “serious falsehoods” swirling around CECA, with the first falsehood being that “CECA allows the free flow of Indian nationals as Intra-Corporate Transferees (ICTs)”.

Gov.sg deemed it’s a falsehood because ICTs must meet the work pass qualifying criteria before being allowed to work in Singapore, and at present, there are only about 500 Indian ICTs in Singapore.

The second falsehood it highlighted was that “CECA has allowed 127 professions free access to Singapore”.

Gov.sg stressed that the listing of 127 categories “does not confer any free pass to Indian nationals” as it is up to Singapore to decide based on the country’s needs and rules at the end of the day.

“Is the number of Indian nationals working in Singapore a result of CECA? No. Whether someone is hired to work in Singapore depends on the industry demand for talent, not CECA. CECA does not lead to more favourable treatment for Indian nationals,” it added.


Gov.sg has also released a longer version of the video, where it implies that the number of foreign professionals in Singapore is based on the demands of the industry.

“Let’s consider a company that wants to set up here. Say it needs 3,000 people but finds only 2,500 in Singapore because we simply do not have that many people. It will need to bring in 500 people from overseas. If we say no to these 500 foreigners, the investment wouldn’t come in. But if we say yes, that’s 2,500 more jobs for Singaporeans,” it explained.

In the video, it was revealed that the number of Employment Pass (EP) holders have increased by 112,000 between 2005 to last year, as well as the number of local PMEs which increased to more than 380,000.

While Gov.sg is aware of the job competition between local and foreign PMEs at the individual company level, it noted that the government cannot “completely shield” Singaporeans from the competition.

But it promised to ensure fair competition between local and foreign PMEs through regular updates of the country’s work pass criteria.

“For example, in 2020, we raised the minimum qualifying salary for EPs from S$3,600 to S$4,500. This salary requirement also increases with age to provide sufficient protection for our mature workers. The bottom line is that we want foreigners with the valuable skills we lack and not because they are cheaper,” it said.

Gov.sg noted that the second “real challenge on the ground” is a mismatch of skills, of which the government has invested “heavily” in skills upgrading and job facilitation to tackle this. It revealed that nearly 110,000 locals have secured jobs and skills opportunities through the SGUnited jobs and skills package as of April this year.

Other challenges include foreign nationals using “fake degrees” to be employed in Singapore, and unfair hiring practices by companies – such as when a foreign department head tries to hire workers from his own country.

“We have the Fair Consideration Framework to guard against discriminatory hiring practices and monitor nationality concentration at the company level. Errant employers have been penalized and MOM keeps a close watch on this,” said Gov.sg.

As for the public’s concern about the number of foreigners in the Infocomm sector, it explained that Singapore does not have enough locals to take up the jobs in Infocom tech support.

“The reality is we don’t have enough locals to do all the backend, Infocomm tech support for our companies. Without these foreign workers, the companies, they serve would simply relocate to places where they can find support.

“So, yes, we have more EPs but that is because we brought in a lot of investment and created many jobs for Singaporeans,” it remarked.

The issue of CECA
CECA had its first beginnings in April 2002 when then-Prime Minister Goh Chock Tong and India’s then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced intentions to explore closer economic ties between the two nations to come up with a comprehensive economic partnership.

Singapore fielded a 30-member negotiation team led by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who at the time was the permanent secretary for trade and industry, while India’s delegation was headed by Secretary of Commerce Dipak Chatterjee.

After 13 rounds of negotiation held in India and Singapore over the next three years, CECA was signed off in June 2005 when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made a state visit to India.

According to the Enterprise Singapore website, one of the key benefits of CECA is a tariff reduction of 81 per cent for Singapore-originating exports to India including products such as food, plastics, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and mechanical appliances.

Another aspect of CECA is that it provides for lateral transfers of professionals.

Basically, citizens and permanent residents of either countries are guaranteed entry and stay in the other country as business visitors, short-term service suppliers, professionals hired directly by a company in Singapore, as well as intra-corporate transferees (ICTs).

However, CECA has been blamed for allowing Indian nationals into Singapore to displace Singaporeans’ jobs.

In contrast to nationals from Malaysia and China who take up the bulk of the migrant workers in Singapore, Indian nationals are seen to take up jobs in the professional sectors of industries as compared to the former nationals who are largely concentrated in the blue-collar sectors which are largely shunned by locals due to the harsh working environment and low wages.

The Singapore government has multiple times attempted to debunk the misconceptions of CECA, saying that no provision in CECA allows Indian nationals to be given citizenship in Singapore.

Even though many questions have been put to the government over the years regarding the actual data pertaining to talent transfer between Singapore and India under CECA, among other details, the government’s answers have been scarce.

In Parliament on 6 July, Progress Singapore Party’s (PSP) NCMP Leong Mun Wai asked about the number of nationals from countries under Singapore’s FTAs—namely China, India, US, and Australia—who have entered and worked in Singapore using ICT visas, professional visas, and dependent passes for each year from 2005 until last year.

In response, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng noted that the total number of ICTs have “consistently been very small” as there were only about 4,200 ICTs working in Singapore last year, of which 500 were brought in from India.

This is out of 177,000 Employment Pass (EP) holders in Singapore, said Dr Tan.

“None of our FTAs, including CECA, gives ICTs unfettered access to our labour market, they all have to meet the Ministry of Manpower’s work pass criteria,” he added.

Dr Tan went on to explain that such employees are subject to additional checks on their seniority, employment history and work experience. They are also subject to “more conditions” on their eligibility to bring in dependants, and apply for permanent residency or future employment in Singapore.

He also clarified that there is no such category as “professional visas”, adding that all 127 categories of professionals under CECA currently come in under the regular work pass framework.

We note that Dr Tan only provided figured for various passes issued under the FTA for 2020, instead of every year since 2005 as requested by Mr Leong. There was also no breakdown of the figures by country.

In his second Parliamentary question on the FTAs and CECA, Mr Leong asked the number of nationals from China, India, USA, and Australia, holding EPs or S Passes who are currently working in companies with fewer than 10 employees.

Dr Tan replied that about a quarter of the 177,100 EP holders in Singapore hail from India last year, which has increased from about one-seventh in 2005, but he did not provide any specific numbers to this.

“The top nationalities that comprise around two-thirds of our EP holders has been consistent since 2005 – namely, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, and the UK. The interest is really in Indian EP holders,” he explained.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who said that he did not plan on speaking in Parliament on 6 July, eventually rose to “set on record” that the movement of natural persons in Chapter 9 of CECA was “not used as a bargaining chip” in settling the free trade pact.

Chapter 9 in CECA, on the movement of natural persons, pertains to temporary entry for individuals into both countries.

Mr Heng explained: “The chapter on the movement of natural persons was indeed one that the negotiators in India were very keen on and they said, ‘What do we get?’. Well, I said, ‘No, because this is of great importance to Singapore. You have a population that is over a billion’.

“Singapore had a population of, at that time, probably about three million or so. And I said, ‘We would be easily swamped. So, we must have very strict agreements on this’.”

Mr Leong had also asked the Minister for Trade and Industry in July about how many of the 97,000 locals hired by Singaporean companies with investments in India are new jobs that can be attributed to the signing of CECA and how many are existing jobs that are re-designated.

In a written reply, Mr Gan Kim Yong said that this specific data is not available as “companies consider multiple factors before they hire new employees, define job scopes, or re-designate existing positions”.

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[Hypocrite-The]

PM Lee continues to talk about tightening criteria for foreign work pass holders 10 years later - The Online Citizen Asia
by Correspondent
01/09/2021
Reading Time: 2 mins read
NDR 2021: PM Lee acknowledges “growing restlessness” over work pass holders, TAFEP to be enshrined in law
Yesterday (29 Aug) at the 2021 National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong continues to talk about tightening the criteria for foreign work pass holders to get jobs in Singapore.

“First, we must assure Singaporeans that Employment Pass and S Pass holders are of the right standard. A practical and reasonable indication of quality is how much the employer is prepared to pay for the work pass holder. This is why to qualify for an EP or S Pass, there are salary cut-offs,” he said.

“We will continue to tighten the criteria for EP and S passes over time. Not suddenly or sharply, which would hurt businesses, but gradually and progressively.”

He assured that Singapore won’t be “flooded with more than we can absorb”.

Learn more
This is, however, not the first time PM Lee has talked about tightening the inflow of foreign PMETs working here.

At the 2011 National Day Rally a decade ago, he also talked about tightening up salary requirement for foreign professionals.

“We have tightened up on foreigners progressively,” he said at the time. “The ‘S’ pass we have pushed from $1,800 to $2,000, that is of some help to the poly diploma holders and people who are at that level and therefore we have protected Singaporean workers.”

He also assured that Singapore needs to “tighten a little bit further” with regard to the employment criteria for EP holders. “We need to raise the salary requirement for the employment pass holders, tighten up the educational qualifications, make sure they come with real skills valuable to us and this is something MOM has worked on and will announce details soon,” he said on 14 Aug 2011.

“MOM will also work with tripartite partners, so as to develop guidelines for fair employment practices and responsible recruitment practices so that when you have a Singaporean working side by side with a foreigner, they both feel fairly treated and nobody feels that he is at a disadvantage.”

But 10 years later, even MPs from his own party are pushing to “toughen up TAFEP”, leading his government to look into enacting new anti-discrimination laws, an upgrade from TAFEP guidelines.

It’s not known if PM Lee would still be talking about tightening the criteria for foreign work pass holders or TAFEP in future rallies.

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