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Aug 13, 2009
Old Fart: NS for Sinkie slaves; Jobs for FT pets
By Clarissa Oon, culture vulture and Goh Chin Lian
Singapore has about 1.68 million foreigners. -- ST PHOTO
MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Thursday warned Singaporeans of the dangers of closing the country's door to foreign talent.
Without educated foreign residents, Singapore faces the threat of a declining economy with a shrinking labour force, he said in a speech stressing the importance of accepting and embracing them.
Immigrants make up for the children Singaporeans are not having, he said.
To shut them out is to risk an unwelcome scenario similar to that confronting Japan's greying population: 'They refuse to accept immigrants, so their economy is feeble and lack vitality.''
However, MM Lee reassured Singaporeans that the Government is very conscious of protecting their interests.
The number of foreign residents would be carefully controlled to preserve the character and values of Singapore society, he told about 700 grassroots leaders and residents atttending a National Day dinner in Tanjong Pagar GRC.
In his speech, he also highighted the challenge of grooming a core of bilingual Chinese talents to engage China. But this will not be done at the expense of English, which will remain the common language of all Singaporeans, he said.
Singapore has about 1.68 million foreigners.
Mr Lee noted that 70 per cent are here temporarily, holding renewable passes, mainly the employment pass, S-pass for semi-skilled workers or work permits for the low-skilled. The rest are permanent residents, or PRs.
The large pool has led to growing discontent among Singaporeans.
'There are complaints about new citizens and PRs taking away jobs from our workers and that those in sales and service do not speak or understand English.''
But, he added: 'We accept only immigrants who increase the average level of competence of Singaporeans.'' They must have skills and at least secondary, perferably tertiary education.
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
Latest comments
Do not think that we , the citizens of Singapore , are being heard correctly by the politicians and the bureaucrats.
Do not think anyone of us objects to foreign talents into our midsts. Their contributions are well publicised.
The complains stem from the seemingly large scale influx of foreign workers from the lowly to the top research scientists over the last 5 years.
It is unfortunate that the global financial crises hit us hard through no fault of our hard-working citizens , adding
to the stress of an uncertain future for many . Easy way to de-stress is to make a scape goat
out of " foreign talents " , some
of them are under-performers for the $$$ we pay them to work here.
S-pass is paid a minimum S$1800 and Employment Pass holders S$2500. Value decided by MOM officers ?
Posted by: kopikia22 at Fri Aug 14 01:40:56 SGT 2009
I have no issues to REAL FT's...but be realistic... you meet people who cant even speak basic english to handle your reception,administrative,sales,etc.
The cycle is never ending, Singaporeans from all races are facing extinction from "cheap workforce"
Personal experience. Went to buy curry puff, asked basic questions, like how much and is it very spicy, etc.
Reply..blank stare and, wait I call supervisor!.
Supervisor came along..spoke in an English which is so alien and deep accent that is not understandable by me or the person behind me. FT's... ???
Went for an appt in in a MNC, Receptionist spoke to me in an English that is so embarrassing, its not Singlish..that I can relate... its a mixture of Rojak gone bad.
Now some one tell me, Singaporeans cant manage a front desk work?? Hey the pay is not bad.
Final straw on the so called FT's, had a meeting with the junior executive, and guess what, cant even handle a simple operation on a laptop for normal words function... and language..well I rather not go into that.. I might be called a racist... but one thing I am... I am a Nationalist.
My fellow countrymen and their children need job with reasonable pay, not ridiculous pay.
Talent yes!!!
Taken for Cheap, we dont need them.
Posted by: Singapore_born at Fri Aug 14 01:18:30 SGT 2009
I remember that we were so proud of our very successful family planning policy - Stop at 2. So successful that even the world lauded it.
Posted by: Misnomer at Fri Aug 14 00:26:36 SGT 2009
"Without educated foreign residents, Singapore faces the threat of a declining economy with a shrinking labour force, he said in a speech stressing the importance of accepting and embracing them."
oh yeah shrinking labour force? why not work on increasing the birth rate that you have so cleverly reduced in 1980s?
Embrace them? sure. But are they here to share our problems? or only enjoy the rewards?
"Immigrants make up for the children Singaporeans are not having, he said."
Again this is the direct result of the clever move of reducing birth rate in 1980s
"To shut them out is to risk an unwelcome scenario similar to that confronting Japan's greying population: 'They refuse to accept immigrants, so their economy is feeble and lack vitality.''"
Are we asking to shut out foreign talents? We are asking to shut out foreign trash....bring in qualified talents.
"However, MM Lee reassured Singaporeans that the Government is very conscious of protecting their interests."
Protecting government interest? or citizens' interest? or new citizens' interest?
"The number of foreign residents would be carefully controlled to preserve the character and values of Singapore society, he told about 700 grassroots leaders and residents atttending a National Day dinner in Tanjong Pagar GRC."
But wad about the number of NEW citizens which is PAP's latest craze? If we are going to have another 2 million NEW citizens over the next 5 years, that will overwhelm the citizen to new citizen ratio.
"We accept only immigrants who increase the average level of competence of Singaporeans.'' They must have skills and at least secondary, perferably tertiary education."
So you are saying the average level of competence of Singaporeans is only at Secondary level? Whatever happened to our world class education system? are you indirectly saying that the previous Education ministers and the current one have not been working hard enough?
Posted by: liveoncesg at Fri Aug 14 00:17:45 SGT 2009
The ST seems to have a big pool of foreign "journalists" in their employ.
Should they not be nuturing even MORE..MANY.. MORE of our own and provide them with the training and expertise to become journalists?
Posted by: sharlynrj at Fri Aug 14 00:10:04 SGT 2009
Aug 13, 2009
Old Fart: NS for Sinkie slaves; Jobs for FT pets
By Clarissa Oon, culture vulture and Goh Chin Lian
Singapore has about 1.68 million foreigners. -- ST PHOTO
MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Thursday warned Singaporeans of the dangers of closing the country's door to foreign talent.
Without educated foreign residents, Singapore faces the threat of a declining economy with a shrinking labour force, he said in a speech stressing the importance of accepting and embracing them.
Immigrants make up for the children Singaporeans are not having, he said.
To shut them out is to risk an unwelcome scenario similar to that confronting Japan's greying population: 'They refuse to accept immigrants, so their economy is feeble and lack vitality.''
However, MM Lee reassured Singaporeans that the Government is very conscious of protecting their interests.
The number of foreign residents would be carefully controlled to preserve the character and values of Singapore society, he told about 700 grassroots leaders and residents atttending a National Day dinner in Tanjong Pagar GRC.
In his speech, he also highighted the challenge of grooming a core of bilingual Chinese talents to engage China. But this will not be done at the expense of English, which will remain the common language of all Singaporeans, he said.
Singapore has about 1.68 million foreigners.
Mr Lee noted that 70 per cent are here temporarily, holding renewable passes, mainly the employment pass, S-pass for semi-skilled workers or work permits for the low-skilled. The rest are permanent residents, or PRs.
The large pool has led to growing discontent among Singaporeans.
'There are complaints about new citizens and PRs taking away jobs from our workers and that those in sales and service do not speak or understand English.''
But, he added: 'We accept only immigrants who increase the average level of competence of Singaporeans.'' They must have skills and at least secondary, perferably tertiary education.
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
Latest comments
Do not think that we , the citizens of Singapore , are being heard correctly by the politicians and the bureaucrats.
Do not think anyone of us objects to foreign talents into our midsts. Their contributions are well publicised.
The complains stem from the seemingly large scale influx of foreign workers from the lowly to the top research scientists over the last 5 years.
It is unfortunate that the global financial crises hit us hard through no fault of our hard-working citizens , adding
to the stress of an uncertain future for many . Easy way to de-stress is to make a scape goat
out of " foreign talents " , some
of them are under-performers for the $$$ we pay them to work here.
S-pass is paid a minimum S$1800 and Employment Pass holders S$2500. Value decided by MOM officers ?
Posted by: kopikia22 at Fri Aug 14 01:40:56 SGT 2009
I have no issues to REAL FT's...but be realistic... you meet people who cant even speak basic english to handle your reception,administrative,sales,etc.
The cycle is never ending, Singaporeans from all races are facing extinction from "cheap workforce"
Personal experience. Went to buy curry puff, asked basic questions, like how much and is it very spicy, etc.
Reply..blank stare and, wait I call supervisor!.
Supervisor came along..spoke in an English which is so alien and deep accent that is not understandable by me or the person behind me. FT's... ???
Went for an appt in in a MNC, Receptionist spoke to me in an English that is so embarrassing, its not Singlish..that I can relate... its a mixture of Rojak gone bad.
Now some one tell me, Singaporeans cant manage a front desk work?? Hey the pay is not bad.
Final straw on the so called FT's, had a meeting with the junior executive, and guess what, cant even handle a simple operation on a laptop for normal words function... and language..well I rather not go into that.. I might be called a racist... but one thing I am... I am a Nationalist.
My fellow countrymen and their children need job with reasonable pay, not ridiculous pay.
Talent yes!!!
Taken for Cheap, we dont need them.
Posted by: Singapore_born at Fri Aug 14 01:18:30 SGT 2009
I remember that we were so proud of our very successful family planning policy - Stop at 2. So successful that even the world lauded it.
Posted by: Misnomer at Fri Aug 14 00:26:36 SGT 2009
"Without educated foreign residents, Singapore faces the threat of a declining economy with a shrinking labour force, he said in a speech stressing the importance of accepting and embracing them."
oh yeah shrinking labour force? why not work on increasing the birth rate that you have so cleverly reduced in 1980s?
Embrace them? sure. But are they here to share our problems? or only enjoy the rewards?
"Immigrants make up for the children Singaporeans are not having, he said."
Again this is the direct result of the clever move of reducing birth rate in 1980s
"To shut them out is to risk an unwelcome scenario similar to that confronting Japan's greying population: 'They refuse to accept immigrants, so their economy is feeble and lack vitality.''"
Are we asking to shut out foreign talents? We are asking to shut out foreign trash....bring in qualified talents.
"However, MM Lee reassured Singaporeans that the Government is very conscious of protecting their interests."
Protecting government interest? or citizens' interest? or new citizens' interest?
"The number of foreign residents would be carefully controlled to preserve the character and values of Singapore society, he told about 700 grassroots leaders and residents atttending a National Day dinner in Tanjong Pagar GRC."
But wad about the number of NEW citizens which is PAP's latest craze? If we are going to have another 2 million NEW citizens over the next 5 years, that will overwhelm the citizen to new citizen ratio.
"We accept only immigrants who increase the average level of competence of Singaporeans.'' They must have skills and at least secondary, perferably tertiary education."
So you are saying the average level of competence of Singaporeans is only at Secondary level? Whatever happened to our world class education system? are you indirectly saying that the previous Education ministers and the current one have not been working hard enough?
Posted by: liveoncesg at Fri Aug 14 00:17:45 SGT 2009
The ST seems to have a big pool of foreign "journalists" in their employ.
Should they not be nuturing even MORE..MANY.. MORE of our own and provide them with the training and expertise to become journalists?
Posted by: sharlynrj at Fri Aug 14 00:10:04 SGT 2009
