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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - PAP: FT is good! They help build S'pore!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>CPL (kojakbt22) <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>Nov-2 2:55 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 13) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>23675.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Foreigners' contributions hailed
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Cai Haoxiang
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Mr Lim cited a photo he received of workers celebrating the completion of tunnelling work for the Circle Line as an example of foreign workers' contributions here. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE picture e-mailed to Mr Lim Boon Heng showed workers celebrating the completion of tunnelling work for the Circle Line in August.
Sent by a member of the public, the accompanying message read: 'Mr Lim, would we have our Circle Line and MRT lines if not for those foreign workers celebrating at that location?'
For the People's Action Party chairman and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, it was a vivid example that could be offered to Singaporeans who question the contributions that foreign workers have made to the country.
He was responding to grassroots leader Sear Hock Rong, who asked how party activists can best address anxieties of people such as taxi drivers and those in coffee shops who were concerned about opening doors to foreign talent, and policies to ensure that new citizens integrate here.
'This is a real issue that we see, we hear at Meet-the-People sessions. So we would really like to address these concerns,' said Mr Sear, who heads the Eunos Community Club's youth executive council.
His question first drew a response from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who provided some pointers. It included a reminder that taxi drivers do not face competition from foreigners, as no employment pass will be issued to a non-Singaporean to become one.
PM Lee added: 'But if I didn't have foreign workers, would you be able to build HDB flats, would Singaporeans be building the flats?
'If I didn't have foreign workers for my factories, would I have wafer fabs here, would I have petrochemical plants here, would I have electronics factories here, would the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries be able to have 50,000 members, and of that, maybe about half would be Singaporeans whose jobs are there?'
A single foreign chief executive who knows his business and has the experience to run a bank or factory can create hundreds of jobs for Singaporeans and others, he said.
Also, foreigners can prop up the falling birth rate. Otherwise, 'how are we going to continue to have a Singapore where you have young people working and looking after us when we grow old?'
He also cited the example of Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who visited his ancestral village of Wuling in China's Fujian province last Wednesday.
Mr Lee said if Singapore had not had such beginnings, 'would we have Mr Goh or Singapore today?'
'So if you want Singapore here when your grandchildren are around, better go to Yong'an and other places and look for people to come here and grow the next generation of Singaporeans. They will grow up Singaporean,' he said.
Mr Lim then responded and cited, among other things, how foreign workers contributed to the quality of life here.
[email protected]
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Cai Haoxiang
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Mr Lim cited a photo he received of workers celebrating the completion of tunnelling work for the Circle Line as an example of foreign workers' contributions here. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE picture e-mailed to Mr Lim Boon Heng showed workers celebrating the completion of tunnelling work for the Circle Line in August.
Sent by a member of the public, the accompanying message read: 'Mr Lim, would we have our Circle Line and MRT lines if not for those foreign workers celebrating at that location?'
For the People's Action Party chairman and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, it was a vivid example that could be offered to Singaporeans who question the contributions that foreign workers have made to the country.
He was responding to grassroots leader Sear Hock Rong, who asked how party activists can best address anxieties of people such as taxi drivers and those in coffee shops who were concerned about opening doors to foreign talent, and policies to ensure that new citizens integrate here.
'This is a real issue that we see, we hear at Meet-the-People sessions. So we would really like to address these concerns,' said Mr Sear, who heads the Eunos Community Club's youth executive council.
His question first drew a response from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who provided some pointers. It included a reminder that taxi drivers do not face competition from foreigners, as no employment pass will be issued to a non-Singaporean to become one.
PM Lee added: 'But if I didn't have foreign workers, would you be able to build HDB flats, would Singaporeans be building the flats?
'If I didn't have foreign workers for my factories, would I have wafer fabs here, would I have petrochemical plants here, would I have electronics factories here, would the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries be able to have 50,000 members, and of that, maybe about half would be Singaporeans whose jobs are there?'
A single foreign chief executive who knows his business and has the experience to run a bank or factory can create hundreds of jobs for Singaporeans and others, he said.
Also, foreigners can prop up the falling birth rate. Otherwise, 'how are we going to continue to have a Singapore where you have young people working and looking after us when we grow old?'
He also cited the example of Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who visited his ancestral village of Wuling in China's Fujian province last Wednesday.
Mr Lee said if Singapore had not had such beginnings, 'would we have Mr Goh or Singapore today?'
'So if you want Singapore here when your grandchildren are around, better go to Yong'an and other places and look for people to come here and grow the next generation of Singaporeans. They will grow up Singaporean,' he said.
Mr Lim then responded and cited, among other things, how foreign workers contributed to the quality of life here.
[email protected]
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