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THE National Day Rally is expected to touch on measures that will continue to uplift Singaporeans' incomes while ensuring there are fair hiring practices, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong has said.
These measures will ensure that both the Singaporean core workforce and foreign professionals can complement one another, at a time when countries around the world, including Singapore, are facing "broader adjustments" to their social contract, he said in a televised interview with BBC senior journalist Katie Silver on Friday.
She had noted that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had suggested in his National Day Message that Covid-19 has exposed fault lines in Singapore society, adding that this applied "particularly when it comes to tensions between expatriate workers and the locals".
Mr Wong replied that there are "structural reasons" for that, and these are related to broader concerns about globalisation, which are not unique to Singapore. "Countries everywhere face these same concerns about whether foreigners are taking over jobs and opportunities for locals, whether it might result in higher income and wealth inequalities, whether there will be unfair hiring practices," he said.
These concerns have always been there and have been amplified by the pandemic, he said, adding that there is growing global recognition that these concerns are valid.
"That's why we will adjust our policies, and when we make adjustments to our policies, it's not that we are shifting our fundamental orientation, but it's saying that we want to strengthen public trust in globalisation, we want to strengthen the social compact to deal better with the excesses of the free market, and to bolster support for an open and dynamic economy," said Mr Wong.
Even so, Singapore's fundamental posture to stay open does not change, he said. This follows announcements by Singapore's Covid-19 multi-ministry taskforce, which he co-chairs, on the Republic's plans to reopen its borders, including vaccinated travel lanes with Germany and Brunei.
The taskforce has also unveiled a four-tier category that spells out entry and quarantine rules defined by the risk level of a handful of countries.
However, Ms Silver said Singapore is arguably "not as open for businesses as many other countries", given that a number of countries, particularly from South Asia, who are still unable to enter the country.
Mr Wong said different countries will have different risk appetites, and that Singapore takes a different, "more cautious" approach based on data and evidence. "We are not New York or London. We value the importance of stability, security," he said. "So as much as we want to resume normal life and we are trying as much as we can to do so, we also want to ensure that we keep hospitalisation and ICU cases low, that we continue to ensure that our hospital system is intact, and we get to the end of the pandemic with minimum death and damage to our society."
The restrictions on arrivals to Singapore have led to disruptions for companies whose staff have unable to travel, he acknowledged.
However, he said these are temporary measures that are necessary during the crisis and will be phased out when things are under control.
Although the pandemic has impacted Singapore as a hub, Mr Wong said the Republic kept its supply lines open and continued to service the world as a trans-shipment hub for air and sea cargo through the last 18 months.
Asked about Singapore's appeal as a base in the absence of connectivity, Mr Wong said companies and businesses recognise that the pandemic will pass at some point and travel will resume.
"Businesses look at the quality of governance. They look at how we have handled the pandemic, and recognise that there is a certain social solidarity in Singapore, where people do come together and work together to deal with crisis, and that gives businesses confidence to want to invest in us," he said.
He added that this is why Singapore attracted S$17 billion in investments last year, the highest in 12 years, despite the pandemic.
The vaccination rate stood at 77 per cent as at Aug 19, and the country is on track to reach 82 per cent in a few weeks, Mr Wong said. This brings confidence that even if clusters were to break out, Singapore can continue safely with its reopening plans, he said.
He added: "Even if we were to see more cases, more clusters, we should have a higher tolerance, and we will probably not have to scale back so often, as we did in the past."
These measures will ensure that both the Singaporean core workforce and foreign professionals can complement one another, at a time when countries around the world, including Singapore, are facing "broader adjustments" to their social contract, he said in a televised interview with BBC senior journalist Katie Silver on Friday.
She had noted that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had suggested in his National Day Message that Covid-19 has exposed fault lines in Singapore society, adding that this applied "particularly when it comes to tensions between expatriate workers and the locals".
Mr Wong replied that there are "structural reasons" for that, and these are related to broader concerns about globalisation, which are not unique to Singapore. "Countries everywhere face these same concerns about whether foreigners are taking over jobs and opportunities for locals, whether it might result in higher income and wealth inequalities, whether there will be unfair hiring practices," he said.
These concerns have always been there and have been amplified by the pandemic, he said, adding that there is growing global recognition that these concerns are valid.
"That's why we will adjust our policies, and when we make adjustments to our policies, it's not that we are shifting our fundamental orientation, but it's saying that we want to strengthen public trust in globalisation, we want to strengthen the social compact to deal better with the excesses of the free market, and to bolster support for an open and dynamic economy," said Mr Wong.
Even so, Singapore's fundamental posture to stay open does not change, he said. This follows announcements by Singapore's Covid-19 multi-ministry taskforce, which he co-chairs, on the Republic's plans to reopen its borders, including vaccinated travel lanes with Germany and Brunei.
The taskforce has also unveiled a four-tier category that spells out entry and quarantine rules defined by the risk level of a handful of countries.
However, Ms Silver said Singapore is arguably "not as open for businesses as many other countries", given that a number of countries, particularly from South Asia, who are still unable to enter the country.
Mr Wong said different countries will have different risk appetites, and that Singapore takes a different, "more cautious" approach based on data and evidence. "We are not New York or London. We value the importance of stability, security," he said. "So as much as we want to resume normal life and we are trying as much as we can to do so, we also want to ensure that we keep hospitalisation and ICU cases low, that we continue to ensure that our hospital system is intact, and we get to the end of the pandemic with minimum death and damage to our society."
The restrictions on arrivals to Singapore have led to disruptions for companies whose staff have unable to travel, he acknowledged.
However, he said these are temporary measures that are necessary during the crisis and will be phased out when things are under control.
Although the pandemic has impacted Singapore as a hub, Mr Wong said the Republic kept its supply lines open and continued to service the world as a trans-shipment hub for air and sea cargo through the last 18 months.
Asked about Singapore's appeal as a base in the absence of connectivity, Mr Wong said companies and businesses recognise that the pandemic will pass at some point and travel will resume.
"Businesses look at the quality of governance. They look at how we have handled the pandemic, and recognise that there is a certain social solidarity in Singapore, where people do come together and work together to deal with crisis, and that gives businesses confidence to want to invest in us," he said.
He added that this is why Singapore attracted S$17 billion in investments last year, the highest in 12 years, despite the pandemic.
The vaccination rate stood at 77 per cent as at Aug 19, and the country is on track to reach 82 per cent in a few weeks, Mr Wong said. This brings confidence that even if clusters were to break out, Singapore can continue safely with its reopening plans, he said.
He added: "Even if we were to see more cases, more clusters, we should have a higher tolerance, and we will probably not have to scale back so often, as we did in the past."
