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Gone is the talk that FTrash is used to depress wages during boom times and maintain wages during bad times. Where are the 66% goondus who voted for the Papayas to break their coolie rice bowls? Ate and died alone?
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Doors open to foreigners: SM
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>But S'pore must balance economic value with social and political costs </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kor Kian Beng & Goh Chin Lian
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SWISS national Richard Illi loves the drive of the Singaporean worker and the vision and efficiency of the Government and businesses.
But in the past few months, the 39-year-old has sensed some dissatisfaction among Singaporeans towards foreigners like him.
'I hear more and more Singaporeans expressing that we're stealing their jobs,' said the vice-president of Firmenich, a Swiss food-related company, who came here with his family four years ago.
However, a speech by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong left him smiling.
Mr Illi was among 700 international business leaders and human resource specialists yesterday who heard Mr Goh stress the need for Singapore to keep its doors open to foreign manpower.
This is vital for keeping prices and business costs low and the economy competitive and growing at maximum speed.
=> Have costs cum down? Nah cos bringing in FTrash will only allow the Familee to hike costs more daringly! But expect the Papayas to say, "It could be worse...".
But at the same time, Mr Goh acknowledged there are social and political consequences to having growing numbers of foreign manpower in Singapore.
This dilemma was a central theme in the Senior Minister's opening address at the inaugural Singapore Human Capital Summit yesterday.
It is a balancing act that is tough to achieve and some countries, as a result, have taken to restricting much-needed foreign talent and workers at the expense of economic growth.
But not Singapore, which has 1.2 million foreigners, including 757,000 work permit holders and 143,000 on employment passes. It sees foreign talent as part of its overall strategy to build up its human capital. There are two prongs.
=> From 1M FTrash to 1.2M in a space of 1 month since the last report! Wah seh!
One is education, to develop the Singaporean workforce to its fullest potential. Hence, 4 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product is allocated for it.
Besides spending on educating its young, Singapore has introduced a masterplan recently with a comprehensive scheme for developing workers' skills, including building more training centres.
The other thrust is to attract foreigners to achieve maximum growth.
To draw them, Singapore needs to be a 'cool and funky' place - the kind of city the creative and entrepreneurial types would like to work and live in, he said.
'This means building a distinctive city that is cosmopolitan in outlook and Asian in heart. It is not easy as this goes beyond physical infrastructure, modern buildings and leisure facilities.'
But there is a political cost to having foreign manpower as these workers are often seen as directly snatching jobs away from the locals, Mr Goh said.
'So, governments are often forced to restrict the much-needed inflow of talent and foreign workers at the expense of economic growth,' he added, highlighting a less open attitude recently towards migrants in Britain and Australia.
However, he acknowledged friction is inevitable when the foreign pool is huge.
Singapore is no exception, but with its history as a nation of immigrants, Singaporeans find it easier to accept intellectually and emotionally that foreign labour is overall a plus for the economy, he said.
However, he added: 'It is important for the Government to recognise the anxiety and fear of Singaporeans in the job market with so many hungrier foreign workers willing to do their jobs for less.
'They worry too that their children may be edged out in our schools and universities by foreign students.'
However, he assured Singaporeans that they come first. Among the perks they get are subsidies for public housing, education and health care.
=> He probably has started to believe in his own lies.
'This is not a policy to disadvantage foreign talent in Singapore.
'It is a policy to recognise the nationality of Singaporeans, our citizen core for whom Singapore is their home, for which we defend with our arms and live for with our hearts,' said Mr Goh.
His message was welcomed by Singaporeans like 50-year-old Anthony Lim.
Said the managing director of risk consultancy Acclaim Insurance Brokers: 'Our people are very pragmatic. To survive and prosper, we need to adjust to a competitive and open world. I accept we cannot shut out foreign talent.' [email protected]
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Doors open to foreigners: SM
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>But S'pore must balance economic value with social and political costs </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Kor Kian Beng & Goh Chin Lian
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SWISS national Richard Illi loves the drive of the Singaporean worker and the vision and efficiency of the Government and businesses.
But in the past few months, the 39-year-old has sensed some dissatisfaction among Singaporeans towards foreigners like him.
'I hear more and more Singaporeans expressing that we're stealing their jobs,' said the vice-president of Firmenich, a Swiss food-related company, who came here with his family four years ago.
However, a speech by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong left him smiling.
Mr Illi was among 700 international business leaders and human resource specialists yesterday who heard Mr Goh stress the need for Singapore to keep its doors open to foreign manpower.
This is vital for keeping prices and business costs low and the economy competitive and growing at maximum speed.
=> Have costs cum down? Nah cos bringing in FTrash will only allow the Familee to hike costs more daringly! But expect the Papayas to say, "It could be worse...".
But at the same time, Mr Goh acknowledged there are social and political consequences to having growing numbers of foreign manpower in Singapore.
This dilemma was a central theme in the Senior Minister's opening address at the inaugural Singapore Human Capital Summit yesterday.
It is a balancing act that is tough to achieve and some countries, as a result, have taken to restricting much-needed foreign talent and workers at the expense of economic growth.
But not Singapore, which has 1.2 million foreigners, including 757,000 work permit holders and 143,000 on employment passes. It sees foreign talent as part of its overall strategy to build up its human capital. There are two prongs.
=> From 1M FTrash to 1.2M in a space of 1 month since the last report! Wah seh!
One is education, to develop the Singaporean workforce to its fullest potential. Hence, 4 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product is allocated for it.
Besides spending on educating its young, Singapore has introduced a masterplan recently with a comprehensive scheme for developing workers' skills, including building more training centres.
The other thrust is to attract foreigners to achieve maximum growth.
To draw them, Singapore needs to be a 'cool and funky' place - the kind of city the creative and entrepreneurial types would like to work and live in, he said.
'This means building a distinctive city that is cosmopolitan in outlook and Asian in heart. It is not easy as this goes beyond physical infrastructure, modern buildings and leisure facilities.'
But there is a political cost to having foreign manpower as these workers are often seen as directly snatching jobs away from the locals, Mr Goh said.
'So, governments are often forced to restrict the much-needed inflow of talent and foreign workers at the expense of economic growth,' he added, highlighting a less open attitude recently towards migrants in Britain and Australia.
However, he acknowledged friction is inevitable when the foreign pool is huge.
Singapore is no exception, but with its history as a nation of immigrants, Singaporeans find it easier to accept intellectually and emotionally that foreign labour is overall a plus for the economy, he said.
However, he added: 'It is important for the Government to recognise the anxiety and fear of Singaporeans in the job market with so many hungrier foreign workers willing to do their jobs for less.
'They worry too that their children may be edged out in our schools and universities by foreign students.'
However, he assured Singaporeans that they come first. Among the perks they get are subsidies for public housing, education and health care.
=> He probably has started to believe in his own lies.
'This is not a policy to disadvantage foreign talent in Singapore.
'It is a policy to recognise the nationality of Singaporeans, our citizen core for whom Singapore is their home, for which we defend with our arms and live for with our hearts,' said Mr Goh.
His message was welcomed by Singaporeans like 50-year-old Anthony Lim.
Said the managing director of risk consultancy Acclaim Insurance Brokers: 'Our people are very pragmatic. To survive and prosper, we need to adjust to a competitive and open world. I accept we cannot shut out foreign talent.' [email protected]
