It must be tough for the authorities to figure out a sustainable manpower deployment strategy when it comes to the complex issue of aiding local businesses to make profits through the hiring of foreign workers.
Not only is this a time bomb for social cohesion but also a serious political issue in view of the coming General Election. The government has failed to convince the nation that having so many foreign workers in our midst has really “added spices” positively.
Without empathy for jobless and desperate citizens, it would be very difficult to understand why foreigners are seen more as job snatcher than anything else.
In 2008, foreign non-residents (non-PR, non-Singaporean) account for 1.2M people of the entire population. These foreigners snatch popular jobs such as clerks, receptionists, administrators and salesmen. Their actions only affirm the perception that foreign labour in Singapore is hardly foreign talent.
Employers also prefer to hire foreigners, as they are cheaper and more willing to put in extra hours without grumbling. To a foreigner from a third world country, living and working in Singapore is almost a Godsend.
Many foreigners also found work in the coffee shops and factories. Surprisingly, these workers are also given Permanent Resident (PR) status after a while. A S-Pass worker can apply for PR status after one year and normally it will be granted within month of the application. After two years, he will offered a Singapore citizenship.
R-Pass holders earn below $1,800 a month and are not eligible for PR status. R-Pass holders include construction workers, domestic workers, shipyard workers and many who work in the conservancy and landscaping sector. Due to quota on R-Pass workers, some errant employers may “pass off” a R-Pass-qualified worker as a S-Pass one without paying the minimum $1800/month salary.
As many as 200,000 able-Singaporeans have left the country in recent years and not many are considering to return in the near future. A recent survey suggested that 79% of overseas Singaporean students prefer to work abroad than to return to Singapore. More are expected to leave the country in the near future.
To balance out the population exodus, the Government allows companies to import foreigners from neighbouring countries such as China and India without upsetting the racial proportion. Singaporeans find it difficult to comprehend the Government’s lax foreign labour policy. Some have eventually migrated to other countries in anger that they were replaced by foreign substitutes. They further question whether their loyalty for their country is ever reciprocated at all when there is no protection whatever on their livelihood.
It is hardly surprising that economics is the motivation behind Singaporean workers to shun many opportunities in the service sector. Such jobs pay close to S$1000 a month and after CPF deduction, take home pay is reduced to a puny sum of S$800 a month.
If the worker is the sole breadwinner of a family of four, the sum remains insufficient even if top-up from the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme (WISS) is included. WISS tops up a low-wage worker’s salary to the tune of $1,200 a year. To qualify, the Singaporean worker must be at least 35-year-old and earns a montly salary less than $1,500.
On the other hand, employers in labour intensive industries need to re-evaluate if it is still feasible to hire cheap labour. In recent times, many small cleaning companies mushroomed all over Singapore that bidding for cleaning projects has dropped so low that these companies cannot afford to pay their employees a decent salary without suffering a loss.
The authorities may need to re-look into their policy on government contractual bidding for cleaning projects to impact this particular industry sector. Moreover, dependence on labour intensive industries also works contrary against Singapore’s high-falutin aspiration to be a highly industrialised and knowledge-based economy.
In Australia, many blue-collared jobs offered a chance for many locals to earn a decent wage. For example, the construction sector mostly hires local Aussies and very often, even an apprentice is paid a salary of S$3000 a month before taxes. The implementation of minimum wage policy and skills training courses have allow local workers to be adequately compensated for the menial work performed.
Blue collared workers can command as much salaries as any white collared ones due to the niche skills that such jobs required and also many Aussies shun these jobs due to its harsh working environment. Unlike Singapore, there is no easy back door to hiring undervalued foreign workers in Australia.
Local employers should increasingly look at semi-automating their work flow to lessen their dependence on undervalued foreign labour. I have seen how a team of twenty Indian foreign workers line the road during road works in our country with half practically standing around doing nothing.
This is not the best way to deploy manpower even if they come cheaply. In Australia, even the driver of the garbage collection vehicle assists in the daily garbage collection task. And there are 2 additional person in labour team. It is all very professionally done with minimal human efforts.
Singapore cannot afford to contnue its dependence on undervalued labour to advance the economy. More can be done to streamline our operations in order to boost our efficiency. Local workers can then be better compensated when they take on better-valued jobs. Productivity is also raised in the process.
The current dependence on foreign labour will not bear fruit if we want to advance our economy . Not only will it bring forth social unrest but it will seriously jeopardise the employment opportunities of the local work force.
@46) kf on September 23rd, 2009 9.04 am
Here my take on how that $10m came up.
Looking at the heavy firepower, aka nos. of ministers, on the NIC (www.mcys.gov.sg/MCDSFiles/Press/Articles/15-2009.pdf), perhaps 20-30% goes to their “upkeeping”.
Then maybe need to print couple of millions leaflets, booklets, banners/posters, etc… to educate the population — another couple of $m. (High quality leaflets can reuse as kitty litter or as toilet paper).
Then throw some sort of parties/dinners to welcome new citizens (while old citizens collecting old cans from dustbins) so that when asked about their take of Singapore, 78% will say that they feel welcomed. There’s another couple of $m taxpayers’ money.
Then hold some public events, maybe with some interactive games, etc. to mingle foreigners and Sporeans — another $1-2m.
The integration has been one-sided so far, so true-Sporeans don’t hope to see any of that $10m.
…ALTERNATIVELY… at $5-6 per pax foreigner, just buy them 1-2 plates of chicken rice and they are obliged to feel fully integrated here. Ha, ha.
men well recieve a large package of military garb, helmet, and state sponsored meals & accommodation with fitness regime thrown in!!
and with words like:
“welcome to S’pore!!”
:)
52) theforgottongeneration on September 23rd, 2009 11.29 pm,
Yeah man, looks like we are the only country who feeds million-dollar ministers to blunder on population policies, then end up running KACHANG-PUTEH programs like this.
Of course, there was a background – that it was mentioned in National Speech. So, piecing the picture together, we had a National Day speech (since 2008) devoted to foreigners, and is worth 10m, but the lost of 58b investments pales in terms of focus to be addressed at national level (??)
@55) kf on September 23rd, 2009 11.54 pm
There is one logic to this dependence of foreign labor — and I’m trying to be nice.
1 in 3 is foreigner and our GDP is about 250b, so foreigner contribution is say 83b. Investment losses = 58b, so they still add a nett 25b to Singapore??? Aren’t we fortunate for the foreign labor, or what?
@54) mice is nice on September 23rd, 2009 11.44 pm
Sure, I wonder how many of the “high hundreds” NS-serving new citizens is place in charge of a …. machine gun(?). Seems like if we can’t trust Malays born in S’pore, so by same logic, why would we trust a Chinese born in China?
Anyway, you’ve given me an idea why Beach road shops always have military gear for sale — FTs jumping ship to another country probably leave all their free military gear behind, with note “F*** U but thank for the passport”.
55) theforgottongeneration on September 24th, 2009 12.30 am,
I cannot be sure we are that fortunate to have foreign labour with ’25b’ favourable for us. First of all, we cannot assume that 250b – 83b is by non-foreigners. The dynamics of employment meant that we will also experience employment losses/ employment ‘downgrades’ (means we land up with lower paid jobs) by locals from foreigners at various levels (therefore not contributing to the GDP in the same way as before). Anyway, these are assets we (the citizens) cannot see, and cannot touch, much less benefit from in our lifetime. Meaning, I cannot see the relevance (at least to me).
Then we have that usual argument that without millions paid to ministers, (and the large payscales of the iceberg below the ministers’ levels), we cannot attract talent. So much for talks about loyalty and sacrificing for the country from the leadership.
That noble call for us to continue to sacrifice in order to chalk up country assets is, in my view, becoming quite hard to sell. Of course, they can also begin their journey on sacrifices now, it’s never too late. Just use the 10m to build a full- fledged dormitory next to the residences of leaders who canvassed hard for integration. Using the budget to allow them to set the example by leadership this time. What do you think ?
kf,
Hey, I was trying to be nice! Ok, the dynamics of economics means we get 1.2m FWs (+0.5m FTs) to help generate more GDP, then only for (likely) a handful of top honcho investors to blow 58b away.
I’m definitely not sold on the “sacrificing” concept any more. We sacrificed a whole generation of babies only to be sucked into a FT/FWs issue 40 years later. Many of us have sacrificed 2.5 + 13 years serving the country, only to have FT bosses shit over our heads. What we don’t see is sacrifice on part of our ministers to reduce their pays in the worst recession of times. Instead, they just wayany slogans like “Upturn the Downturn”, “Dare to Dream”, etc… Leadership is just textbook style, lip service in Singapore.
Like US president Obama said: It’s time for change….
yes, the forgottongeneration, many years of fruits blown away through investments, and receiving a May day award after that! This gives the impression as if the damage (to the assets, and to the image) done needed some form of salvage, and the award came timely to prop up the image.
I am still waiting (and waiting badly) to be convinced on tough policies or implementation, any upcoming ones, that policy makers lead by examples with their own actions, not volunteer the citizens to lead.
Alternatively, those heavy weight ministers can take turns week by week to extend invitations to FWs + FTs in significant numbers to their (the ministers’, not the FTs/ FWs) residences, sit on their sofas and have coffee, run a song and dance item with them, stroll their compounds, invite their neighbours to participate etc with independent media coverage on the entire atmosphere.
Perhaps, what was meant about equality in the pledge is not about ‘equality of treatment to all, rich or poor’, but rather about ‘equality in level of cringe when asked to integrate with foreigners’.
56) theforgottongeneration on September 24th, 2009 12.43 am
////Sure, I wonder how many of the “high hundreds” NS-serving new citizens is place in charge of a …. machine gun(?). Seems like if we can’t trust Malays born in S’pore, so by same logic, why would we trust a Chinese born in China?////
as long as they are Hokkien ‘peng’ (soldier)? :)
////Anyway, you’ve given me an idea why Beach road shops always have military gear for sale — FTs jumping ship to another country probably leave all their free military gear behind, with note “F*** U but thank for the passport”.////
hahaa. i like your humour!!
maybe its written in Chinese too?! lmao…