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PR Newswire
10-12-2011, 12:06 PM
there is a reason for the government in granting PR and citizenship in large quantity to the so-called 'low-skilled' foreigners (hawkers, hairstylists, masseuses, beautician, etc).
the first is that singapore needs people to do the 'dirty' jobs that locals shun. malaysians used to make up a large proportion of such labour. now even the malaysians shun these jobs. dishing out work permits to these people is not ideal because there will always be a need for such labour; you do not want to have a shortage of inexpensive labour for unskilled jobs.
so why not give the bangladeshis PRs and citizenships, we always have a need for builders, don't we? the bigger part of the reason for why we have imported who we have imported, is to strengthen diplomatic ties with china and india. this is important for singapore's future economic growth. for instance, is it a coincidence that the foreign banks our government has a stake in (scb, citi, ubs), are providing us employment in the wealth management industry?
second, of the roughly 2mio foreigners in singapore, if instead of having unskilled foreigners, the government only imported skilled foreigners (all 2mio of them), there will be huge economic and social imbalances. you will be competing (for jobs, housing, cars, and perhaps even spouses) with an even larger number of people. the prices of everything will be even more expensive than it is now because there are even more affluent people. the gini coefficient will explode. and the suicide rate for locals will be even higher.
the truth is the government has run out of ideas for growth. so it is unfortunate we have people in power who know no better, and resort to policies that are highly detrimental to its populace. seeing how the elections has just passed, and that nobody probably wants to die of depression, there remains only one way to deal with this. we have to empower ourselves (or at least believe in ourselves) to be courageous in taking on the competition. don't doubt your abilities, don't give yourself excuses. pick up your baton and continue running. take up a regular sport; everybody feels great about themselves after a good sweat. if there's one thing singapore's education system has not taught us, is how to deal with failure.
to all middle-agers going through mid-life crisis and singaporeans marginalised by pap policies, stop lying on your back. stop thinking about why Sh** happens, stand up and fight back!
the first is that singapore needs people to do the 'dirty' jobs that locals shun. malaysians used to make up a large proportion of such labour. now even the malaysians shun these jobs. dishing out work permits to these people is not ideal because there will always be a need for such labour; you do not want to have a shortage of inexpensive labour for unskilled jobs.
so why not give the bangladeshis PRs and citizenships, we always have a need for builders, don't we? the bigger part of the reason for why we have imported who we have imported, is to strengthen diplomatic ties with china and india. this is important for singapore's future economic growth. for instance, is it a coincidence that the foreign banks our government has a stake in (scb, citi, ubs), are providing us employment in the wealth management industry?
second, of the roughly 2mio foreigners in singapore, if instead of having unskilled foreigners, the government only imported skilled foreigners (all 2mio of them), there will be huge economic and social imbalances. you will be competing (for jobs, housing, cars, and perhaps even spouses) with an even larger number of people. the prices of everything will be even more expensive than it is now because there are even more affluent people. the gini coefficient will explode. and the suicide rate for locals will be even higher.
the truth is the government has run out of ideas for growth. so it is unfortunate we have people in power who know no better, and resort to policies that are highly detrimental to its populace. seeing how the elections has just passed, and that nobody probably wants to die of depression, there remains only one way to deal with this. we have to empower ourselves (or at least believe in ourselves) to be courageous in taking on the competition. don't doubt your abilities, don't give yourself excuses. pick up your baton and continue running. take up a regular sport; everybody feels great about themselves after a good sweat. if there's one thing singapore's education system has not taught us, is how to deal with failure.
to all middle-agers going through mid-life crisis and singaporeans marginalised by pap policies, stop lying on your back. stop thinking about why Sh** happens, stand up and fight back!