Heng Chee How
Singapore
“And in the case of overseas training, then there will be specific link-ups into the systems of our overseas partners, for example, if there is a need to further send the injured NSman to the local hospitals for more specialised treatment, that, too, was all planned in as well in terms of the protocols.”
“In addition to conducting regular exchanges with their professional counterparts, SAF personnel in our overseas training detachments participate actively in local community life and contribute back to the local communities, thus contributing to the strengthening of bilateral ties.”
“Mr Chairman, I thank Mr Giam for his question. The NS allowance, the nature of it, it is in a form of honorarium and for that, CPF is not payable. However, I just wanted to emphasise two points. One, within the NS journey, they are actually eligible for NS HOME Awards, which are paid out in the course of the NSmen's journey.”
“Mr Chairman, as we look forward, MINDEF/SAF’s commitment to NS and to our NSmen remains steadfast. We will continue to enhance the NS experience, maximise the contributions of our NSmen, and strengthen recognition for their service.”
“Mr Speaker, we have shown care for our older workers as a Government, as tripartite partners, not only in words but in deeds. As a result, we have made very substantial progress for our older workers, often bucking global trends. The environment we must deal with will be increasingly challenging.”
“Ultimately, fighting age discrimination is not only a legal matter nor is it just a moral imperative. It is also an economic necessity that will help sustain long-term prosperity for all.”
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“This will ensure that such foreign manpower does not become freely mobile between companies while increasing the flexibility and productivity of their utilisation within the hotel or the company. And if that can be done, then the same concept can be explored in other parts of the economy. It will help us keep to the current ratio of one foreigner to two locals for as long as possible.”
“Madam, in the hotel industry foreign workers are not allowed to be cross-deployed to different jobs even within the same hotel unlike their local counterparts. In the construction industry, I am told that construction workers are allowed to work at the work sites but are not allowed to help maintain the construction equipment that they use if the maintenance of that equipment is not done at the work site itself. I can understand that such strict rules pertaining to where and what jobs foreign workers are allowed to be deployed to, are there to safeguard the safety and fair treatment of the foreign workers. We also do not want a situation where employers abuse the foreign workers by indiscriminately using them for all kinds of jobs without due regard for their proper and decent treatment, including rest and safety. On the other hand, given the need to optimise the use of all segments of the workforce in our drive toward higher productivity and greater competitiveness, this relative lack of flexibility in deployment of foreign workers reduces productivity and actually tends to increase the demand for foreign workers at the margin. I do not think that it is always an "either/or" situation. I believe that it is possible to look more closely at the rules and see how best to increase the productivity also from the foreign segment of the workforce. This will help create new capacity for the company to undertake more or new business without resorting to increasing foreign headcount immediately. I suggest that MOM consider allowing hotels to cross-deploy foreign manpower within defined job groups within the same hotel, subject to necessary safeguards.”
“What steps will be taken that such capabilities continually sustain and nurture so that the endless journey of productivity enhancement will not lose steam due to jadedness or a disconnection from international knowledge, ideas and best practices? Productivity”
“Secondly, with the economic recovery, we have read media reports that participation under SPUR has declined, as companies and workers price working, fulfilling orders or working and earning overtime above going for training. We should take this seriously. The supply of training, whether building more schools and providing the courses, supply does not equal the demand for training. And if companies and workers' appetite for training is weakened or distracted in the recovery, then capability building will be hampered and the pace of productivity improvement will be impeded. I therefore ask MOM whether and how will the terms of SPUR be enhanced so that companies and workers would continue to be attracted to training even in non-recessionary times. Productivity consultants Madam, with the drive towards sustained higher productivity, many more companies are expected to get help with their productivity plans because not all companies will have the internal know-how of doing so. Will this lead to a shortage of consultants who are capable of providing such services? It is important that there be a sufficient pool of such expertise so that the pace of productivity initiatives will not be constrained by such a bottleneck. It is also important to have an adequate pool of such expertise so that the resources poured into such initiatives will yield real results and not be wasted through sheer busyness or misguided through a flurry of rank-seeking activities on the part of unqualified entities and persons offering so-called "consultancy". These consultants would also need to keep current with advancing knowledge and best practices internationally. What plans are there to ensure that such a bottleneck would not form to the detriment of productivity improvement efforts?”
“Madam, the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) was introduced at the onset of the global recession. It started on 1st December 2008. And this programme has helped many companies and workers upgrade their skills and capabilities while tiding through the recession. We know the reality and the value of this programme from the union movement – it made a lot of real difference on the ground for the companies and sectors that were badly hit. Now, as the Singapore economy emerges from the recession into a period of recovery and as the labour market tightens following the absorption of excess capacity, I have two questions to put to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). First, would the SPUR programme be continued beyond its two-year announced lifespan that ends in November this year? If it is to be extended, how can it then be repositioned as a booster for the productivity drive? In my view, it is very important that we do so and send the right signals clearly to companies and workers. Whether we are speaking of innovation or of enhancing the skills of workers so that they are able to work more productively with better technology in upgraded jobs, we cannot escape the fact that continued training and development would be a pre-requisite for sustained improvement and success. We must reassure companies and workers that the Government's commitment to the strongest possible support for training and development of workers will not weaken in the recovery nor will it just be about building better physical infrastructure. The continuation of the SPUR programme, or whatever name the successor programme might be called, will be a strong and specific manifestation of that commitment.”
“4% in 2006 to -6% in 2007 and -9% in 2008. One factor was the seeming difficulty of hotels in Singapore to raise the room rates compared to the situation in major cities in the west and with Asian cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo. A second factor may be the propensity on the part of the many hoteliers to equate service standards with headcount although with a keen eye on cost. The combination of these factors created a gravitation towards lower-fixed pay and smaller core workforce, and the relatively high dependence on part time, temporary, trainee and foreign manpower to provide flexibility and cost effectiveness. The high turnover and quality or lack of quality of such workforce is not conducive to training and development and this is in turn bad for industry productivity. Over time, the image and attractiveness of the industry as an employer is also eroded. Growth prospects in the hotel sector remains strong in the medium term with MICE facilities such as the Fullerton Bay Hotel, the Marina Bay Sands and the Resorts World at Sentosa, coming on stream. In this time, it is all the more crucial for companies, workers, unions, Government, to work together to ensure that growth in the sector is sustained by productivity. This is the only way to uplift profitability, wages, standards and image sustainably and substantially. I would like to know what plans do the MTI and the STB have to uplift productivity and spur innovation in hotel and F&B sector? Would efforts and resources be put into benchmarking, service excellence and people development? How do MTI and STB intend to enlist the partnership of the industry representative bodies and unions in these efforts? Employers and productivity”
“Sir, the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) recommended the setting up of a centre to research on productivity and innovation. I think this is an important move to help ensure that knowledge about productivity methods and practice can be obtained and shared quickly to the benefit of companies and workers. We cannot assume that companies will naturally know what to do or how best to improve productivity in the context, especially for the smaller companies. And a lack of know-how can be a real impediment, aside from money. And this may also be a especially relevant in the case of the SMEs. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said in his speech during the Budget Debate that in recognising the different circumstances of different industries, specialist centres may be established for the different industries. I am firmly in support of the view that such centres should not only do research and then make the findings available to companies on a pull basis, ie when the companies come and draw the information from the centres, but that the centres should also be open knowledge and leaving hubs that actively engages and distributes knowledge from the applied research to industry through close collaboration with industries' stakeholders; and that is a 'push' approach. And I believe that both 'pull' and 'push' methods are needed concurrently. I would like to ask if this is the correct reading of the intent of Government, and if so, whether there is a preliminary thinking on how many such centres and in which industries would be set up, when they would be set up and what resources would be deployed to back them up. Hotel productivity According to figures from the MTI and the MOM, labour-productivity growth in the hotels and restaurant sector was 4% in 2005 and dropped to 0.”
“Sir, I thank the Senior Minister of State, Ms Grace Fu, for her answers on construction productivity. I would like to ask her, aside from the efforts aimed at upgrading the skills and capability of the workforce within the sector, would efforts also be put in to retaining the skills and capabilities already acquired by the workforce, both local as well as foreign. And I say so because the construction sector by its nature goes through cycles, and we have seen cycles where they actually shed significant numbers of workers, local and especially foreign. And many of these workers would have picked up skills in the meantime, and it would not be easy to get them all back too quickly when the upturn comes. So as we go forward, would this be part of the plan to retain them?”
“I would like to ask what plans are there to speed up the pace of progress over the coming decade in construction methods and productivity, both relative to the past and in comparison with other developed countries. And how does the Ministry of National Development and the Building and Construction Authority intend to enlist the partnership of the related industry bodies and unions in this endeavour? Construction industry”
“Sir, I am absolutely excited about the vision of the beautiful home that we are building here in Singapore and how much better if we can do so productively as well. Sir, the Construction 21 (C21) report of 10 years ago set up the vision for the Singapore construction industry to be world-class builder in an knowledge age. The C21 study steering committee formed four working groups which comprised members from professional bodies, trade associations, regulatory bodies, public agencies, tertiary education and the public. They deliberated on issues that cut across the entire construction value chain, from upstream activities such as design and the tendering of projects to downstream construction activities and to the final stage of maintenance of the finished product. The report contains 39 specific recommendations to uplift productivity and standards in the Singapore construction industry. And there was every reason to be hopeful that such a comprehensive effort will propel the construction industry's productivity forward strongly. Today, the industry's productivity still lacks those of various developed countries significantly, for example, Australia and Japan has been quoted. I would like to ask the Ministry for its assessment of the extent to which the recommendations of the Construction 21 report have been implemented and whether the intended outcome have been achieved. If the recommendations have not been largely implemented, then I would like to know the reasons for that. And if on the other hand, the recommendations have been largely implemented and the outcomes achieved, then I would like to know where the gaps are that had led to the non-transformation of the industry thus far.”
“Here, the SPA agencies and I welcome and acknowledge the support and partnership of Singapore Wushu Federation in co-developing and promoting the tai chi and qigong platforms. Going forward, we will continually add to, review and adjust our range of platforms to take into account the outcomes, choices and changing preferences amongst our seniors. We are systematically laying the ground for a stronger culture of physical activity amongst our seniors. For example, there are many beautiful parks and fitness corners with good equipment and helpful signs showing us how to exercise properly, safely and effectively. There are many clubs and groups that one can join to make friends and to keep their exercise and the gains. For us, as individuals, all it takes is to step out, join in and enjoy our way to good health. The working population spends a huge amount of time at work. Workplace arrangements can therefore be a big help or hindrance to the health and fitness of employees. A healthy worker is more productive, less costly in terms of sick leave, and therefore more employable. The SPA will be examining how to take the message and practice of health-giving physical activity for older workers to the workplace. The workplace platforms will then complement the community platforms in empowering and enabling the older workers and citizens to live long, live well and enjoy peace of mind. Bank lending”
“45 pm The SPA launched the National Brisk-walking Programme in September last year. And I thank People's Association and the CDC Mayors for their wonderful support and drive for this initiative in their respective districts. And, here, I particularly want to acknowledge the leadership of Mayor Teo Ho Pin. The results have been most heartening. In the first nine months, from April to December 2009, 156 new brisk walking clubs were formed, bringing the total number of such clubs nationwide to 431. The total number of brisk walkers grew by 14,692, ie, as per the record, from 59,000 to 73,700. That is a 25% increase. We will press on and sustain the initiative, and derive the benefits as we go along. This is not something that you do in a day by just getting a big crowd together. It is not even something that you try to achieve within a year. Because it is the sustained, regular and proper practice of these activities that will yield those health outcomes. In a way, just like productivity, it is a long journey, it is one that is well-worth investing in, getting more out of life. This year, SPA will launch another two platforms, that is, tai chi and qigong. And this will add to the choices. Tai chi and qigong are amongst the top 10 sports of choice for seniors in Singapore aged 55 years and above. According to survey, 8.2% of our seniors already do various forms of these activities. Therefore, it gives us a base, and it tells us that it is scalable. And these activities have been scientifically demonstrated to improve strength, and also aid in balance and flexibility. So even the less mobile or the more frail seniors will find these activities doable and may find them appealing.”
“Madam, Dr Teo Ho Pin and Mr Ang Mong Seng asked about our national strategies to promote physical activities for seniors. Physical activity is good tonic as one ages. For individuals, exercise improves fitness, well-being and general quality of life. Healthy individuals spend less time and money on medical treatment. This benefits them and society. A sedentary lifestyle, on the other hand, works in the opposite way. A 2005 survey by the Singapore Sports Council showed that six in 10 seniors aged 55 years and above were sedentary in the three months preceding the survey. This is no good. And this is why we have to do more to empower our seniors to be physically active. The Committee for Seniors for Physical Activity (SPA) which I chair focuses on building capability and capacity in the community to promote physical activity for seniors. We purposely bring together multiple agencies including the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, People's Association, the Community Development Councils, the Health Promotion Board, the Council for Third Age, Sports Council, HDB, NParks, and so on – multiple agencies, so that the platforms we develop are integrated and community-based. The SPA uses three criteria to select the health activities we promote among seniors. First, there must be scientific evidence that the activity leads to concrete health outcomes when done properly and regularly. The HPB advises the SPA on how the activity can improve aerobic ability, strength, balance and flexibility of participants. Second, the activity must be easy to join, low-cost, not hard to learn, have a local following and be scaleable. Third, it must provide opportunities for seniors to make friends and join social networks. 5.”
“So while Government policy, incentives and disincentives will be significant in sending signals and creating a more conducive environment for productivity development, the real change happens in each industry, each company and each worker. The Labour Movement understands this fully, and this is why it has initiated the Cheaper, Better, Faster drive to get workers and unions to partner the companies to enhance productivity, improve capability and increase adaptability, with an all CAN (Collars, Ages, Nationality) workforce. We will play our role actively within the tripartite relationship, so that this national endeavour will see breakthrough outcomes and pervasive innovation as soon as possible, and to the benefit of the workers of Singapore. Sir, we need all hands on deck, to be clear minded and determined to reach the goal of one-third improvement in productivity in the coming 10 years. Let us put our hearts and minds to it, and get it done. Sir, I support the Budget.”
“We have to do both quickly and aggressively. Sir, I applaud the twin emphasis on Productivity and Inclusive Growth. We must not let the drive for Productivity be at the expense of the equally important task of employment and re-employment of older workers and back-to-work women, of best-sourcing, and of the training, fair treatment and care for the growing pool of contract workers and low-skilled, low-income workers. The Workfare Training Scheme (WTS) just announced is a very good initiative aimed at making training for low-skilled workers attractive to both companies and workers even during non-recessionary times. This is practical, in view of the documented slowing down in the SPUR scheme take-up rate as the economy recovers. Such a propensity for training attendance to be counter-cyclical is also seen in previous cycles. With regard to contract work, the fact that contract workers, especially through outsourcing, are often seen as outside the purview of companies to invest in training and development, means that there must be a mechanism and resources to help them do so, because if their weaknesses were not tackled, they will eventually translate into weaknesses within those companies that they work and that can become our next potential Achilles heel. I propose that the SPUR programme, which is more comprehensive than the targeted WTS, also be reviewed, enhanced and be repositioned from its recession fighting role into a booster for productivity improvement through skills building. This means lifting the two-year limit on the scheme. It would also require reviewing the terms of the scheme to ensure its attractiveness to companies and workers at large in an economy that has come out of recession.”
“Secondly, the rules should be simple enough, and the channels not overly complex like who goes to apply for what and where and red tape minimised, so that the "water can get to the crops" quickly. The rules can be tiered to incentivise big-impact initiatives. The incentives should also be more attractive than currently available incentives from the various economic agencies, or else we cannot expect a bigger impact on behaviour. There is a clear need, Sir, to develop a strong capability, whether via certain public agencies or by growing a network of process and job redesign expertise, to help companies with this restructuring toward higher productivity, especially for SMEs as they employ the majority of the workforce. The know-how may not be there in the company. To ensure that business gets the productivity improvement and not just busyness, the potential twin-bottlenecks of know-how and knowledgeable consultancy must be anticipated and tackled in advance. We must not assume that the only impediment to productivity improvement is money. The ESC recommended the creation of a body to conduct productivity research. I strongly urge that such a body be set up immediately. But research is not enough. I also strongly urge that this body be tasked not only with conducting research, but also be given appropriate resources to reach out to industries, so that knowledge and expertise are proactively "pushed" out to industries through channels such as industry associations and business chambers, and complemented by expanding strong networks of suitably qualified consultants to assist companies along the way. I am convinced that a "push" mode of operations is needed to complement the more passive "pull" method, where companies approach the said body to tap its findings.”
“For example, the Grand Hyatt Hotel is piloting a system called the TRITON which will significantly improve operational responsiveness and customer satisfaction by integrating guest services with real-time feedback and staff deployment across the Front Office, Engineering, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Security, F&B, and the IT departments. Many leading hotels, such as the Millennium and Copthorne Group of hotels, are also working on bringing in another technological improvement called the "opti-keeper". This system promises to optimise cleaning schedules dynamically to cut waste through matching the supply and demand for manpower, manage the quality of cleaning effectively, target training and improve operational communications within the housekeeping function. Over in the construction sector, companies are also alive to the possibilities of innovation and productivity improvement. Shimizu Corporation Singapore, for example, is introducing the use of the aluminium wall form work system in lieu of the traditional timber form work in order to improve the construction cycle time and achieve high quality concrete finishing. This system, according to the company, reduces the bottleneck of crane usage and cuts down on labour for form work erection due to the ease of use. It also allows for the reuse of form work materials, therefore, achieving greater cost efficiency. The ability to deploy technology to get more bang for the manpower buck, and to be scalable beyond a single company to a group or cluster and to the whole industry is important and must be encouraged. There are two critical elements for success. One, the rules must be set out soonest so that companies can start applying. Early successes can then be publicised and this would be useful in spurring the others on.”
“In this national upgrading effort, we will encounter much gnashing of teeth as we reshape our entrenched ways of doing things, and as we correct the chronic over-dependency on labour to the detriment of productivity. We must also remind ourselves that just as in the past, new opportunities will arise in the future, new business orders will come. How will we then respond to these new opportunities? Do we do a U-turn again? I hope not because we have to stay the course and press on with the work needed to move to a higher level of productivity, quality and competitiveness. This is a test of our resolve and we must not waver or blink. Sir, on the Budget, it is good that Government is setting aside money via the Productivity and Innovation Tax Credits and infusing $1.1 billion in the first instance into the National Productivity Fund to catalyse breakthroughs and improvements. The key to success is timeliness. Tax Credits are savings to be enjoyed after the fact of spending. How much this will help companies make the full upfront spending and investments, remains to be seen especially in the case of SMEs. For upfront grants, it is the National Productivity Fund, the $1.1 billion that I believe, will be more attractive for many companies, big and small. This incentive portion is going to make more difference that the Tax Credits portion, at least in the initial period in energising quantum increase in productivity. I have already received positive feedback from key players in the hotel sector that they will be actively tapping the incentives when the rules are known.”
“I quote, "We are driven towards productivity and we want our colleagues to be mobilised when needed, however, for work permit holders they can only work in the department that they have been hired. During 2009, our hotels wrote in to MOM to seek permission to allow us to cross deploy during the downturn to help us to save jobs and we received a written reply from the Ministry rejecting the request. Going forward, we hope that this can be looked into to help the hotels." This comes from Ms Magdelene Tai, Director of HR, Fairmont and Swissotel Singapore. Not alone, but we hear such feedback. My reaction to such feedback is three-fold. First, going forward, Government agencies have to expect suggestions from companies across different sectors on increasing total labour productivity measures that seek to optimise both local and foreign manpower within their companies and how do we view these and deal with them. Secondly, such measures, if acceded to, will make foreign manpower more productive, within those companies. This will help companies either reduce their reliance on such foreign manpower for the same volume of work, or derive a "productivity buffer" with which to man new areas without immediately needing to seek an increase in such foreign manpower. Thirdly, local employees must understand that their companies will be finding ways and means to increase productivity from their total manpower that is local and foreign and, therefore, it is in their own interest to continue to increase their own value on the job and their employability through skills upgrading, re-skilling and multi-skilling.”
“But if you keep on doing this, then progressively we will become less well placed as time goes on unless we couple that with sufficient ongoing productivity improvement. The easy growth in manpower supply allowed us to get the job done at hand, without having to worry about changing our working models and methods. But in the end, it comes back to haunt us. From recent dialogues and feedback with players in the hotel and general business sectors, one clear and strong reaction is that if the Government makes foreign manpower more expensive or harder to come by, and yet Singaporeans are not stepping forward to take up the positions, then standards will go down instead of up and we also read from the media concerns that the cost of services will go up as a result. What is left unsaid in all these is really the crux of the matter – which is an assumption that work processes, work technology, work scopes, work value will all largely stay put. Of course, if none of these key parameters change, then the situation could, indeed, degenerate into a vicious cycle of falling standards or of poaching skilled manpower from one another, driving up costs. But it need not be so. Indeed, it must not be so. Our mindset must be one of adaptation and re-creation. One feedback I got from the hotels is, interestingly, that they hoped that the Government would stop preventing them from getting a higher productivity from their foreign manpower. They said that the current regulations are absolutely strict about what work a foreign employee may do within a hotel and forbid cross-deployment to any other job in the hotel. This is unlike the flexibility that they have with their Singaporeans and PR employees. Let me quote you one such specific feedback.”
“Coming out of the recession last year, there will be excess capacity in the economy and labour productivity this year should see a good turnaround as the excess capacity is mopped up, with little change in operating methods. So this is a cyclical thing. But what we need is sustained, continuous structural improvement and we must be careful not to declare victory too early. Another mirage to watch for is over-stretching the manpower and/or cheap-sourcing masquerading as productivity improvement. Once full labour utilisation is reached, without new work methods, innovation and technology, just by stretching the manpower more thinly can give a short-term impression of labour productivity improvement on a per headcount basis, but that will only build up a backlash later on in quality, safety issues. The ongoing Toyota saga reminds us that fast growth without corresponding capability building and the sustain quality culture can lead to quality and standards going awry, eventually bringing down a hard-earned reputation. So we must watch closely the employment and unemployment rates for locals across the age bands, and track quality and standards as we push productivity to make sure that we are not just trading them off one against another. The immediate next part of the journey will involve a mindshift on the judicious use of foreign manpower. Why did we have a big foreign manpower segment that was growing at a rate that was so quick? Well, because there were opportunities to be seized, business orders to be captured; both as a country and as individual companies. So we struck the balance between the immediate and continuous structural improvement in a certain way because, as they say, make hay while the sun shines, and many were too busy chopping trees to sharpen the axe.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I give my fullest support to the Government's decision to drive for sustained productivity improvement. Singapore is one of the original Asian Tiger economies, characterised by fast growth and rising living standards and describe in Chinese as a state of "long teng hu yue" – like a dragon flying and tiger prancing. As the world is much more volatile and uncertain than ever before, we must all the more make sure that we retain our good sense and strong drive, and make this Year of the Tiger and, indeed, the coming 10 years a roaring success, by adding wings to our Tiger economy – "ru hu tien yi ". Doing this will not be at all easy. But we have little choice. Our labour productivity growth rates have been trending downwards over the past two decades. Even more worrying, they have turned negative since 2007. This means that the labour force has been expanding faster than the growth in value-add and this undermines our ability to stay competitive in product and service innovation. We must not be complacent, or risk finding ourselves like a tiger driven out of its habitat and rendered vulnerable – "hu luo ping yang ". Our living standards will then be forced down and this is a serious matter. That is why we must pay close attention to the need to boost our productivity, even though the subject may appear unglamorous. Now that the intent to reverse the decline has been declared, I want to urge everyone to stay the course and remain focused on the fundamentals. We must neither expect immediate miracles nor seek short cuts. For example, there will be year-to-year fluctuations.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, supplementary question. I would like to ask if the Minister would agree that there are also many employers out there who do appreciate the value of their older workers and what they bring to the job and the company. In last year's economy, for example, the employment rate for the older workers actually went up. The results for the unionised sector, for example, have also been very good.”
“We must deal with them firmly and cripple them. May these amendments give us the tools to do this faster and better. Sir, I support the Bill.”
“Besides the jail term of up to 12 months that is proposed, I would also ask that the courts be given the additional option of caning, especially for those who are recalcitrant. I would also like to seek clarifications regarding the following: Section 28A – on Abetment – This section focuses on those who instruct others to commit an act, or who arranges transport or lookouts to support an act. I would suggest that those who knowingly assist in arranging and/or providing any kind of logistical support, for example, materials such as paint, chains, locks, glue, pig heads or incendiary materials which also come under the definition of abetment. Section 28B – It makes it an offence for someone above the age of 21 to cause or procure someone below the age of six to commit an offence under the Act. I assume that the intent of the section is to deter the procuring of minors to commit an offence under this Act. If that is the case, then what happens if the offender is less than 21 years old, for example, a 19-year-old procuring a 15-year-old? We must not leave a gap for the loansharks to exploit. Third, the related amendments to the Immigration Act and the National Registration Act that require the HDB to disclose relevant secret or confidential document or information to the authorised officer for purposes of this Act. If the intent of these amendments is to facilitate the intelligence collection pertaining to the whereabouts of loansharks or their operating locations, why limit these requirements only to the HDB? Should it not also include the legal owners of private residential, commercial or industrial properties? Mr Speaker, Sir, loansharks are a defiant lot and a menace to law and order and a threat to our people sense of security.”
“This will, hopefully, scorch the stumps of the Hydra's head with each loanshark syndicate that the Police are able to cripple, and curb their ability to regenerate and proliferate freely. Aside from the real loansharks, or what the Senior Minister of State referred to as the towkays, two other groups of offenders deserve severe punishment. Firstly, the debtors who turn into loanshark runners. Even if they had turned runners for the loansharks because they cannot afford to pay their debts, this is no excuse for their acts of harassment and vandalism. If the loansharks see that the Government or the courts are lenient towards such people, or lenient towards certain profiles of such people such as if they are young, or old, or if they are female, then the loansharks will make more use of such kinds of people to be their runners. We must, therefore, be resolute and make examples of those who are caught so that no one will not hold the mistaken view that they will be let off lightly. Those who harass innocent parties like the neighbours of presumed debtors deserve even heavier sentences. Secondly, debtors who borrow using other people's identities and addresses. Such people are indeed despicable. They deliberately want other people to take the pressure and punishment from the loansharks on their behalf. Their victims could, for example, be those who bought over their flats not knowing that the seller chose not to update his NRIC address and would use the old address to borrow from loansharks. I therefore support the new section 28(3) which makes the providing of false contact information by borrowers an offence.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to speak on this. This Bill has my fullest support. The loansharks have done much harm to Singapore. They have vandalised common property. They have terrorised not only the borrowers but also innocent parties, such as neighbours of borrowers or buyers of the targeted properties. When innocent parties are targeted and when these blatant perpetrators seem to be very hard to bring to book, then the residents' sense of security takes a hard knock. These loansharks also mar and undermine Singapore's hard-earned reputation of being a low-crime city and country, which is very essential for our social and economic attractiveness. The terror tactics of loansharks have gone too far, for too long. It is time for us to take the fight to them and we must be bold in our measures. We must hit them hard. I, therefore, support the use of caning, on top of fines and jail sentences. I also support the raising of the fines and jail term ranges. This will enable our courts to send a clear message to these loan sharks. Our deepest disdain is, of course, for real loansharks with the money and who control the operation. They control themselves well and are hard to get at. But they are the source of the problem. If we cannot get at them effectively, they will have the means to spawn endless variety of tactics to further their objectives. As it is, they have innovated and expanded the pool of runners by having not only people they pay to work for them, but also borrowers to do that dirty work for them. We are tackling a Hydra. The new measures to freeze the proceeds of their loansharking activities will strengthen our hand against them.”
“I would also like to point out that if such workers are not perceived to be treated properly, source countries or provinces may have cause to ban their people from coming and, thereby, damaging our economic resilience. Moreover, I believe that how employers choose to treat their foreign workers has a knock-on effect on how they treat local workers, especially those at the lower end of the economic ladder. At the same time, as the number of foreign workers here grow, we must expect that there will be increasing tendency for them to organise amongst themselves to seek their own protection and rights as well as increased actions by groups to lobby on their behalf. The more recent gatherings and group appeals at the MOM, as far as I am concerned, are not just a reflection of the downturn, I think, they are indicative of a deeper trend of behavioural change. We should hasten to do the necessary so as not to be misconstrued as being passive or lax, instead, we should show ourselves to be decisive, proactive and enlightened in regulation. As we focus our attention and efforts on tackling these and other emerging trends and work them to our advantage, we will strengthen ourselves against the competition while ensuring that Singapore coheres and continues to be one of best places on earth to work, live and play. In this way, we will together build our home, our future and our Singapore. Sir, I support the motion. TIME LIMIT FOR PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH (Suspension of Standing Orders)”
“NTUC's efforts in highlighting and countering cheap sourcing over the past few years have shown us how tough this problem is. I think it transcends the question of business tactic. It is a question of entrenched mindset that is very hard to dislodge and we have to find ways of cutting this Gordian knot so as to fundamentally transform our economy and the capability and worth of all in our workforce. But one thing is for sure, regardless of the transformation path that we choose to take, the Singapore economy will always need migrant workers to help fuel it. Today, foreigners constitute 37% of the workforce. The number of foreign workers will grow in the recovery. Migrant workers bring with them the numbers, skills and energy to complement and supplement our local workforce, and at a cost that companies find viable. While foreign talents should have less problems negotiating appropriate terms for themselves before accepting contracts, lower wage foreign workers are more prone to finding themselves at the receiving end of unequal arrangements. More cases of such unfair, unsafe and unlawful practices have surfaced over the past months and reported in the media as the economy skidded and these are warning signs for us to take seriously. We should proactively address questions of fair treatment, for example, prompt payment of the right wages, adequate health coverage, decent accommodation, safe transportation and enforce strictly against labour suppliers and employers who flout legislation and regulations. Profits and greed cannot be allowed to override basic decency. It does Singapore's reputation and attractiveness as a working location no good to be associated with shabby treatment of migrant workers.”
“And this means that we have to carefully consider the following: Firstly, that with outsourcing and contract service becoming ever more commonplace and with many companies pursuing these approaches as ways to save money and increase flexibility, how do we ensure that the growing pool of contract and freelance workers across different industries do not become less and less employable and more and more vulnerable to cheap sourcing? Many contract workers also work outside the boundaries of companies. Their needs would increasingly have to be met beyond measures targeted at companies and this applies not only to lower wage workers, but also increasingly to PMETs who freelance or who are on contracts for service. I want to underline this point that more solutions in the future would have to come from measures and arrangements that are not company-based. This is because more and more companies will operate using a mix of small internal core workforce and a larger flexible external or temporary workforce. Therefore, productivity, professional development and individual employability cannot be achieved by addressing companies alone. This also means that statistics and the interpretation of statistics would have to adapt as well because the share and scale of non-company-based data will increase over time. Next, how do we ensure that companies and organisations in Singapore that embrace outsourcing are doing so smartly, in that they are pursuing productivity enhancement in outsourcing as a way to derive value-for-money, instead of being "penny wise, pound foolish"? There are still sectors whose productivity levels have not improved much over the years and are also lacking the levels attained in other countries, and this is the nub of the problem.”
“For a long time, the argument has been that, for the sake of economic competitiveness, cheaper labour is one way for companies to keep down the cost. The upshot of this way of thinking is to bring in cheaper foreign labour and to outsource at lower rates. There are two problems with this. The first is the race-to-the-bottom challenge where cheap sourcing would tend to drive down the earnings, especially of lower wage workers. Workfare payments go some way towards topping up the income of local lower wage workers and lowering the chances of their being sucked into the downward spiral, but only to a point. The cheap sourcing mentality among buyers and which fellow Member, Mr Zainudin, has elaborated earlier, gives rise to a lowest quote mentality among suppliers of goods and services and the ensuing cut-throat competition will press down wages over time. The second problem with accepting this argument too readily is that there would be little motivation on the part of companies to think about raising competitiveness through raising productivity. Water flows towards the lower level. When there is a simpler solution for the immediate, then the important is sacrificed at the altar of the expedient and this will reap greater damage on the economy, even though short-term gains may be reaped. To survive the downturn, we have indeed to cut cost and save jobs. But, to prosper in the upturn, we cannot hope to be competitive just by being cheaper than others in our inputs, we must be more value-for-money and more productive than others.”
“Companies will have to step up their efforts to design and match suitable jobs to their older workers in anticipation of the growing numbers of positions needed, year after year. The expected enactment of the Rule of Employment Law in 2012 will make this requirement mandatory. And the choice facing companies is one of turning this requirement either into a value add or into a cost burden. With the enactment of the re-employment law getting closer each day, I hope that companies will make maximum effort to prepare themselves for it and not leave it to the last moment or hope to arrive shipshape by muddling through. I also hope that companies will not resort too ready to outplacement or to converting their ageing workers to contract service before retirement age as ways to side step the need. I say this because I note that the percentage of our resident workforce that is on term contracts has continued to rise. Between 2007 and 2008, it grew by 4.9% to 189,000 workers and now comprise 12.4% of the total resident workforce. And on the subject of contract workers, I want to particularly speak about the situation faced by lower wage contract workers, and of the danger of facing them and that is of cheap sourcing and the impact of that on the economy as a whole and as well as on the earnings, employability and productivity of the workers. Instead of being value conscious and productivity conscious, I think still too much emphasis is placed by too many companies on price consciousness alone. And this has contributed partly to the decline in labour productivity. Even if one takes into account the intentional move to kick down unemployment in this recession, the trend for labour productivity has still been adverse in recent quarters. Now why is this so?”
“And we must also recognise that the alternative to being able to implement re-employment systematically would be a growing pool of financially strapped old citizens and that is something which is much worse for the individuals and for the countries as a whole. And here, I would like to call attention to two observations. Firstly, in recent days, we hear of media reports of green shoots of economic recovery in the US and then perhaps globally. This is more on the basis of the sudden exuberant stock market behaviour. Whether this exuberance has a firm basis in the real economy or is irrational remains to be seen. But we must not let this stalk of green shoots distract us from investing time and effort in the upgrading of our workers skills and employability because we are dealing with a structural issue and not a cyclical one. The recovery, when it comes, will require Singapore companies to compete ever more fiercely with the survivors of the global shake-out. These survivors are the fittest of the lot and the need for the Singaporean worker to be, not only job ready, but fighting fit, cannot be overstated. Older workers would have to secure the employment through the value that they create at work just like everyone else. They must actively improve their job worth and employment chances through upskilling. The second observation I would like to make here is, with regard to the ageing of the baby boomers and the first batch, that is those born in 1946, have just aged passed 62, which means to say that the rest of the boom are just coming through. And that means that the number of workers reaching 62 will swell in the coming years before reaching a peak.”
“But does this mean that we need not worry about the prospects of the re-employment for older workers and does "un-retirement" hold any lessons for Singapore? In my view, we should take very seriously the difficulties of workers attempting "un-retirement". When we studied the write-ups, we see that many of these retirees say that they are stuck because they cannot convince employers of their employability. And those who have left work for a number of years are particularly out of touch skills-wise, and also through a lack of confidence. Others are ruled out because of the healthcare cost that prospective employers do not want to shoulder and, yet, others rule themselves out because they continue to look for work in sectors and at terms that they were used to but which are no longer realistic. Although these kinds of descriptions are coming out of the US, these descriptions are not unfamiliar to us. If you try to remedy these problems and close the gaps quickly for large numbers in a moment of crisis, it would be a most difficult challenge for any country to tackle. The key lesson is that we must do our best not to end up in that situation, as far as possible. And that is by going upstream and helping as many of our workers stay employed and employable for as long as possible. Hence, our efforts in the area of re-employing older workers must not slacken, even in the face of the downturn. To be realistic, we must expect that it would not be easy securing re-employment in the downturn and the numbers that I shared just now, they do not say they are easy, they just prove that the extra effort that I have to go into in entrenching the practice of re-employment in companies and certainly within the unionised sector through our unions.”
“This is a phenomenon where retired workers are forced by circumstances to return to the workforce to seek a living. What happened, why do they have to do that? These retirees have run out of savings, or lost their savings to stock market plunges. They have also seen the value of their homes collapse. "Un-retiring" is proving to be much more difficult than frustrating and sometime heart wrenching than retiring. Just because you are broke and need money, does not mean that you would be given priorities for your job and this is especially so when the economy in itself shedding drops in the face of a recession. But then where does that leave the distraught? And we look at the situation in Singapore. We, in Singapore are also facing our most serious recession since the war. Thankfully, we have avoided the worst outcomes in the labour market so far. Although GDP fell from 7.8% in 2007 to 1.1% in 2008 and to an expected between -6% and -9% for this year, the rise in the quarterly unemployment rate, that is as of first quarter 2009, to 3.2% overall and 4.8% for the local workforce has not been as steep. I firmly believe that this is partly because of the unemployment retarding effects of the Jobs Credit Scheme, the SPUR programme, the socially responsible company level cost cutting on the one hand, and the actual job searching, job retraining and placement efforts by entities such as the CDCs and NTUC, e2i on the other. On the re-employment front, the number of unionised companies committed to re-employing older workers stands at 726 as at the end of April 2009. And the total number of workers in unionised companies employed beyond age 62 has also gone up from around 4,600 at the end of last year to more than 5,000 by the end of first quarter 2009.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you very much for allowing me to speak on this motion of thanks to the President. I am very happy to see such a packed House today and I am sure that Members are eagerly awaiting what I have to say. A reporter once asked an old communist revolutionary to describe the merits of his system. So the comrade said, "Our system is great because everyone has a job". The reporter then asked, "Well, that is wonderful. So how is your pay related to your work?" And the comrade answered, straight forward, "They pretend to pay me, I pretend to work." Sir, this is, of course, a joke, but I think it does tell us something about how the design of political systems interplay with basic human motivations to produce outcomes for better or for worse. Singapore has come a long way since our independence; economically, socially and politically. Our strategic choices have mostly paid off and that is why we are in a better position today compared with most of the other small colonies that gained independence after the war. We have to make new strategic choices in the face of fast-changing circumstances. The Chinese saying "Bu jin ze tui", that is, "If we cannot advance, we will surely slide back" describes the difference between getting it right and getting it wrong. For today, I will focus on three areas that, in my view, have the potential to disrupt our social fabric and undermine our economic strength. These three areas are employment of older workers, treatment of lower wage contract workers and the treatment of foreign workers. First, I will speak on the employment and the re-employment of older workers. There is now a new term in the United States and it is called, "Un-retirement".”
“"This time the cuts will be involuntary, and Boeing will pick and choose." In other words, Boeing has learned from previous experience of the value of older workers and their experience. Sir, I would like to ask MOM what plans it has to better inform and persuade companies in Singapore on the value of our experienced workers. CPF Savings as Retirement Funding”
“Sir, the ongoing economic crisis will make the re-employment of older workers more challenging. Companies, faced with tough choices, may prefer other types of manpower, eg, younger manpower, foreign manpower, or contract manpower. Data from the unionised sector indicates that the total number of unionised workers employed beyond 62 years of age has fallen from 5,400 in 0ctober 2008 to 4,650 at the end January 2009. Yet, ageing is a trend that does not vary with the economic environment. It is relentless and it is recession-proof. If we slow down our preparations for an ageing population, all it means is that our society will have to confront that reality in a less ready state, and then scramble to plug gaps. One of the central pillars of preparing for an ageing population is the re-employment of older workers. This will need the means to fund lengthening lifespans. I would like to know what are MOM's plans to ensure that while we tackle the serious economic crisis before us, the longer-term need to keep people working for as long as possible is not abandoned or overly compromised. I would like MOM to indicate whether the economic crisis will lead to any postponement of the Government's introduction of a Re-employment Law by 2012? In a 29th January 2009 article in the Business Week entitled "This Time, Old Hands Are Keeping Their Jobs", columnist Joseph Weber reported that, "On January 28, Boeing boosted to 10,000 the number of jobs it plans to cut this year. But it's likely to spare many older workers." The company recalled the late 1990s, when voluntary buyouts left it short of experienced hands. "We don't want to get ourselves into that kind of situation again," says Richard Hartnett, Director of global staffing.”
“Tough choices would have to be made. Companies would want the best chances of survival and to retain the ability to seize the upturn when it comes. Locals want priority for jobs, and for staying in jobs. Government and the labour movement certainly want to help locals retain their jobs and to get back into work as soon as possible if they are retrenched. That was why Government introduced, and the Labour Movement fully supports, SPUR and the Jobs Credit Scheme. From a strategic standpoint, foreign talent is needed to complement local talent to give Singapore that added competitive edge beyond what our small local population can produce. Foreign labour enables the overall economy to grow at a faster rate. This means that how we balance between the local and foreign employment is important in helping us maintain our grip on such competitive advantage during and beyond the downturn. I would like to ask the Ministry how it intends to, therefore, treat this subject of employment of foreigners at various levels and how it intends to tweak the work passes and employment passes system, if any, so as to better balance between jobs for Singaporeans as well as jobs for foreigners in this downturn. Managing Foreign Workers”
“Sir, the first cut is on jobs sourcing and reporting. This economic crisis may be prolonged and from the look of it, it is most likely that it will be prolonged. With the timing of the upturn most uncertain, we must expect retrenchments and unemployment to rise during the course of this year. To keep the rate of deterioration to as low as possible, it is crucial not only to cut costs but also to help as many displaced workers as possible find new jobs as soon as possible. These workers come from all levels and from many industries. To place people into new jobs, we must have the jobs. This in turn means that we must know of the existence of the jobs so that they can be put into the job banks. In a downturn, knowing every vacancy truly counts. I would like to ask the Ministry whether, in its view, the current system of collating specific job vacancies across different industries in the public as well as in the private sector is good enough, so as to enable as many jobseekers as possible to be retrained and matched into these jobs. I would like to ask the Ministry whether the efficiency of such switching and clearance mechanisms – as it is crucial to help avoid a fast build-up of a pool of the unemployed – is good enough and what more can be done to improve the sourcing of jobs throughout the economy and to also improve the efficiency of matching. Balancing Foreign and Local Employment My second cut is on balancing foreign and local employment. Sir, Singaporeans view foreign employment as complementary or supplementary to local employment. Foreign employees of all levels are here because of work that locals cannot do, will not do, or do not have enough people to fill the vacancies. In an economic downturn, job vacancies will shrink.”
“Hence, creating the desired outcome takes careful, deliberate, systematic and sustained thought and action. I would like to know what measures will be introduced or intensified toward this end, what resources would be applied toward supporting such efforts, and how we would be able to measure the progress of such efforts over time. I would like to ask about the scope of the National Integration Council that DPM Wong announced earlier, and whether it will also address the issues I have just spoken about.”
“For example, some workers are brought in and then left stranded for months without work and pay. How they are treated and helped also has an implication on Singapore’s image as a global city. At the same time, locals wonder why these foreign workers remain here for months without work, and whether they have, in the meantime, been competing with locals for work. At the higher reaches of the skill and talent ladder, PMETs also fret about how job opportunities, promotional prospects and retrenchment risks are shared between locals and foreigners. Even among the foreigners here, there are different nationalities, cultures and dialects. There are different sub-groupings with different customs and behaviours. The diversity in Singapore is no longer just about Singaporean Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasians. We now have to integrate across more cultures. What is happening in the labour market and workplace will also have a knock-on effect in the community. During last year’s debate, I urged more resourcing and equipping of our community networks so that they can do even better in bonding the different parts of an increasing diverse and compact Singapore society. This is necessary. We cannot just deal with these feelings and episodes on an ad hoc basis. And they will grow and grow beyond dealing with the current recession. These are reactions to structural shifts, and are part of the adjustment process in our quest to be a global city so as to continue to make a good living. We must not forget that for most places on earth, a multi-racial, multi-religious population is not associated with peace, integration and harmony, but with strife. How to be pro-Singaporean without being xenophobic will be a growing challenge.”
“Sir, for Singapore and Singaporeans to prosper and to overcome our natural constraints of smallness of land and population, we must be a cosmopolitan, global city. As a successful global city, we will be open - for business, for education, for culture, for leisure and for settling down. We can then further anchor ourselves at the crossroads of the global flow of talent, ideas, population, investments, wealth and commerce. This is our basis for making a good living and for having good jobs for Singaporeans. While the logic is straightforward, the creation of such a result is very difficult. The foreign population in Singapore has been growing over the years. Today, foreigners make up one in three in the workforce. We also welcome more than 10 million foreigners to our shores each year, as tourists, students and patients. In 2008, some 20,000 foreigners became citizens and some 80,000 took up permanent residency. Clearly, there is benefit to this. Without such foreign as well as foreigner-turning-local presence, we will not be able to drive economic growth and expansion across a whole host of sectors. When the foreign population to local population ratio is small, and the economy is growing continuously at a good rate, tolerance is relatively easy to achieve. There is enough perceived space at work and in the community for everyone - locals and foreigners - and the presence is seen as complementary, supplementary and benign. The interfaces are becoming harder to manage. Even in good economic times, the questions of where to site foreign worker dormitories and proficiency in language are already issues in some locales and to some people. When downturns come, other stresses and strains show up more clearly.”
“Our concern is the lack of any clearly communicated long-term targets or policies to ensure that this promising start is not muted because of the lack of follow-through programmes and incentives. What happens after the $17 million CERT Scheme and the $20 million Solar Capability Scheme expire? We must avoid mistakes made by some governments where start/stop policies stunted solar business growth in a country, after which it was difficult to pick up the momentum again. It would therefore be disastrous for Singapore's solar companies if business collapse next year for lack of follow-through of the recent positive initiatives. The same applies to students just starting courses in renewable energy at our polytechnics and universities. Without local demand for their engineering skills, upon graduation, we face an inevitable brain drain of local talent seeking better opportunities abroad. From the news, we learn that the new Obama Administration is spending billions to develop green technologies and green jobs. Japan and South Korea are likewise investing US$30-US$50 billion in the three to four years in green technologies and generating some 960,000 and 1 million green jobs respectively. I would therefore like to request MTI to provide a medium to long-term plan for the clean energy sector so that the private sector, the Sustainable Energy Association Singapore (SEAS), the R&D institutions and the institutions of higher learning, can work in concert to fit into this plan and strategy for developing Singapore into a green energy hub with the right skill sets and trained Singaporeans to handle these green jobs. 12.15 pm Tourism”
“For the hotel sector, I have received specific feedback that they are worried about the additional levy that they would have to pay in connection with "F1" because they expect occupancy and pricing to be significantly poorer than last year. I think this was also reported in the media. Depending on their actual ability to raise rates and occupancy, the industry is concerned about how the additional levy will impact their cashflow and may even become a cost instead of a surplus revenue-split. In these difficult times, the industry hopes that the Government will seriously consider adjusting the formula to help them. Green Technology Er Edwin Khew Teck Fook (Nominated Member): Sir, the fledging solar installation industry appreciates the Solar Capability Scheme launched last May. Together with EDB's CERT Scheme and enhancements to the BCA's Green Mark Scheme, it has helped drive demand from practically zero to a level that is beginning to support a handful of businesses. I am sure that the construction sector also welcomes the additional business opportunities from solar to help to offset the decline in traditional projects. Solar PV has a potential to supply a double-digit percentage for Singapore's electricity demand by the year 2020. But we are still in an interim phase where solar power is not commercially viable without supported policies. We need support during this phase for Singapore-based companies to be ahead of the pack when falling cost opens up huge regional solar power markets. Solar installers are now hiring staff and training sub-contractors to meet rising demand in this emerging sector.”
“Sir, companies are the receptacles for jobs. To save jobs, it is crucial to help keep companies afloat. Cutting costs enables companies to stretch their resources and thus last longer under any given circumstances. The National Wages Council (NWC) and tripartite partners have issued guidelines to tackle wage costs using the flexible wage system. The Government has also stepped in a big way with the Jobs Credit Scheme to subsidise the payroll of companies, and this amounts to an equivalent 9% CPF cut to assist companies without causing pain to workers. This is on the wage side. But non-wage costs are equally important. Chief among them are rents and utilities, mainly energy and water. The Government, through HDB, JTC and SLA, will be reducing rents by 15%. I would like to know how much this reduction would be equivalent to on average, in terms of cost reduction to companies. What percentage of businesses incur rents outside of HDB, JTC and SLA, and what steps, other than moral suasion, can be taken to see that the other items of Budget assistance, such as the rebate in property tax, are substantially passed through to them? Will surveys be conducted to ascertain the efficacy of such pass-through, so that Government will be in a better position to assess the effectiveness of such a channel, as it plans future moves? While energy prices have come off the peak of 2008, they have also come off the trough. Energy and water costs are significant costs especially in the manufacturing sector, and companies must certainly do their part to improve efficiency and cut waste in their use of utilities. What additional help, in terms of pricing levels, stability of pricing of utilities may be possible to further help companies?”
“Economic agencies, business chambers, industry bodies and companies must all step up their individual and collective efforts to compete and to defend their market share and demand. I would like to know what specific measures will the Government be embarking on to catalyse this process of collective effort, to get chambers and industry bodies to do more. What investments, activities and events can Singapore target, in the current situation, to attract that leverage on our strengths of safety, connectivity, service quality and our season-proof weather in order to produce additional multiplier effects in the economy? What specific help can our network of Free Trade Agreements and bodies such as APEC give us in this time of heightened risk of protectionism and ever-intensifying competition? Capability Development for Local Enterprises”
“Sir, the greatest fear and difficulty confronting businesses in this crisis is the sharp drop in demand and the uncertainty over when the upturn may come. With all the major export markets down, economies and companies will be scrambling to grab what is remaining of the pie, until such time that growth returns. Protectionist attitudes and measures may also become more visible and prevalent internationally. In the 12th January 2009 Wall Street Journal article entitle "Surge in Protectionism Threatens to Deepen World-Wide Crisis", the columnist Bob Davis said, "Industries are starting to line up in Beijing, Brussels and Washington for import protection. That has happened in past downturns, too, but this time the restrictions may bite harder because of the global nature of the problems." He further said, "The global turn to stimulus spending also may come wrapped in protection, as each country tries to ensure that its industries benefit. In the US, congressional Democrats and their allies in steel, textile and organised labor are pushing to include strong 'Buy America' provisions in a US stimulus program that would limit spending to firms in the US. Already European officials are crying foul." Similar worries were voiced at the recently concluded World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Sir, in the face of such a scenario, Singapore-based companies cannot be passive or risk losing even more of their demand through ever fiercer international competition for the remaining pie, and by direct or indirect protectionist measures. Saving costs will help companies last longer but will not enable companies to save their way out of a recession. In my opinion, we cannot just rely on the Budget measures to work their magic through companies doing their sums and responding individually.”
“Yes, we are only a little dot. Yes, the crisis is a gigantic one. But let us not be paralysed with fear and haplessness. Just as David was able to take down Goliath with faith, confidence, strategy and skill, Singapore can do likewise to ride out this storm and bounce back. In terms of our resources, programmes and response mechanisms, we certainly have much more than a slingshot to work with. Mdm Deputy Speaker, I support the Budget. 5.03 pm”
“Otherwise, the pressure will build. There is a knock-on effect into the wider community of how locals will perceive and react to the presence of foreigners, in good times and bad. For Singapore to be competitive in the future, a key ingredient is to make it an attractive cosmopolitan city. How we manage our social development during this serious recession will affect Singapore’s standing as a global city. To do this well, the interaction between locals and foreigners at work, live and play levels must be systematically promoted and nurtured. Handle this well, and Singapore will come out ahead in a very strategic way. The fourth area is that a violent and sick world demands constant vigilance. Terrorism, dengue and a bird flu attack are three concrete, possible scenarios that we have to continue to confront, recession or not. The latest news coming out of Malaysia on dengue and from China about bird flu tell us how close and serious these threats are. Given the very serious economic difficulties we have to tackle, we certainly do not want to be wrong-footed in these areas. So I am disagreeing with Members who said that we can go slow or go easy on our defence. To guard against Murphy’s Law, we must not neglect these areas during the downturn. Natural and man made plagues can sneak up upon us without warning and devastate our economy and our lives. As we deal with the economic storm, let us "watch our backs" for these threats and make sure we do not compromise on security. Mdm Deputy Speaker, although Singapore did not cause this global recession, we cannot escape its impact. That being the case, the most practical thing to do is to stay focused, keep our chins up and work together to overcome the crisis with fortitude and determination.”