Some saw the parliament video of Minister Chan Chun Sing's reply to Mr. Pritam Singh and Mr. Liang Eng Hwa and asked me some questions.
I am no politician but here I am trying to explain some of the main ideas that I understood from Minister Chan's speech. I try to keep it short for easy reading.
Have economic growth and job creation benefited Singaporeans more than foreigners?
Between 2015 and 2018, local employment increased by nearly 60,000 for the whole economy.
These jobs include jobs from companies like Google, Facebook, and Grab. They are big players and many jobs were created. No doubt they are for both locals and foreigners. If not for these investments, many of us might not have the luxury of working in your own country where your friends and families are.
The above would not have happened if not for foreign investments. And no, it doesn't work in a way where you take their money and not their people. Their people are needed here to ensure the operations. Which is not all bad, because we also get to learn from big companies about their businesses.
I would even question the intention of the question. To make things worse, asking for the breakdown of PR vs Non-PR. Does it matter who benefitted more when at the end of the day, Singapore is a better place to have a career than many other places? Better than many years ago?
My point is very simple. You want to win a championship but you and your team are not good enough. So you signed LeBron James, (Michael Jordan, David Beckham, or Fandi Ahmad. Take your own pick.) and you guys are a winning team. But, you still not happy because you are no longer the star player. You are also unhappy that you are paid lower than LeBron. If not for LeBron, you would not have won your championship, you would not be paid as much as you are being paid now. You might even be in a worse off situation. So how is that a bad thing to have someone better that can put you in a better situation and also make you a better person than before?
I personally feel that Singaporeans can be a bit egoistic. We are a small country with very limited resources. We need the support from other countries. We need to learn when we have to take a step back look at the big picture. This is probably a problem of our own success. We think that we are very good and very successful after achieving all the "firsts" in the world. Being successful is not difficult, it is about staying successful.
There is no perfect policy. Like I always say, you can't have your cake and eat it too. In every policy, there will be something that you have to give. However, there can be balanced with other measures too. Which is why MOM has the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) and is continually updating the system to ensure that Singaporeans are taken care of.
So in conclusion? Yes. To quote Minister Chan, "a resounding yes."
Not only have we gotten the local-foreign workforce balance just in terms of quantity, but quality too.
P.S. I'm no woke salaryman, but I just gotten a new tablet, just let me have it.
