News: The Straits Times -  28 January 2010


Fewer foreign workers in five years, says MM
Govt will upgrade Singaporeans' skills to make up for dip
By Kor Kian Beng


(Picture: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew during a dialogue at an event marking the HDB’s 50th anniversary. - ST Photo)


FIVE years: this is the time period Singapore will take, from now, to scale back its need for foreign workers.

This timeframe was given yesterday by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, the first minister to put a time line on the Government's pledge since last year to reduce the inflow of foreign workers.

To make up for the dip in foreign workers, the Government will invest in upgrading the skills of the workforce, with contribution from employers, he said, during a dialogue at an international housing conference here.

'The next five years, we have decided we will tier down our need for foreign workers.

'We will pay for help to educate people, continuing education and training, which means a lot of money, probably co-payment with the employer to send him (the worker) for training so that he's paid whilst he's doing the training, then he increases his skill.'

MM Lee was responding to Mr Steven Choo, chief executive of the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore, at the event to mark the Housing and Development Board's 50th anniversary this year.

Mr Choo had asked Mr Lee if he thought the HDB would be able to catch up with Singaporeans' rising aspirations.

The Minister Mentor pointed out that rising aspirations were a worldwide problem, even in wealthy countries such as Switzerland and Finland.

Meeting such needs for higher living standards requires a highly skilled and educated workforce and a government that keeps raising their education and skills, he added.

Also, it needs to attract 'investments of a higher return or higher value-added investments in products and services'.

Said Mr Lee: 'Every government wants to do that. Can it be done? That's the difficult part. You got to motivate your people, raise their standards of education.'

An economic report he read recently showed Singapore scored well on attracting foreign investments, he said.

But the report said Singapore's productivity was around 51 per cent to 52 per cent, just slightly above Hong Kong's, at about 50per cent, he noted.

Japan, at 100, is the benchmark.'How do you get it from 51, 52, not to 100 but say, to 85, 86 to 90? It's a generation's job: educating them, continual education,' he said.

The economy of the future, with fast-changing product cycles, requires a person to continually ramp up his skills and knowledge.

Singaporeans who cannot catch up will be stuck with low salaries because they are 'not more productive', he said.

'We've grown in the last five years by just importing labour. Now, the people feel uncomfortable, there are too many foreigners.

'Trains are overcrowded with foreigners, buses too, property prices have gone up because foreigners with permanent residence are buying into the market.

'The answer is simple: We check the flow of foreigners, raise your productivity, do the job better, so that instead of two workers, eventually you'll do it with one worker, like the Japanese do.'

The foreigner issue had been highlighted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last August, when he said there was a limit to the intake of foreigners and he could not imagine their population doubling to two million.

Lately, government leaders had also pointed out the need to improve productivity and the Economic Strategies Committee is expected to make recommendations on it in its report due on Feb 1.

MM Lee said workers needed to understand that by working harder, they contribute to their companies' success which, in turn, benefits them.

But getting them to understand this is a challenge, he added.

'Can we do it? Yes, I think we can. Will it take time? Ten years, 15 years, one generation, but you've got to keep at it.'

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Separate ethnic quota for PRs
Move to prevent them from forming enclaves in public housing estates
By Kor Kian Beng


THE Housing Board is considering introducing a separate ethnic quota for permanent residents to prevent them from forming enclaves in public housing estates.

Its spokesman disclosed yesterday that the HDB was considering tweaking the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) but did not elaborate on the details.

PRs and Singaporeans are now subject to the same quota under the EIP, which aims to maintain a healthy racial mix in housing estates by stipulating maximum proportions for the key ethnic groups.

The HDB's statement followed comments made by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew during a dialogue at an event marking the HDB's 50th anniversary.

Asked by the moderator, Professor Tommy Koh, if the EIP would be expanded to include new Singaporeans, Mr Lee said the Government was doing so.

Said Mr Lee: 'We're not allowing new Singaporeans, whether from China, India or Malaysia or whatever, to congregate in the same tower blocks, which they are already beginning to do. They buy second-hand flats and they congregate.

'So we say 'no, no'. We have a record of how many new citizens living where, and we keep their numbers dispersed.

'It (EIP) is a very valuable instrument of communal harmony.'

The HDB spokesman clarified later that it was still considering the proposed change for PRs, whose numbers have risen in recent years.

The swell has triggered concerns of PRs forming enclaves in housing estates.

Last November, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said, in response to a query in Parliament, that the Government was monitoring the situation and would consider measures to prevent the congregation of PRs and foreigners in the housing estates.

Mr Mah also said PRs are already subject to the EIP, which was introduced in 1989. Latest official statistics show there are 533,200 PRs.

They own around 5 per cent of the nearly 900,000 HDB flats islandwide. PRs can buy only resale flats.

Under the EIP, proportions for the main ethnic groups - Chinese, Malays and Indian/Others - in each block and each precinct of around 10 to 12 blocks are subject to quotas. Sale of an HDB flat to a buyer from an ethnic group that has reached the block or the precinct limit is not allowed.

Over the years, disgruntled buyers and sellers have called for the HDB to tweak the quota or to abolish it completely.

Mr Lee said yesterday the situation was no different in the EIP's early years, when residents preferred neighbours of their own ethnic group.

The audience got a clear sense of how seriously he viewed the EIP, in his reply to Prof Koh's question if he considered the scheme a 'successful experiment'.

Said Mr Lee: 'No, it was not an experiment... It was force majeure. We inflicted it on the people, we knew it would work, we knew it would be uncomfortable.

'I got the Malay MPs and the ministers together, explained it and I said this was the only way. If we didn't do this, we would remain separate communities and never integrate.'

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Don't cast protest vote over rising flat prices: MM
By Sue-Ann Chia, Senior Political Correspondent


THE current contentious issue on the affordability of public housing was given another airing by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew who cautioned Singaporeans not to cast a protest vote against the ruling party over this.

As Singaporeans lament rising flat prices, he said they ought to understand that the Government sells them at a subsidised price, below market rate, so that they can own an asset that will appreciate in value over the years.

It adds to their wealth and this is an asset-enhancing policy Mr Lee believes citizens should not find fault with.

If they do, they must be 'daft', he said, at a dialogue during a housing conference as part of a series of events to mark the Housing and Development Board's 50th anniversary.

And if National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan is unable to defend this policy, 'he deserves to lose' at the next general election, he quipped, to laughter from the participants, including a chuckling Mr Mah.

But if Mr Mah loses to the opposition, he warned that Singaporeans better sell their flats fast as they would no longer be of any value.

Mr Lee's blunt remarks were in response to a question by dialogue moderator Tommy Koh, who pulled out a Straits Times report which said at least three opposition parties are keen to contest Tampines GRC, which Mr Mah helms, as they want to raise the affordability of public housing as an election issue to gain votes.

'It will always be an issue,' noted Mr Lee. 'They always want it cheaper and better.'

The Government, he said, has to price the flats at a level which is fair, not only to current buyers but past and future buyers, as it will affect property prices.

He went on to explain why the Government had put in place a five-year limit before people can sell their new flat, saying it was to prevent speculation in the property market.

'Because the moment you buy a flat, you can sell it to make a profit,' he said.

'We are giving you something more valuable than you're paying for. So we say you cannot sell it for five years.'

This philosophy of giving citizens an asset that will grow in value and give them a stake in the country was a recurring message in the 60-minute dialogue.

Asked why the Government placed such emphasis on housing the population in the early days after Singapore gained self-rule in 1959, Mr Lee, who was the Republic's first prime minister, said:

'We decided from the very beginning, everybody must have a home, every family will have something to defend. And that home, we developed over the years into the most valuable asset.'

It was also about giving people a clean place to live, as living conditions then were squalid and overcrowded.

To a question from Hong Kong's Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, on letting the private sector play a bigger role, he said they cannot take over the housing responsibility.

'We give them land, they build, and they sell it below market price? Cannot be done,' he said.

'We give our buyer an asset which is below market price the moment he buys it. So there is no profit, it's a loss, but there's a strategy behind that loss.

'That loss is to give the man an asset which he will value, which will grow in price as the country develops, as his surroundings become better.'

He added: 'This is a social responsibility which we have undertaken and that's the reason why we are re-elected.'

Referring to the three opposition parties that are targeting Mr Mah, he said: 'If Mr Mah is not re-elected and these three wise men take over, then I say you better sell and get out quickly.'