Parliament: Debate over Singapore's foreign talent policy, CECA and securing Singaporeans’ jobs and livelihoods

Robust debate in Parliament over foreign competition in job market

By Linette Lai, Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 15 Sep 2021

Singapore's answer to foreign competition in the local job market cannot be to shut its doors and turn away investors. Instead, the country has to - and will - invest in its people, working to mitigate the downsides of an open economy and striving for growth that will benefit all.

This was the gist of a 10-hour parliamentary debate that ended past midnight, during which four political office-holders rebutted the Progress Singapore Party's (PSP's) assertion that the Government's foreign talent policy has cost citizens jobs.

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong acknowledged that an open economy has its downsides, even though the vast majority benefit.

"In the end, the government has the responsibility to govern and to make policy decisions in the best interest of all Singaporeans," he said. "Some decisions will not be so popular, even though we are convinced they are necessary, and must proceed for the good of all."

They were debating the issue of jobs and foreign talent, which PSP Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai and Mr Wong had filed motions on. The minister said he asked to speak as Mr Leong's proposed topic falsely attributed the challenges Singapore faces to free trade agreements (FTAs) and foreigners.

This was why the Government had sought "to explain and reiterate our position on this important matter," he added. "It is important Singaporeans - and the world - understand where we stand."

The minister sharply criticised the racist and xenophobic undertones in the PSP's rhetoric on foreign talent - an allegation the opposition party has repeatedly denied. "Look - if it looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, it is a duck," Mr Wong said, adding that such irresponsible politics will divide society and spell disaster for Singapore.

Mr Leong had urged the Government to take "urgent and concrete" action to restore balance in the job market - starting by raising qualifying salaries for work pass holders and imposing a monthly levy on Employment Pass (EP) holders.

A lengthy exchange ensued between Mr Leong and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, who pressed Mr Leong for his position on various issues, including his support for FTAs such as the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Ceca) with India.

He also sought to get Mr Leong to admit that other Singaporeans, like some PSP members, might see his views as racist.

Manpower Minister Tan See Leng also rose to reinforce the Government's position with statistics.

The PSP maintains that foreign PMETs have displaced local ones, he said. But in fact, the number of local PMETs went up by 300,000 over the past decade, while the number of EP and S-Pass holders increased by 110,000.

This trend held true even in sectors that typically hire more EP holders, such as finance, infocomm and professional services. The number of local PMETs in these sectors went up by nearly 155,000 in the past 10 years, compared to 40,000 more EP and S-Pass holders.

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development Sim Ann reiterated that the Government has no "special affinity" for workers from any country - including India - and works to serve Singaporeans' interests.

A total of 18 other MPs spoke on the topic, including Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, who set out the Workers' Party (WP) stance. Such agreements have created jobs and opportunities for both Singaporeans and foreigners, he said. But the party believes it is fair to ask if work passes have been regulated in the best way, and does not assume that good jobs are automatically created as a result of Singapore's pro-trade policies.

Mr Singh added: "We abhor and denounce the racism and xenophobia that has become a part of the public narrative in some quarters. This can never be right, and must also be rejected and condemned."

Parliament voted to pass the ruling party's motion - with the WP registering its dissent - and unanimously rejected the PSP motion.

Can racial harmony in Singapore be fostered by law?

To live in Singapore is to be aware of race. It is on birth certificates, in the pledge, and informs a wide spectrum of government policies from housing to healthcare. It is also a subject Singaporeans would more often than not tread cautiously or tiptoe around, given the sensitivities surrounding the issue. Recently, the topic has come under scrutiny following a series of highly publicised incidents. Insight examines the issue.

By Linette Lai and Hariz Baharudin, The Straits Times, 4 Sep 2021

On Wednesday, a 44-year-old man pleaded guilty to a harassment charge for hurling racist, xenophobic insults at a bus driver last year.

Another case involving race heard in court that day involved a 69-year-old taxi driver and two National Environment Agency officers. The driver was jailed two weeks and fined $2,000 for using criminal force on public servants and insulting them with a racial slur.

In another case heard the previous Thursday, a 48-year-old man was sentenced to two weeks and three days' jail for harassing a taxi driver with vulgarities and racially-charged insults.

A new law announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his National Day Rally last Sunday seeks to tackle such offences in a more targeted way, and send a signal on the overriding importance of racial harmony to Singapore.

The proposed Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act will consolidate all existing laws dealing with racial issues, which are currently scattered under various pieces of legislation, such as the Penal Code.

Like the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA) which preceded it by three decades, the new law will go beyond punishment to incorporate "softer and gentler touches" that focus on persuasion and rehabilitation.

It comes as race relations have come under stress during the pandemic and, as PM Lee acknowledged, there have been more racist incidents, several of which were widely publicised on social media.

"Laws may not by themselves make people get along with one another or like one another. But laws can signal what our society considers right or wrong, and nudge people over time to behave better," PM Lee said in his speech on Sunday.

What's new, and why now?

The upcoming law will allow the Government to clearly set out where Singapore stands on racial harmony and consolidate the legislative powers pertaining to race under one legislation, a spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) tells Insight.

It will also introduce additional measures, including non-punitive ones, that will help Singapore to further safeguard racial harmony.

The new law will be a matter of housekeeping, says National University of Singapore sociologist Tan Ern Ser, who notes that it will handle all forms of racist acts, and could also rationalise and calibrate the punishments associated with various types of offences.

Singapore Management University (SMU) law professor Eugene Tan says that an "omnibus legislation" for race relations is neater and will streamline regulatory measures. He also points out that such a consolidation will give the Government the chance to enhance the legislative arsenal in two ways.

Firstly, it could provide additional power to the authorities to deal with changes such as social media, which has enabled offensive remarks to reach a wider audience. Secondly, it could expand the range of legal options to deal with offenders that go beyond punishment and deterrence towards persuasion and rehabilitation.

This upcoming Act also presents an opportunity to rewrite older legal provisions in a clearer style and add nuance, says Assistant Professor Benjamin Ong from SMU's law school.

In his rally speech, PM Lee said that Singapore's decades of peace have led people to "gradually take racial harmony for granted" - to the extent that some Chinese Singaporeans are unaware of the feelings and experiences of minorities.

He gave examples of how minorities sometimes face difficulties when looking for a job or a home to rent.

A 2019 survey by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) think-tank found that over 51 per cent of Malay respondents felt discriminated against when applying for a job, compared to 47 per cent for Indians and 12 per cent for Chinese.

Researchers also found that 48 per cent of Chinese respondents felt a job applicant's race was important when it comes to hiring someone to work for them, versus 34 per cent for Malays and 26 per cent for Indians.

Earlier in the same year, a YouGov poll found that 49 per cent of Indian respondents faced ethnic discrimination when renting properties, in contrast to 34 per cent for Malays and 18 per cent for Chinese.

The global research firm found that 42 per cent of Chinese respondents saw race as mandatory background information to disclose to landlords, compared to 33 per cent for Malays and 22 per cent for Indians.

CECA and FTAs: Ministerial statement and debate in Parliament, 6 July 2021

CECA does not affect Singapore's ability to regulate immigration: Health Minister Ong Ye Kung

CECA does not allow unconditional entry of Indian PMEs

Ministerial statement adds that FTAs in fact play key role in ensuring Republic's survival

FTAs and CECA made 'political scapegoats', falsehoods need to be corrected

PSP 'fully supports' FTAs, but disagrees that CECA offers net benefits to Singaporeans

By Grace Ho, Senior Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 7 Jul 2021

Far from leading to an unfettered inflow of foreign professionals, free trade agreements (FTAs) play a key role in ensuring the survival of small countries like Singapore, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.

Nor is the Republic's ability to regulate immigration and foreign manpower affected by an FTA like the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), he told the House yesterday.

Singapore signed the bilateral agreement with India in 2005.

In two ministerial statements, Mr Ong and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng laid out the importance of free trade pacts and debunked falsehoods about Ceca, whose immigration-related elements have come under fire on social media and by the opposition.

They also stressed that changes in foreign workforce numbers over time are to be expected, given that policies, as well as countries' industry needs, change over time.

Mr Ong said: "I emphasise and underline and highlight this: Nothing in the agreement implies Singapore must unconditionally let in professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) from India.

"Contrary to Progress Singapore Party's (PSP) claim, our ability to impose requirements for immigration and work passes has never been in question in Ceca or any other FTA that we have signed."

The minister was referring to allegations by the PSP, going back to before last year's general election, about how Ceca allows professionals from India "a free hand" to come and work in Singapore.

FTAs had enabled Singapore to ramp up investments from overseas and create thousands of jobs in Singapore, he said.

"When you attack FTAs, and worse, if your attack succeeds, you are undermining the fundamentals of our existence, all the sectors FTAs support, and the hundreds of thousands of Singaporean jobs created in these sectors," said Mr Ong, a former trade negotiator who worked on several FTAs.

Dr Tan acknowledged that 25 per cent of Employment Pass (EP) holders last year were from India, compared with 14 per cent in 2005. This was driven by the rapid growth of Singapore's digital economy, which attracted technology talent from India, rather than any favourable treatment for Indian EP holders, he said.

But Singapore is not worse off, he said.

From 2005 to last year, the total number of EPs increased by about 112,000; over this period, the number of local PMEs grew by more than 380,000.

Dr Tan pointed out that if Singapore tightened controls too much, businesses might simply move their functions offshore, costing Singaporeans their jobs.

PSP's Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai crossed swords with the two ministers.

Mr Ong pressed Mr Leong on whether PSP agreed FTAs, including Ceca, are fundamental to Singapore's economic survival; and that Ceca does not allow a free flow of PMEs from India into Singapore.

Mr Leong said that while FTAs are important to Singapore, it remains to be studied whether Ceca has contributed to the influx of foreign nationals from India.

"We don't agree that Ceca is net beneficial to Singapore at this stage," he said.

Mr Ong called Mr Leong's conclusion "regrettable".

"Generations of FTA negotiators worked very hard to make sure our interests are protected," he said.

"This is not a back door, this is not an avenue for any professional from any country to enter Singapore with a free hand and unfettered.

"But I take it that this is PSP's position, notwithstanding hearing all our explanations."

Lawrence Wong at IPS-RSIS Forum on Race and Racism in Singapore

Singapore has to keep working to improve multiracial society, majority should be sensitive to minorities' needs

Finance Minister Lawrence Wong says all races must do so, with trust and compromise

By Yuen Sin, The Straits Times, 26 Jun 2021

Singapore’s multiracial society is a work in progress, and all races have to make efforts to accommodate and engage one another in a spirit of trust and compromise.

Making this point in an impassioned speech on the state of race relations Friday (June 25), Finance Minister Lawrence Wong added that the Government will continue to engage Singaporeans and update its policies on race and racial harmony.

“No community has gotten everything it wanted, but collectively, we have achieved more together than what we would have otherwise by just focusing on our individual agendas,” he said at a forum on race organised by the Institute of Policy Studies and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

In his speech, he set out Singapore’s philosophy of multiracialism and gave suggestions to improve its system, noting a delicate balance has been struck through mutual compromise thus far.

He noted recent worrying incidents that have caused Singaporeans to consider the state of its racial harmony. The cases, which were highlighted on social media, have raised awareness of racism, and opened up conversations about how Singaporeans can hold themselves to higher standards on this issue.

Outlining three ways that Singapore can keep working at multiracialism, Mr Wong stressed the role that the majority community has to play by being sensitive to the needs of minorities, as it is harder to be a minority in any multiracial society.

This applies to all aspects of daily life, he added, highlighting those who face discrimination when looking for a job, potential tenants who learn that landlords do not prefer their race, and those who have to deal with stereotypes about their race or insensitive comments.

"These things do happen, not always, and perhaps not even often, but sometimes. And when they do happen, they cause real hurt, which is not erased by lightly dismissing them as casual remarks or jokes," said Mr Wong at a forum live-streamed from the University Cultural Centre Theatre at the National University of Singapore in Kent Ridge.

He noted that society's attitudes and conditions continue to evolve and change over time, and there are Singaporeans who feel it is time to take a different approach on race relations - namely that the Government should work on the basis that Singapore is a race-blind society, and remove all rules and practices that underline race in various ways.

These are aspirations that he shares, said Mr Wong. “Perhaps I am young enough to feel the idealistic instincts of the millennials, and old enough to understand the caution born of experience of my parents’ generation.”

Besides the majority community taking the extra step to consider the needs of minorities, he called on Singaporeans to continue with the approach of mutual accommodation, trust and compromise.

'Treat others in the way you would like to be treated'

Mr Wong said he believes the majority community in Singapore recognises the difficulties that minorities may face.

"I ask that we do more and take the extra step to make our minority friends, neighbours, co-workers feel comfortable.

"Treat others in the way you would like to be treated; and by your actions, teach your children to do the same. Remind those among your family members or friends who may slip up from time to time," he said.

At the same time, minorities have also reciprocated by recognising that the majority community has legitimate needs and concerns, he added.

Noting that people sometimes discuss "Chinese privilege" in Singapore, he stressed that it is important to recognise that the Chinese community in Singapore is not monolithic.

The term "Chinese privilege" is adapted from the concept of "white privilege" used in the United States, where privilege gives someone dominance in a society because of identity markers such as one's race or sex.

"There may well be biases or blind spots that the Chinese community should become aware of and to rectify," Mr Wong acknowledged.

At the same time, he said, there remains an entire generation of Chinese Singaporeans who are more comfortable in Chinese than English, and who consider themselves at a disadvantage in an English-speaking world.

"They feel that they have already given up much to bring about a multiracial society: Chinese-language schools, Nanyang University, dialects, and so on. 'What do you mean by 'Chinese privilege'?' they will ask, for they do not feel privileged at all," said Mr Wong, explaining that many of them will naturally object to being characterised in such a manner.

'Don't construe every compromise as an injustice'

Singaporeans must continue to speak up and even be prepared to have uncomfortable discussions about race, Mr Wong added. This is not to start arguments, but to begin civilised discussions, listen to one another, and understand all points of view.

"We should be upfront and honest about the racialised experiences various groups feel, and deal squarely with them," he said.

"But we should not insist on maximum entitlements and rights for our respective groups; construe every compromise as an injustice that needs to be condemned; or put the worst interpretation on every perceived slight or insensitivity," he cautioned.

The minister made clear that he was not saying Singaporeans should refrain from voicing their unhappiness, or that minority Singaporeans should stop talking about the prejudices they experience.

But when one group jostles aggressively to assert its identity and rights over others, it will not take long before other groups feel put upon, and start to jostle back, he said.

He pointed to trends in other countries, where one side uses identity politics to push its cause, which invariably emboldens another to up the ante and make greater demands.

"We end up fuelling our worst tendencies - our tribalism, hostility and vengefulness," said Mr Wong.

"If we go down this path, insisting on differences over commonality, minority groups will not win, and the outcome will be most unhappy for the majority community too."

He called on groups advocating change to be conscious about how they approach the matter, and do so in ways that expand the space for agreement, and not narrow it.

In doing so, they should also deepen cross-cultural understanding and not cause defensiveness and suspicion, and appeal to the "better angels" in all instead of instigating a "them versus us" dynamic, he said.

Updating racial policies

Making the point that Singapore's policies on race are not cast in stone, Mr Wong said the Government will continue to engage widely on the issue.

"For any policy - be it GRC, ethnic integration policy, self-help groups, or SAP schools, we continually ask ourselves: What is it that we are trying to achieve? Is the policy still relevant today? If so, can it be further fine-tuned or improved?" he added.

Mr Wong cited the ongoing review on whether Muslim nurses should be allowed to wear the tudung with their uniform. This process entails detailed study and extensive dialogue between the Government and various communities, he said.

"It cannot be rushed, nor should things be changed simply based on who shouts the loudest," said Mr Wong, adding that any policy change must ultimately expand Singapore's common space and strengthen racial harmony, while allowing each community as much room as possible to go about its way of life.

On immigration, he noted that a transient population of work pass holders has been gathered around the Singapore core, which enables the country to stay competitive, attract investments and create good jobs for Singaporeans.

"We control the inflow of these migrant workers. However, it is not possible for us to ensure that their ethnic mix matches our resident population, nor that they meld seamlessly into our social fabric. So from time to time, this creates frictions and issues within and among our communities."

Mr Wong said the Government understands these concerns, and thus continues to review and update work pass policies too, to ensure they meet Singapore's economic needs and also fit into the social context.

Like Singapore’s forefathers of all races, this Government is convinced that it must continue to strengthen a “Singaporean Singapore” and build an ever more perfect multiracial society, he added.

“Even when some of our compatriots fall short, or neglect to play their part in this vital national project, let’s see them as fellow citizens to be brought along, not adversaries to be shouted down or cancelled out.”

He urged Singaporeans to move forward with a spirit of mutual respect and fellowship by helping one another understand their different cultures, and finding the common stake they have in one another.

"We must have the humility to acknowledge our multiracialism is still a work in progress, the honesty to recognise that not everyone will want to move at the same pace, and yet persevere to protect our multiracialism - cherish it, nurture it, strengthen it."

The 3Cs of Racism in Singapore: CECA, COVID-19 and Culture clash

Fighting racism means calling it out, in public and online, rather than shrugging it off to keep up the pretence of getting along.

By Chua Mui Hoong, Associate Editor, The Straits Times, 11 Jun 2021

Racism has been much in the news after a video was widely circulated of a Chinese man scolding an Indian man, who was out with his girlfriend, for preying on Chinese girls. The Chinese man was heard on video calling their relationship a disgrace and saying they should date within their own race.

Mr Dave Parkash, 26, is of Indian-Filipino descent and his girlfriend Jacqueline Ho, 27, is half-Thai and half-Chinese Singaporean. The encounter was filmed by Ms Ho and made public by Mr Parkash, and rapidly went viral.

This came after an incident last month, when a Singaporean Indian woman out exercising with her face mask on that left her nose uncovered, was asked to wear her mask properly, and then reportedly kicked in her chest by a Chinese man uttering racial slurs.

Many have spoken up against these incidents, which are being investigated by the police.

Watching the latest video, I wondered what was on the Chinese man's mind when he accosted Mr Parkash thus in public. If you listen to his words, he appears to be making an assumption that many other Chinese Singaporeans will agree with him - that it is a disgrace to date outside one's race.

What struck me was not his sentiment - many of us would have heard similar comments on social media, or from relatives and friends. What struck me was how such bigoted views, once privately expressed in closed groups, were being expressed in public. As Irish writer Oscar Wilde observed, hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue, so keeping mum on one's private bigoted views at least acknowledges the virtue of social norms that frown on the expression of such unsavoury views.

That the lecturer felt able to confront Mr Parkash publicly with his own bigoted views made me wonder if he felt others in society would agree with him.

That was what made me uncomfortable - the realisation that in Singapore, we may be creating a social environment where people think it is acceptable to mouth racist words and to chide those from minority communities for failing to conform to certain expectations.

Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who has been quick to call out such racist incidents in the past, shared on his Facebook page: "I used to believe that Singapore was moving in the right direction on racial tolerance and harmony. Based on recent events, I am not so sure anymore."

Are things getting worse? If so, what has changed, and how did we get here?

The 3Cs: CECA and COVID-19 and culture clash

Several forces converge to expose existing fault lines on race.

First is the CECA factor. Short for the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, CECA is a free trade agreement between Singapore and India that eases the movement of goods, services and people between the two countries, allowing for easier business travel and for intra-company transfers. It has been blamed for facilitating the entry of Indian migrants to compete for jobs with Singaporeans.

Sociological theories on racism include a view that racism springs from resource competition. In this view, prejudice towards another race is due to competitive pressure for jobs, status or political power.

The virus of racism must not spread in Singapore

Linking race to the COVID-19 virus is against the social DNA of our multicultural society.

By Asad Latif, The Straits Times, 22 May 2021

A vicious attack on an Indian Singaporean woman, because she was not wearing her mask properly (she was brisk-walking), reveals the nefarious relationship between race, fear and violence that has been generated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The incident is the most egregious of several instances of unsavoury behaviour involving ethnicity and disease in the wake of a new strain of Covid-19, rampant in India, which threatens to stigmatise Indians, whatever their nationality.

Of course, race is not the only variable in this unseemly equation. Some employees at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which is at the forefront of efforts to fight Covid-19, have faced discrimination from members of the public.

Not all of the hospital's employees are Indians.

Here, then, is the first variable: Fear. An infectious disease socialises the individual fear of death that exists anywhere, all the time. A contagion broadcasts the fear of untimely and unwarranted death.

It amplifies the fictive distinction between "soft death" and "hard death" which the American writer Susan Sontag demystifies in her 1989 book Aids And Its Metaphors. Soft death supposedly comes easily; hard death is hard to bear.

"The metaphorised illnesses that haunt the collective imagination are all hard deaths or envisaged as such," she writes.

Thus, the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Aids), seen as leading to a hard death, became a "mythological menace".

Attack on nativist collectivity

Mythology nests in threatened territory. Territoriality is the second variable. Sontag suggests that a disease becomes a metaphor when sufficient members of a society view it as an external attack on their nativist collectivity.

The sexual promiscuity associated with the provenance of Aids in Africa was viewed as an attack on the moral and biological integrity of Western society, which imported the supposed curse because of its openness to the rest of the world.

Black Africa became the Aids-producing continent, while the white West became the geographical victim of a foreign disease. Aids was stigmatised in racialised terms.

Something very similar has occurred with Covid-19. Its origins led to it being called the Wuhan virus and even the Chinese virus, terms that signalled the identification of a disease with a place and even an ethnicity.

No wonder Chinese were insulted, harassed or attacked in several countries. They did not have to be from Wuhan or even the rest of China: All that they had to do was to look Chinese.

That was sufficient to rationalise their racist victimisation.

Now it is India's turn.

The Indian strain is seen as an Indian product, as if any country specialises in the creation and export of a virus.

Just as the suffering of the Chinese in Wuhan and other cities was ignored by racists in the West, who were interested only in apportioning ethnic blame, the epic struggles of Indians to fight the scourge today are ignored by those who see every Indian, or "Indian-looking" person, as a potential carrier to be shunned.

Singapore's social DNA

It is unacceptable that such sentiments should have any place in multiracial Singapore. The social DNA of this nation is multicultural.

What Singaporeans think about foreigners

Most Singaporeans remain open to foreigners here: Poll by government feedback unit REACH

Those who are jobless are more likely to express unhappiness 

By Tiffany Fumiko Tay, The Sunday Times, 11 Oct 2020

More Singaporeans feel positive about the presence of foreigners here rather than negative, although such sentiments are influenced by one's employment status, a poll by government feedback unit REACH has found.

About half of the more than 2,000 people surveyed said they were neutral about non-citizens in Singapore, while 35 per cent felt positive and just 14 per cent were negative towards them.

Those who were unemployed were more likely to express unhappiness, with 26 per cent saying they felt negative or very negative about foreigners here. Job-related concerns about foreigners were also more pronounced among this group, REACH said in releasing its results yesterday.

The majority of those surveyed, or 63 per cent, agreed that it is important for Singapore to remain open to foreigners, with only 10 per cent disagreeing and 25 per cent neutral. Respondents who were unemployed were more likely to be neutral, at 34 per cent.

The findings were based on a telephone poll of 2,100 randomly selected Singapore citizens aged 15 and above in August.

The issue of foreign professionals in Singapore's workforce has been a hot-button topic, as rising unemployment and uncertainty amid a recession have fuelled debate over discriminatory hiring practices.

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said in Parliament last month that 400 firms are on a Fair Consideration Framework watch list because they may have engaged in such practices.

These companies have an unusually high share of foreign professionals, managers, executives and technicians compared with the rest in their industry, she noted.

Until they improve, their work-pass applications will be rejected or held back as the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices helps them hire more Singaporeans, Mrs Teo said.

Respondents in the REACH survey were also presented with an open-ended question on the top three things that bothered them most about foreigners.

Nearly half did not cite any, while 23 per cent mentioned job-related concerns and 16 per cent said they were bothered by the social habits of foreigners, such as talking loudly.

A separate online poll of 1,050 Singaporeans found that the majority felt the country's status as a regional hub is beneficial for job creation. But one in five said it would be better for the Republic to do away with this status in order to reduce the number of foreigners, even if this meant fewer job opportunities for Singaporeans. Respondents who were unemployed were again more likely to indicate this.

REACH chairman Tan Kiat How said in a statement that Singaporeans are understandably anxious over job security and career opportunities during this difficult period.

The Government is committed to helping them keep their jobs or find new ones, said Mr Tan, who is Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office and for National Development.

"Nevertheless, it is heartening to know that many Singaporeans understand the need for Singapore to remain open to global talent," he said of the survey findings.

A spokesman for REACH said it regularly conducts surveys on topics that may be of interest to the public, and, in this instance, the survey was meant to understand public sentiments towards foreigners during this time of economic uncertainty.

Temasek calls out racist Facebook posts targeting its Indian employees; observers say posts show real tensions that need to be fixed

By Clement Yong and Ng Keng Gene, The Sunday Times, 16 Aug 2020

Temasek described as "racist", "false" and "divisive" Facebook posts targeting its Indian employees, standing by its hiring policies while calling for more civility on social media.

Posts have been circulating over the past week highlighting the LinkedIn accounts of Temasek's Indian employees, questioning why the investment firm is hiring foreigners instead of locals.

DBS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have also come under similar criticism on social media, in what observers said are "real inter-group tensions" that need to be resolved.



Temasek said last Friday in its strongly worded statement: "Some of our colleagues from India have been targeted recently on social media by a divisive, racist campaign. This makes us very angry at the false claims perpetuated. The Singaporeans among us are also ashamed at such hateful behaviour on the Singapore social media."

The issue arose after the Ministry of Manpower earlier this month placed 47 employers - 30 of which were in the financial service and professional service sectors - on a watch list for potentially discriminatory hiring practices.

With the number of people working here, excluding maids, suffering the biggest quarterly contraction on record in the first three months of the year, competition for jobs among locals and foreigners has become a hot-button issue.

While much of the decline was due to significant cutbacks in the number of foreign workers, local employment also dropped slightly, the ministry's labour market report released in June showed.



Temasek said 90 per cent of its 600-strong staff at its headquarters in Singapore are Singaporeans or permanent residents, a ratio similar to that of its senior leadership.

Globally, the nationality mix of its employees is about 60 per cent Singaporean and 40 per cent other nationals, of whom around 10 per cent are Singapore PRs.

The top five groups of foreigners it hires are those from China, the United States, India, Britain and Malaysia.

While it will continue to provide opportunities for its Singaporean workers, Temasek emphasised that it "will be foolish of us not to tap the global pool of talent".

"There is not only value in diversity, but the cross-fertilisation of experiences and ideas across geographies, and the ability to connect the diverse dots, has become one of our key strengths," it added.

Don't blame migrant workers for coronavirus spread in Singapore

By Tee Zhuo, The Sunday Times, 19 Apr 2020

On Thursday night, I was on a phone call with N, a 29-year-old Bangladeshi construction worker who has been here for eight years. He is now quarantined in Cochrane Lodge I.

Had I written this sentence a month ago, I might have to explain to readers that this is a licensed dormitory in the north of the island housing thousands of foreign workers. I probably don't need to now.

Cochrane was one of the first few dormitories with cases of COVID-19. The vast majority of new cases are now linked to these sites.



For the average Singaporean, these workers were probably invisible until this "explosion" of coronavirus infections.

When my colleague Joyce Lim reported on squalid conditions at S11 Dormitory @ Punggol earlier this month, it came as a shock to many.

Although the situation at that time might have been worse as it was being turned into an isolation area, foreign workers here have always lived in generally bad conditions.

Since 2008, several migrant worker groups have called for better workers' housing after dengue fever, Zika virus and even chickenpox outbreaks over the years.

In a March 22 letter to The Straits Times headlined "Employers' practices leave foreign workers vulnerable to infection", Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) president Deborah D. Fordyce said the risk of a cluster among workers at dormitories is "undeniable", with so many squeezed into a room.

A week later, the first cluster at S11 was reported.



Yet, based on letters and comments sent to the media, some of the concern caused by these alarming numbers is not for the workers.

One reader who called The Straits Times last week asked the media to "investigate whether these workers are gaming the system", wondering why "all of a sudden so many hundreds of them are ill at the same time".

A Facebook user said foreign workers should be sent home, as they were making Singapore's COVID-19 case numbers look bad.

A letter from a Lianhe Zaobao reader blamed foreign workers, who she said come from backward countries with poor hygiene habits like eating with their hands, which Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam called out on Friday for being xenophobic.

Sadly, the comments reveal a rather ugly side to what some Singaporeans think of migrant workers, even as other locals have rallied to donate tens of thousands of dollars to efforts helping them.

To speak of those stricken with the disease as just digits that will make the national count "look bad", or to suggest workers are faking illness, exhibits a lack of empathy at the very least.

In a Facebook post responding to the Zaobao letter, MP Zainal Sapari said he is proud of eating with his hands, which is part of his culture and has "nothing to do with personal hygiene or bad habits".

"Some of the comments...reek of racism and prejudices of the culture of other races," he said.



Migrant workers I met while on assignment last month had already taken precautions like wearing masks and safe distancing way before they were made compulsory.

In contrast, more than a week into the circuit breaker, some locals still flout rules and have even attacked enforcement officers.

In a pandemic, a certain degree of fear is understandable. COVID-19 has been highly contagious and can be transmitted asymptomatically, and we may suspect even our own neighbours and relatives of carrying the virus.

But when confronted with high numbers at the dormitories, I would ask Singaporeans to first hear from foreign workers themselves, instead of jumping to stereotypes.

Over the course of half an hour, N spoke of many issues that he and other workers at the dormitories have continued to put up with, despite the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) efforts. Several other worker and civil society groups have also raised these conditions.

These included cramped and ill-ventilated rooms, food that is under-cooked or tastes bad, as well as worries about not having been paid salaries for several months, leaving them unable to contact anxious families back home as their SIM cards have run out of money.

Out of desperation, some workers have taken to commenting about these issues on MOM's social media posts showcasing efforts at dormitories, risking possible retaliation from their employers and dormitory operators.



I also ask that Singaporeans think about what we take for granted.

As I called N, I did so in my own room with air-conditioning. The last time I had to share living quarters with 11 others was during national service - and, even then, the room was both spacious and well-ventilated.

We have come to expect detailed information on each day's new COVID-19 cases, and start grumbling when they have not been released yet by the evening.

N, on the other hand, said no one tells them how many cases their own dormitory has, and workers grow anxious with only the sounds of the ambulance arriving and then leaving the premises.

N's fellow countrymen, who have travelled thousands of kilometres to a foreign land, built the very apartment block I call home.



Despite their toil in building this city, few knew or cared where or how foreign workers were housed before this crisis. Out of sight, out of mind, as the saying goes - an attitude I, too, was guilty of.

There is much that can be done right now. For example, if you do not need your $600 Solidarity Payment, you can donate it at #HOMEFORALL Migrants - which shares it with migrant groups, including TWC2 and Home.

The money will be used to help workers with meals and supplies, improve hygiene and also Internet connectivity.



What about the longer term?

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said finger-pointing during a crisis when her team is working round the clock is not helpful, but has pledged to improve the dormitory system after the pandemic.

If the present crisis has shone a light on anything, it is that conditions at workers' dormitories were already poor even before this. COVID-19 will also not be the last pandemic to hit such workers the hardest.

I hope migrant workers will not become invisible and forgotten, and we will not once again forsake them after the pandemic passes.

Forum letter on foreign worker dormitory cases reveals underlying racism, says Shanmugam; man charged over racially offensive tweets made under pseudonym 'Sharon Liew'

Lianhe Zaobao letter on dorm cases xenophobic, says Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam
He speaks out against views in letter that linked outbreak to workers' personal hygiene
By Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 18 Apr 2020

A forum letter published in Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao that linked the COVID-19 outbreak in dormitories to foreign workers' personal hygiene and living habits showed racism and deep insensitivity, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday.

The letter, published on Tuesday, also showed a lack of understanding of why there has been COVID-19 transmission in Singapore's foreign worker population, he added.



While the average number of cases in the local community has stayed stable in recent days, the number of cases in dormitories has soared to the hundreds and now forms the majority of new cases.

This is primarily due to communal living and is not just a question of personal habits, Mr Shanmugam told Zaobao.

"Personal habits are extremely important: washing of hands, keeping yourself clean," he said.

"But when you put people together, when they sleep in the same room, they cook together and they are in close proximity over a long period of time, of course there will be high levels of transmission, just like we know (there are) also transmissions in households."



Instead of pointing fingers, Singaporeans should be coming together to take care of the foreign workers here, he added, as he credited them for helping to build Singapore's Housing Board flats and infrastructure and keeping the country clean.

"Our duty as Singaporeans, really, is to show them empathy and take care of them," he said. "I don't think this is the time to say it is their own fault."



He noted the Singapore community has mobilised to help foreign workers here, while the Government has stepped in to ensure they continue to receive their salaries, medical care and daily meals.

"All of these gestures - I'm not sure that many other countries are doing it - are really to assure the foreign workers that they are not just locked down in their dorms and left there to fend for themselves without any idea of what's going to happen to them," he said.

"That's not the way."



In the letter, forum writer Lee Shiwan had asked if foreign workers should not themselves be held responsible for the outbreak in the dormitories, given that they "like to gather and do not pay attention to personal hygiene".

Ms Lee had also said many foreign workers came from backward countries and brought with them "habits such as eating with their hands and eating under trees".