Workers' Party chief, Low Thia Khiang, said in Parliament today that more Singaporeans should be given a chance to take on leadership roles.
He pointed out that many large local companies actually have foreigners in top and key positions meaning that local talent is not being groomed for leadership properly.
He attributed this problem to the lax foreign labour laws which have allowed companies to fill positions with foreigners.
Speaking in Mandarin, he said, that Singaporeans are merely middle managers and many Singaporeans from the sandwiched class feel they should have better career opportunities but they aren't able to do anything about it.
Mr Low warned that allowing this to continue would be a threat to Singapore's future development and the fact that Singaporeans aren't the heads of companies shows that we have lost the leadership role.
He warned that in future, we would not be able to develop any young leaders if this continues and Singaporeans would be stuck in supporting roles.
Mr Low noted that Singapore cannot become overly reliant on foreign manpower and we need to continue pushing for economic transformation.
Another major issue he addressed was the widening rich-poor gap saying that this problem is dividing society.
In this respect, he noted that the Skills Future investments were a good step forward and he also said that Silver Support Scheme was also a positive step. However he noted that the long-term success will depend on whether these positive steps are carried through and result in real, long-term changes.
He also said that we need to remember that while economic development is important, softer issues including social peace also needs to be fostered.
You can see his full speech in Chinese here: http://wp.sg/2015/03/budget-2015-speech-mp-low-thia-khiang/
He pointed out that many large local companies actually have foreigners in top and key positions meaning that local talent is not being groomed for leadership properly.
He attributed this problem to the lax foreign labour laws which have allowed companies to fill positions with foreigners.
Speaking in Mandarin, he said, that Singaporeans are merely middle managers and many Singaporeans from the sandwiched class feel they should have better career opportunities but they aren't able to do anything about it.
Mr Low warned that allowing this to continue would be a threat to Singapore's future development and the fact that Singaporeans aren't the heads of companies shows that we have lost the leadership role.
He warned that in future, we would not be able to develop any young leaders if this continues and Singaporeans would be stuck in supporting roles.
Mr Low noted that Singapore cannot become overly reliant on foreign manpower and we need to continue pushing for economic transformation.
Another major issue he addressed was the widening rich-poor gap saying that this problem is dividing society.
In this respect, he noted that the Skills Future investments were a good step forward and he also said that Silver Support Scheme was also a positive step. However he noted that the long-term success will depend on whether these positive steps are carried through and result in real, long-term changes.
He also said that we need to remember that while economic development is important, softer issues including social peace also needs to be fostered.
You can see his full speech in Chinese here: http://wp.sg/2015/03/budget-2015-speech-mp-low-thia-khiang/
