http://www.transitioning.org/2010/03/17/update-on-online-petition-employ-singaporeans-first/
Update on Online Petition: “Employ Singaporeans First!”
Posted by admin 17 March, 2010
Dear Readers,
We thanked readers who have supported the petition to “Employ Singaporeans First!”. To date, a total of 315 signatures were collected after the initiation of the online petition on 7 Mar.
We also want to thank Teamsek Review for publicising the petition on their website.
We need to collect 1000 signatures before we forward them to the Prime Minister office.
We want to take this opportunity to assure all our foreigner readers that we are not against foreigners working in Singapore but that we want our government to provide some form of protection for our own local citizens so that we can have a job and take care of our families.
We also urge our employers to employ Singaporeans first despite their slightly higher cost and their age. Sometimes, money making is not everything. We also need a heart.
I have also tabulated some of the readers’ comments from Temasek Review and the petition proper itself. I believe they are representative of many Singaporeans now.
Singapore for Singaporeans!
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Gilbert
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Selected Comments On the Online Petition:
I used to earn 5k as a purchasing manager but now, I couldn’t even get a job for less than half of my previous pay. I used to be a PAP supporter but no more. Enough is enough.
Since the government is not going to listen to our woes, the only thing is to vote them out in this coming election. I have seen many foreigners (so called ” Foreign Talents “). They cant’t even speak simple English or performed better than the local Singaporeans.
Posted by: Vincent Lim (Temasek Review)
I understand your situation Vincent Lim. I have a friend who has a Engineering Degree from NTU and he is still jobless for 3 months when he was retrenched from his last job. He went for many interviews but employers are told him off that he cannot expect more than 2K cause they are hiring FRs for 2K. And he is only 27 yrs old.
One employer even told him that he has many graduates from good universites waiting to work for 2K. I wonder what univeristes are those??? Cambridge, oxford or harvard???
Do you know that a cleaner earns around $1,500 in Brunei?? At my workplace, after working for 4 yrs the cleaner quit cause she was getting the same $600 salary.
Do you believe that we have racial quotas in our local Unis???
These FRs are just cheap labour who are willing to work long hours. They are not better than us. If they are, their country will be much safer than our nation. They have no secruity in their own countries which is full of natural calmaties, political unstablity, terrorist attacks. Our nation is free of all these and that is why they come here.
We Singaporeans do such a excellent job in our country’s security that no one can outmatch us, not even the US.
We should all join forces with all Singaporeans or else these FRs will take over the country and destroy our unity as Singaporeans. This country will be split into many zones later, PRCs, Indian Nationals, Pinoys, Malaysians and other expats. I went around Singapore during CNY, and i saw more FRs than Singaporeans at the streets.
Posted by: Air Force King (Temasek Review)
Today at the petrol kiosk, a young and well mannered cashier was on duty. He spoke only mandarin. A middle aged customer was about to make his payment, the cashier politely asked him some questions in mandarin, but the customer replied that he only understand english (he replied this to the cashier in hokkian!). In the past, i would intervene and help to translate, but strangely today, i kept quiet. Though I feel bad, especially for the “kid”, he’s so young and sincere in his job, he was making some laughter to cover the embarrasing moment. Petrol price has again increased, and the cashier’s pay is even lower compared to a Singaporean if the company were to employ one. So where does all the profits go to? Singaporeans are NOT against foreigners. We have co-existed peacefully with foreign workers till the recent decade when the floodgates bust. It’s time for singaporeans to wake up and vote in a decisively large number of oppositions into parliament during this coming GE
Posted by: James Lim (Petition online)
Most foreign workers we see are non skilled, working as cleaners, odd jobs, waiter and waitresses in coffee shops, hawker centres and also in supermarkets and fast food restaurants. Why are they being employed? Because it is cheaper . It is not that our locals doesn’t wish to take up all these jobs. The reason the wages doesn’t even meet with their monthy expenses. The locals have commitments like household utilities, children or old folks to look after, phone bills, TV license, etc. Whereas the foreigners can settle for a few hundred dollars and work for long hours. They have nothing to lose except the hours of work and still be able to send home a couple of hundred dollars. They do not have commitments but just rental of a room and shared with a few fellow workers, Just have a few simple meals and even cycle to work or stay close to the workplace withing walking distance. Raise the wages of our local workers to a sustainable level and they will be too willing to take up those jobs.
Posted by: Terry Chan (Petition online)
I am a PR married to a Singaporean. I support the idea that Singaporeans should always be given a fair chance to obtain a job regardless of age. On the other hand, I do observe that I (and many so-called foreigners) have contributed to the grow of companies that I’ve worked with and in turn these companies are able to employ more people. Of all the companies I’ve worked with, I observe that majority of the employees are Singaporeans and PRs married to Singapore. I am not too sure if the issue about older Singaporeans having difficulty getting job has to do with their jobs being taken away by foreigners or simply because their are being replaced by younger employees who cost less for the companies. I thought it may be good to put up a petition to gain support and create more awareness that Singaporeans of all ages should be given fair chance of employment.
Posted by: Don (Petition online)
Pick the best person for the job, but do not shut the doors on Singaporean candidates just because they cost more. Train the local workers well, give them more responsibilities to live up to their higher salaries and familiarity with our country; and have realistic expectations of them. If they still do not match up to foreign workers, redeploy them or counsel them until all avenues are exhausted. That is all I ask.
Posted by: LL Seow (Petition online)
The unbridled inflood of foreign workers in all these years has not really benefitted Singapore Citizen workers. The direct beneficiaries are the big bosses and ministers due to their pay scheme. What direct benefits do ordinary Singapore Citizens have? But the huge number of foreigners have created problems for Singapore Citizens in terms of higher prices, more expensive and shortages of housing, crowded hospitals, public transports, other public amenities, fewer job opportunities, just to name a few. Seriously, does the government seriously think that competing based on cheap, cheap inferior labour is going to be Singapore’s long term economic strategy? FOR THE RECORD, Singapore Citizens are NOT against foreigners. We welcome rich foreign investors, very smart foreign professionals, very diligent foreign blue collar workers/ hard labourers (who do jobs that Singaporeans shun). What we are against are those mediocre foreigners who are doing jobs that Singapore Citizens themselves can do.
Posted by: Peter L (Petition online)
