I think she has got a point. The PAP doesnt only have no foresight, it cannot change its paradigm. The populace too has to change its paradigm and perception of blue collar jobs. This perception had to do with being ingrained in our grandparents/parents generation, the early immigrants who came over from China. In China in those days, being a mandarin scholar - a zhuang yuan - after passing the Imperial Exams was the highest order and achievement, hence today's parents still push their children very hard to pass all kinds of exams. The govt can change this, and should have embarked upon it. The tertiary education system for example can be changed to give more weight to practicum, hands-on lessons, field exercises, for courses like engineering esp civil,electrical, and mechanical. How many engineers e.g. knows the electrical code, home wiring and installation, or basic joinery/carpentry/masonry work? Most wld not know unless it is some form of hobby. I recall that the early Engineering degree courses started from U of Singapore had only very short and disorganised workshop classes in welding, lathework, and even basic hand filing a piece of quality work. More shld be done to merge the boundaries betw ITE/Poly/Degree courses for a field like Engineering. Another suggestion is to award professional qualifications to ITE/Poly grads after two or so years in practice.