Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has lavished generous praise on his own policies to deal with the recession of last year which has helped keep Singapore’s unemployment rate low.
“The most important help given to Singaporeans was the Resilience Package in the Budget, which included Jobs Credit and other schemes. As a result of all these, we are able to keep our unemployment not too high. It went up a little bit but now it has come down. The recent unemployment number, (it) has gone from three percent back to only two percent, which is really very low, and almost as low as it was before the crisis began,” he was quoted saying in Channel News Asia.
According to preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the unemployment rate among residents, who include citizens and permanent residents, fell from 5 per cent last September to 3 per cent in December. The new jobs created led to a net employment gain of 43,000 among locals for the whole of 2009.
However, there are no figures for the real unemployment rate for Singapore citizens which may be higher than that of PRs. The underemployment rate for Singaporeans which includes those on contract jobs and have given up searching for a job is not known either.
PM Lee also expressed his optimism for the upcoming Year of the Tiger and is hoping that Singapore’s economy will grow between three and five percent this year.
“We want a better living. Every one of us would like a better life. But the only way to do that is to be able to get the skills, get the education, get the training, get the upgrading to work hard and therefore also work better to be more productive and earn more for ourselves,” he added.
While there is little doubt that many Singaporeans are keen to upgrade their skills, they are disadvantaged by the influx of cheap foreign workers into Singapore which undercut their salaries.
Stung by increasing criticisms from the ground at his pro-foreigner policies, PM Lee had reassured Singaporeans that the “inflow” of foreigners will slow down in the next few years.
Besides upgrading themselves, Singaporeans may like to make use of the vote in their hands to ensure that they really have a better life after the next general election instead of forever living at the mercy of the ruling party.
“The most important help given to Singaporeans was the Resilience Package in the Budget, which included Jobs Credit and other schemes. As a result of all these, we are able to keep our unemployment not too high. It went up a little bit but now it has come down. The recent unemployment number, (it) has gone from three percent back to only two percent, which is really very low, and almost as low as it was before the crisis began,” he was quoted saying in Channel News Asia.
According to preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the unemployment rate among residents, who include citizens and permanent residents, fell from 5 per cent last September to 3 per cent in December. The new jobs created led to a net employment gain of 43,000 among locals for the whole of 2009.
However, there are no figures for the real unemployment rate for Singapore citizens which may be higher than that of PRs. The underemployment rate for Singaporeans which includes those on contract jobs and have given up searching for a job is not known either.
PM Lee also expressed his optimism for the upcoming Year of the Tiger and is hoping that Singapore’s economy will grow between three and five percent this year.
“We want a better living. Every one of us would like a better life. But the only way to do that is to be able to get the skills, get the education, get the training, get the upgrading to work hard and therefore also work better to be more productive and earn more for ourselves,” he added.
While there is little doubt that many Singaporeans are keen to upgrade their skills, they are disadvantaged by the influx of cheap foreign workers into Singapore which undercut their salaries.
Stung by increasing criticisms from the ground at his pro-foreigner policies, PM Lee had reassured Singaporeans that the “inflow” of foreigners will slow down in the next few years.
Besides upgrading themselves, Singaporeans may like to make use of the vote in their hands to ensure that they really have a better life after the next general election instead of forever living at the mercy of the ruling party.
