- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
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- 12,730
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Mr Tan Chuan Jin rejected the Workers' Party's proposal that the government could dip into the country's reserves to help fund the productivity efforts of businesses.
He said the government needs to be careful when dealing with the reserves and that this "is not a rainy day".
"Singaporeans have also indicated a desire to slow down because they feel that pace of growth, because we have crossed that physical and social threshold. We cannot continue on as before. We can't.
"And we are also at a stage, from a profile perspective, different stage of economic development. This is where we need to change in terms of the direction we are going. So the White Paper is the product of this desire to get it right and chart the course for the next lap," Mr Tan said.
Mr Tan also asked for details on how the Workers' Party proposes to grow the resident workforce participation rate.
Workers' Party chief Mr Low Thia Khiang said: "He mentioned about the programme we have like unlock seniors, asking seniors to go back to the workforce and all that and whether or not we have any other programme. I would advise that perhaps the minister goes back to his programmes, if it is not effective set a hard target, the numbers and the KPIs and if he thinks that his ministry can't do very much and wants the Workers' Party to do more, perhaps he can consider putting his ministry's resources under the Workers' Party?"
Mr Tan said: "I'm fully committed in terms of raising labour force participation rate. I would use Mr Low and his colleagues to read some of these initiatives and some of these initiatives are not just on paper have a very high labour force participation rate and it is increasing and it is improving. But what I'm highlighting is, there are also some challenges and we continue to emphasise and we hope labour force participation rate will continue to improve but that is different from saying that, we have no more ideas, we will continue to work on that; what I have been asking is I'm curious as to some of the very practical suggestions. So we would also appreciate if there are concrete ideas accompanying some of these broader statements.
"Let me be clear: We are putting in place safeguards against irresponsible employers and irresponsible practices. We are not erecting barriers to foreign employment because it remains part of our landscape. This will go a long way to assuage the concerns that we have, and these are valid concerns, perceived or otherwise. We know pockets of this happen and it cannot be accepted," he said.
The Manpower Ministry said Singaporeans who believe they have been discriminated against at the workplace should raise their case with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices.
But he also cautioned against being overly nationalistic when dealing with foreigners and immigrants.
Mr Tan said: "I understand that we all are naturally concerned about competition. But competition is there whether we like it or not, just because an individual from Philippines, Vietnam, China is not here, (it) doesn't mean that he's not competing with us. They are competing with us in their hometowns. In some sectors, good quality white collar jobs, PME jobs for Singaporeans, accounting, HR, some of these have left Singapore."
He said the government needs to be careful when dealing with the reserves and that this "is not a rainy day".
"Singaporeans have also indicated a desire to slow down because they feel that pace of growth, because we have crossed that physical and social threshold. We cannot continue on as before. We can't.
"And we are also at a stage, from a profile perspective, different stage of economic development. This is where we need to change in terms of the direction we are going. So the White Paper is the product of this desire to get it right and chart the course for the next lap," Mr Tan said.
Mr Tan also asked for details on how the Workers' Party proposes to grow the resident workforce participation rate.
Workers' Party chief Mr Low Thia Khiang said: "He mentioned about the programme we have like unlock seniors, asking seniors to go back to the workforce and all that and whether or not we have any other programme. I would advise that perhaps the minister goes back to his programmes, if it is not effective set a hard target, the numbers and the KPIs and if he thinks that his ministry can't do very much and wants the Workers' Party to do more, perhaps he can consider putting his ministry's resources under the Workers' Party?"
Mr Tan said: "I'm fully committed in terms of raising labour force participation rate. I would use Mr Low and his colleagues to read some of these initiatives and some of these initiatives are not just on paper have a very high labour force participation rate and it is increasing and it is improving. But what I'm highlighting is, there are also some challenges and we continue to emphasise and we hope labour force participation rate will continue to improve but that is different from saying that, we have no more ideas, we will continue to work on that; what I have been asking is I'm curious as to some of the very practical suggestions. So we would also appreciate if there are concrete ideas accompanying some of these broader statements.
"Let me be clear: We are putting in place safeguards against irresponsible employers and irresponsible practices. We are not erecting barriers to foreign employment because it remains part of our landscape. This will go a long way to assuage the concerns that we have, and these are valid concerns, perceived or otherwise. We know pockets of this happen and it cannot be accepted," he said.
The Manpower Ministry said Singaporeans who believe they have been discriminated against at the workplace should raise their case with the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices.
But he also cautioned against being overly nationalistic when dealing with foreigners and immigrants.
Mr Tan said: "I understand that we all are naturally concerned about competition. But competition is there whether we like it or not, just because an individual from Philippines, Vietnam, China is not here, (it) doesn't mean that he's not competing with us. They are competing with us in their hometowns. In some sectors, good quality white collar jobs, PME jobs for Singaporeans, accounting, HR, some of these have left Singapore."
