Quotes:
Lawrence Wong:
"As a small country that is not resource-rich, Singapore cannot afford to shut its borders for a long time."
"It's really very hard for us to close our borders permanently,"
Lawrence Wong, stop playing with words.
No one is asking the PAP government to close the borders for a long time.
No one is asking the PAP government to close the borders permanently.
Sinkies is only asking the borders to be closed for a few weeks or a few months.
Now see lah....
Unlike large resource-rich countries, Singapore cannot afford to close its borders for long: Lawrence Wong
Singapore has taken a risk-based approach in managing its borders from the start, Mr Lawrence Wong said.PHOTO: ST FILE
Salma Khalik
Senior Health Correspondent
May 4, 2021
SINGAPORE - As a small country that is not resource rich, Singapore cannot afford to shut its borders for a long time, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday (May 4).
Mr Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force on Covid-19, was explaining why Singapore did not close its border to India earlier given the raging outbreak there.
"We are small… We need migrant workers to build our homes," he said at a briefing by the task force. Foreign workers are also needed for a range of other essential services, including caring for the elderly.
"It's really very hard for us to close our borders permanently," he said. "Instead, we've always taken a risk-based approach in managing our borders from the start."
This involves controlling the number of arrivals. He said the overall number coming in has been going down, even before restrictions on arrivals from India kicked in.
He added: "We've already become very tight, to the point that the backlog of applications has been growing… Many projects have been suffering from delays, as all of us know.
"More recently when we restricted the flow of workers from India and the entire South Indian continent… it means considerable delays will be added to all of our projects.
"Some of our housing projects may now be delayed by up to a year or more. So it does come at a considerable cost to Singaporeans."
Furthermore, Mr Wong said, migrant workers who come in are isolated and "we've been progressively tightening that regime over the past few months".
They are also tested more regularly.
In spite of all measures, Mr Wong said there will be leaks into the community from time to time. This can happen even in a country like China with its very tight border measures, he added.
So there cannot be sole reliance on border measures, he said.
"We have to make use of other tools at our disposal," he said "If we do all of these well, then we can control the spread of the infection in our community."
As for visitors who tested negative, but later test positive when they want to leave the country, Mr Wong said there are two possibilities.
One is they could have been infected in the community while in Singapore. The other is that it is an older infection and they are "intermittent shedders" of virus particles. If so, they are less likely to be infectious.
Lawrence Wong:
"As a small country that is not resource-rich, Singapore cannot afford to shut its borders for a long time."
"It's really very hard for us to close our borders permanently,"
Lawrence Wong, stop playing with words.
No one is asking the PAP government to close the borders for a long time.
No one is asking the PAP government to close the borders permanently.
Sinkies is only asking the borders to be closed for a few weeks or a few months.
Now see lah....
Unlike large resource-rich countries, Singapore cannot afford to close its borders for long: Lawrence Wong
Singapore has taken a risk-based approach in managing its borders from the start, Mr Lawrence Wong said.PHOTO: ST FILE
Salma Khalik
Senior Health Correspondent
May 4, 2021
SINGAPORE - As a small country that is not resource rich, Singapore cannot afford to shut its borders for a long time, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday (May 4).
Mr Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministry task force on Covid-19, was explaining why Singapore did not close its border to India earlier given the raging outbreak there.
"We are small… We need migrant workers to build our homes," he said at a briefing by the task force. Foreign workers are also needed for a range of other essential services, including caring for the elderly.
"It's really very hard for us to close our borders permanently," he said. "Instead, we've always taken a risk-based approach in managing our borders from the start."
This involves controlling the number of arrivals. He said the overall number coming in has been going down, even before restrictions on arrivals from India kicked in.
He added: "We've already become very tight, to the point that the backlog of applications has been growing… Many projects have been suffering from delays, as all of us know.
"More recently when we restricted the flow of workers from India and the entire South Indian continent… it means considerable delays will be added to all of our projects.
"Some of our housing projects may now be delayed by up to a year or more. So it does come at a considerable cost to Singaporeans."
Furthermore, Mr Wong said, migrant workers who come in are isolated and "we've been progressively tightening that regime over the past few months".
They are also tested more regularly.
In spite of all measures, Mr Wong said there will be leaks into the community from time to time. This can happen even in a country like China with its very tight border measures, he added.
So there cannot be sole reliance on border measures, he said.
"We have to make use of other tools at our disposal," he said "If we do all of these well, then we can control the spread of the infection in our community."
As for visitors who tested negative, but later test positive when they want to leave the country, Mr Wong said there are two possibilities.
One is they could have been infected in the community while in Singapore. The other is that it is an older infection and they are "intermittent shedders" of virus particles. If so, they are less likely to be infectious.
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