- Joined
- Jul 19, 2011
- Messages
- 28,050
- Points
- 113
Workers' Party proposals are not new: Ng Eng Hen
By Toh Yong Chuan, Royston Sim and Stacey Chia
The Straits Times
Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013
SINGAPORE - Two Cabinet ministers responded to the Workers' Party's (WP) population paper on Sunday, saying that the proposals it contained were not new and that while others might write papers, it was the Government that must safeguard Singaporeans' livelihoods.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said that the Government remains open to "good ideas from anywhere" to solve the nation's population problems.
As for the proposals in the WP paper, he said "I don't think they were new" as they were raised during the Parliament debate on the Population White Paper and arguments went "back and forth".
The WP advocates raising the resident labour force participation rate and freezing foreign worker numbers at the current level.
But population policies involve trade-offs, Dr Ng said. "If you slow down foreign workers, SMEs go bust and Singaporeans lose their jobs, they are not trivial problems. They are real problems."
He also noted that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had in his speech during the Parliament debate, spelt out what the Government would do to meet challenges in three areas:
Marriage and parenthood;
Infrastructure;
Strengthening the Singaporean core.
There has already been "a lot of debate", Dr Ng said, so the focus should now be on "producing results".
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a fund-raising event at Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC where he is a Member of Parliament.
Over at Bukit Timah, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said after visiting a hawker centre that "anyone can write a paper" or "make a speech in Parliament", but the difference is that the Government has the responsibility to turn plans into action.
"We cannot afford to take risks with the livelihood and the quality of lives of Singaporeans," he said. Without naming the WP, Dr Balakrishnan added: "We need to ensure that our plans are realistic, do not crash the economy and do not in the name of trying to score political points, make life more difficult or deprive our children of the opportunities that they need."
Dr Ng and Dr Balakrishnan's comments on Sunday came a day after Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu said that the Government was studying the WP's population paper.
By Toh Yong Chuan, Royston Sim and Stacey Chia
The Straits Times
Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013
SINGAPORE - Two Cabinet ministers responded to the Workers' Party's (WP) population paper on Sunday, saying that the proposals it contained were not new and that while others might write papers, it was the Government that must safeguard Singaporeans' livelihoods.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said that the Government remains open to "good ideas from anywhere" to solve the nation's population problems.
As for the proposals in the WP paper, he said "I don't think they were new" as they were raised during the Parliament debate on the Population White Paper and arguments went "back and forth".
The WP advocates raising the resident labour force participation rate and freezing foreign worker numbers at the current level.
But population policies involve trade-offs, Dr Ng said. "If you slow down foreign workers, SMEs go bust and Singaporeans lose their jobs, they are not trivial problems. They are real problems."
He also noted that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had in his speech during the Parliament debate, spelt out what the Government would do to meet challenges in three areas:
Marriage and parenthood;
Infrastructure;
Strengthening the Singaporean core.
There has already been "a lot of debate", Dr Ng said, so the focus should now be on "producing results".
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a fund-raising event at Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC where he is a Member of Parliament.
Over at Bukit Timah, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said after visiting a hawker centre that "anyone can write a paper" or "make a speech in Parliament", but the difference is that the Government has the responsibility to turn plans into action.
"We cannot afford to take risks with the livelihood and the quality of lives of Singaporeans," he said. Without naming the WP, Dr Balakrishnan added: "We need to ensure that our plans are realistic, do not crash the economy and do not in the name of trying to score political points, make life more difficult or deprive our children of the opportunities that they need."
Dr Ng and Dr Balakrishnan's comments on Sunday came a day after Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu said that the Government was studying the WP's population paper.
