The PAP government's open door policy for foreign workers

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Anxiety, stress and depression affect one-third of Singapore youth, reveals Institute of Mental Health study​

Malay Mail
Fri, 20 September 2024 at 11:28 am GMT+84-min read

Malay Mail
SINGAPORE, Sept 20 — A nationwide survey by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) revealed that nearly one-third of youth in Singapore experienced severe or very severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, or stress.
The National Youth Mental Health Study, released on September 19, found that young people aged 15 to 35 reported symptoms such as feeling empty, tense, or upset most of the time, as reported by the Straits Times.
These findings were part of the first epidemiological study on youth mental health conducted in Singapore, according to the Health, Education, and Social and Family Development ministries in a joint release.
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“Navigating the complexities of youth is challenging enough, but young people today are grappling with unique issues that previous generations did not,” said chair of IMH’s medical board and co-principal investigator of the study Associate Professor Swapna Verma.
“For instance, social media exposes them to constant comparisons, intensifying concerns about body image.”
“The anonymity of the online world has also given rise to cyber bullying, which adds a new dimension of harassment that can be relentless and far-reaching,” she added.
Cyberbullying, body image concerns and excessive social media use were found to be significant factors contributing to the mental health struggles of young people.

 

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More Indonesian nurses coming to Singapore for better pay, skills upgrade​

Ms Nissa Fadillah Somantri (left) and Ms Ayu Puspita Sari Itta are among the Indonesian nurses who are working in Singapore public hospitals. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF NISSA FADILLAH SOMANTRI, AYU PUSPITA SARI ITTA

Linda Yulisman
Indonesia Correspondent

Aug 22, 2024

JAKARTA - More than a year after Indonesia first started sending nurses through recruitment agencies to Singapore, there are plans to deploy more caregivers to meet the island’s healthcare needs.
Healthcare players also report growing interest among Indonesian healthcare workers to seek employment abroad, driven by higher salaries and opportunities for career and personal development.
From June 2023 to June 2024, 66 Indonesian nurses have been working in Singapore public hospitals such as Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Changi General Hospital, said Mr Rendra Setiawan, director of placement and protection of Indonesian migrant workers at the Indonesia Manpower Ministry.
Most of them arrived in Singapore as healthcare assistants and had to pass the Singapore Nursing Board exam to become enrolled and registered nurses in Singapore.
“There have been two recruitment drives in Indonesia under a private-to-private (P to P) scheme through agencies (since 2023), and a process is under way to bring those selected to Singapore,” Mr Rendra told The Straits Times.
He added that the programme was introduced in 2023 to allow Indonesian healthcare workers to work in Singapore hospitals, with recruitment agencies as the middleman. “From the government side, we support the placement of Indonesian nurses overseas, including in Singapore,” said Mr Rendra.
Singapore will need 24,000 additional nurses and healthcare staff by 2030, he said, citing figures from Singapore’s Ministry of Health, adding that this demand brings opportunities for Indonesian nurses.

Until 2023, there was no formal placement programme for Indonesian nurses to be sent to Singapore. This was perhaps due to hurdles that included the lack of English language skills as well as the need for candidates to pass Singapore’s nursing board exams, said Ms Judy Low Lai Kwan, regional head of Singapore and Indonesia at Talent Angels, a Singapore-based international recruitment agency that has brought in Indonesian nurses.
But a small number of Indonesian nurses had previously made their own arrangements to seek employment at Singapore hospitals, said Ms Low, adding that generally, not many Indonesian nurses were aware of such opportunities.
She said that with more publicity and recruitment drives in Indonesia, more of its healthcare workers have now come to Singapore in larger groups. Talent Angels is currently the only agency recruiting Indonesian nurses, she added.

Among the new recruits is Ms Nissa Fadillah Somantri, who joined Jurong Community Hospital as an enrolled nurse in February 2024, after getting her licence in March 2023. She had previously worked for 1½ years in a public hospital in Bandung, West Java.
She said one of the major challenges was adjusting to a new working culture, which she described as demanding “speed and accuracy”.
“We must do everything in line with the standard operating procedure. Otherwise, we’ll get a warning. It’s stricter in Singapore,” the 34-year-old mother of one told ST. “It’s quite a big deal if we make mistakes.”

Ms Nissa Fadillah Somantri joined Jurong Community Hospital as an enrolled nurse in February. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NISSA FADILLAH SOMANTRI
But rising to the challenge was worth it, said Ms Nissa, who now earns seven times her salary in Indonesia. This was one of her primary reasons for pursuing work abroad, she added.
Indonesia has different minimum salaries for various jobs, including nursing, across its provinces and regencies. In Jakarta, which has the highest minimum salaries, the starting pay for nurses is 5.07 million rupiah (S$427) a month. Ms Nissa, for instance, was paid 3.5 million rupiah when she started in 2017.
Another Indonesian nurse, Ms Ayu Puspita Sari Itta, started working as a registered nurse at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in April.
In her first three months, she grappled with speaking English at work as well as keeping up with using advanced medical equipment she was not familiar with.
“I saw these challenges in a positive light... Now I understand English better,” said Ms Ayu, adding that she improved her language skills by watching English language movies and programmes in her free time.
“I’ve also learnt how to use sophisticated medical equipment. It was very tough at the beginning, but it feels less hard now,” said the 28-year-old, noting that she had learnt a lot from her colleagues.
Now that she is earning more, Ms Ayu is saving up in the hope of pursuing a Master’s degree in nursing in the future.

Ms Ayu Puspita Sari Itta started working as a registered nurse at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in April. PHOTO: COURTESY OF AYU PUSPITA SARI ITTA
Indonesia, with a population of about 280 million, is seeing a growing number of people taking up nursing. In 2021, there were 511,191 nurses, up 16.7 per cent from 2020. But a significant proportion – nearly 35 per cent (176,470) were surplus to the country’s needs.
Though Indonesia’s nursing schools train about 60,000 new nurses each year, they are often not well-distributed across the archipelago, especially in the more remote areas.
Those who cannot find jobs as nurses become caregivers or work in unrelated industries.
Singapore is not the only country to welcome Indonesian healthcare workers, who have been heading overseas since the 1990s to destinations such as the Netherlands and Kuwait.
Excluding those in Singapore, 1,468 Indonesian nurses worked abroad from January to August 2024, with 924, or 63 per cent, going to Taiwan. The rest were in Japan (135), Saudi Arabia (407) and Germany (two), according to figures from its Manpower Ministry.
In 2023, 2,139 Indonesian nurses, up 25 per cent from 2022, earned a living overseas.
Indonesia has sent nurses to various countries, such as Japan, the US, the Netherlands, Germany and Saudi Arabia, under formal cooperation programmes, while a number of nurses have worked independently in countries like the US and the Netherlands, according to the Population Research Centre at the National Research and Innovation Agency.
Mr David Law, the chief executive of Talent Angels, said that the arrival of nurses from Indonesia adds to the list of countries from which Singapore typically hires foreign healthcare workers, such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India.
“Singapore has a shortage of nurses, especially after Covid-19, so bringing in Indonesian nurses is an alternative that can help ease the nursing labour crunch,” he said. “There will definitely be plans to bring in more Indonesian nurses to Singapore in the near future.”

Mr Rendra said that apart from higher salaries and opportunities to gain more skills, Indonesian workers are also attracted by the variety of work available at healthcare facilities abroad, such as smaller clinics or nursing homes.
“Working abroad also gives them a chance to interact with their peers from other countries, and this enhances their capability to work in a multinational team. And on top of that, they have an opportunity to move to other countries that offer better welfare and benefits,” he told ST.
“Those working abroad certainly gain more knowledge and experience, and they will bring this home when they return to work here, even transferring their knowledge to other nurses.”
A local nurse group, however, said that instead of encouraging Indonesian healthcare workers to seek opportunities abroad, more must be done to improve the job opportunities and welfare of those working at home first.
Indonesian National Nurses Association chairman Harif Fadhillah said: “We are happy with efforts to facilitate nurses to work abroad. But the government also needs to support (nurses working at home) through policies and regulations to improve their welfare and create more (domestic) jobs.”
Still, for nurses like Ms Nissa and Ms Ayu, the chance to work in healthcare facilities overseas has helped them become more hopeful in their careers.
Ms Nissa sees her current job as a “stepping stone” for future opportunities. “Chances of working in the US or Europe are wide open when we’ve worked in Singapore. They will recognise our skills,” she said.

 

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Singapore, India working to upgrade ties to comprehensive strategic partnership​

Four MOUs were exchanged on Sept 5, witnessed by PM Lawrence Wong (right) and Indian PM Narendra Modi, who is in the Republic on an official visit. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Anjali Raguraman
Correspondent

Sep 06, 2024


SINGAPORE – India and Singapore have strengthened ties and agreed to elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Singapore.
The intent to upgrade ties from the existing strategic partnership was announced in a Facebook post by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Sept 5.
“Singapore and India share a deep and enduring friendship built on strong economic and people-to-people ties,” said PM Wong, adding that the move is a timely one.
The countries will be marking 60 years of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the bilateral strategic partnership in 2025.
A comprehensive strategic partnership will deepen existing areas of cooperation and enable new ones. Australia is the only country with which Singapore has such a partnership. The Republic is also exploring the possibility of ones with Vietnam and France.
Signalling a greater cooperation in various sectors, India and Singapore exchanged agreements earlier in the day to help firms here tap India’s growing semiconductor industry and tighten digital links between the two countries.
They will also step up cooperation in areas such as skills development and healthcare.

Four memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were exchanged at Parliament House, witnessed by both prime ministers.
These were first signed by Singapore and India ministers on the sidelines of the second edition of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), which was held at Shangri-La Singapore on Aug 26.
Mr Modi, who is in Singapore for two days from Sept 4, earlier received a ceremonial welcome by PM Wong at Parliament House.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspect an honour guard on Sept 5. PHOTO: MDDI
India aims to grow its semiconductor industry and become a global node for semiconductor manufacturing, while players in Singapore’s established ecosystem are looking to enter emerging markets.
The MOU in this area will see both countries support India’s growth plans and facilitate the entry of Singapore companies and supply chains in the Indian market.
It was signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The partnership includes government-led policy exchanges on ecosystem development, supply chain resilience and workforce development.
Semiconductors and advanced manufacturing were identified as new areas for bilateral collaboration at the second ISMR dialogue between ministers.


To encourage greater interoperability between Singapore and India’s digital economies, an agreement was inked for digital technologies.
The deal includes the exchange of knowledge and expertise on digital public infrastructure such as digital IDs, payments and data exchange.
The MOU was signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
This builds on existing cooperation efforts such as the real-time payment systems linkage between Singapore’s PayNow and India’s Unified Payments Interface launched in February 2023.
The link allows bank customers in Singapore and India to send and receive funds via their bank accounts and e-wallets instantly across the two countries.
Singapore and India banks and companies also pioneered a fully paperless transaction process involving traders, shippers and banks in August 2023. It showcased the digitalisation of cross-border trade financing documentation using the TradeTrust framework.
Both countries are working to update and renew a 2015 agreement on cyber-security cooperation between the Singapore Cyber Emergency Response Team and India’s Computer Emergency Response Team.

Technical education, alongside training and skills development, was among the areas of collaboration agreed upon between Singapore’s Ministry of Education and India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
The higher education institutes of both countries will cooperate in areas such as reskilling and upskilling of workforces, student and staff exchanges, and the training of teachers. They will also include student internships and faculty industrial attachments.
On the medical front, an MOU was signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Health and India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The two countries will strengthen cooperation in healthcare, medical education, research, and human resources development, including in areas such as disease surveillance, maternal and child health, prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and pandemic preparedness.
The four MOUs were exchanged between India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar and Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar (centre, left) and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (centre, right) at the exchange of the MOUs. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Both prime ministers met on Sept 5 to discuss India’s potential as a leading centre of growth over the next decade, driven by both social and digital investments across its population, as well as its new economic linkages, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement.
Areas of potential collaboration include cross-border electricity trade and green ammonia supply chains, enhancing cross-border data flows via the finance hub of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City or Gift City, and cooperation in developing industrial parks in India.
Both countries are also looking into an agreement on the bilateral trade of carbon credits.
MFA added that Mr Modi had thanked PM Wong for extending support for India’s candidature as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2028–2029 term, along with reaffirming Singapore’s continuing support for the country as a permanent member of the reformed council.
During opening remarks at his meeting with PM Wong, Mr Modi revealed that the first Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centre will open in Singapore.
Named after a Tamil poet and philosopher, such centres, first announced by Mr Modi in April, are a way to “enhance the global reputation of the Tamil language”, according to Indian media reports.
As part of his official visit, Mr Modi called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and met Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. He was hosted to lunch by SM Lee.

He toured the facilities of semiconductor and electronics Singapore-based company AEM with PM Wong, where they were briefed about the company’s role in the global semiconductor value chain, its operations and opportunities for collaborations with India, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
He then met students from Singapore who did internships in India as part of the India Ready Talent Programme, which offers university and polytechnic students overseas internship opportunities in Indian and Singapore companies in India.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (left) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi touring the semiconductor facility of Singapore-based company AEM on Sept 5. PHOTO: MDDI
Mr Modi met interns from India’s technical skills institute World Skill Centre, which is in the city of Odisha, who are working in companies here.
He also attended a business roundtable at Shangri-La hosted by the Singapore Business Federation and attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, where he interacted with chief executives of leading Singaporean companies.
Encouraging more Singaporeans to get to know India, Mr Tharman said in a Facebook post later on Sept 5 that Singapore-India relations are revving up, “and both countries will be better for it”.
He noted India’s dramatic story of human development, having uplifted hundreds of millions of people over the last decade through everything from better maternal and child health, access to electricity, water and sanitation, and gaining digital identities via which they conduct banking activities – sans middlemen.
“A dramatic story of human development, with more to come,” Mr Tharman wrote.

 

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MHA allows hiring auxiliary cops from China, India; Prison trying sensors to monitor inmates’ health​

The Home Team will also hire more foreigners to fill certain roles that Singaporeans might not be keen on.PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

David Sun
Mar 04, 2025

SINGAPORE – With falling birth rates, an ageing population and a manpower shortage, the Home Team is using technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to transform itself and tackle these issues.

The Home Team will also hire more foreigners to fill certain roles that Singaporeans might not be keen on, said Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo.

Speaking during the debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) budget on March 4, she added: “In every aspect, the Home Team faces new and growing demands. The threat landscape is increasingly complex.

“The manpower constraints are also more binding. Birth rates are declining and the competition for talent very tough.”

In her speech, she revealed some of the new tech and AI solutions for the Home Team.

A targeted on-site inspection tool powered by AI will be used by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to assess the likelihood of fire safety violations in commercial and industrial premises.

The tool uses data from various sources, including past inspection reports.

This allows the SCDF to carry out inspections on a more targeted basis, said Mrs Teo.

The tool is expected to be progressively rolled out to front-line units for field testing in the coming months.

At the prisons, a life signs monitoring system is being trialled to monitor inmates’ vital signs remotely, enabling prison officers to respond more quickly to incidents such as falls and abnormal heart rates.

Mrs Teo noted that this is especially important with more older inmates around.

She said the Home Team has been taking steps to use AI against AI-enabled crime, as criminals use it to carry out more sophisticated attacks.

One example is the growing use of generative AI by criminals to create deepfakes.


Mrs Teo added that scammers were also exploiting technology to produce fake content at speed and scale, and to target victims. They can also use it to manufacture evidence to mislead or frustrate investigators.

To counter this, the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) developed AlchemiX, a generative AI-powered algorithm that can identify whether audio or video recordings are genuine.

HTX launched the Home Team AI Movement in June 2024, to accelerate the development and delivery of AI capabilities.

The Home Team has also put in place an AI governance framework, Mrs Teo said, with a set of principles to guide the implementation of AI projects and ensure compliance with the law.

She added that in the area of manpower, SCDF’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has been significantly impacted with annual demand increasing by almost 30 per cent over the last five years.

She said that despite more competitive salaries, local recruitment was insufficient to meet all the needs.

“This is because EMS roles require advanced medical skills that are in short supply locally. Also, EMS work, although very fulfilling, is very challenging, and may not appeal to all.”

There has also been an increasing demand for security services, with the Auxiliary Police Forces facing challenges in sustaining an adequate pool of auxiliary police officers (APOs).


In January 2024, Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said in a written parliamentary reply that this was due to a shrinking local workforce and other job options that Singaporeans have.

APOs were previously made up of just Singaporeans, Malaysians and Taiwanese, and he noted then that the ministry was considering expanding the list of jurisdictions APOs could be hired from.

The manpower demands are expected to grow even more with Singapore’s ageing population, and with the total fertility rate remaining low at 0.97 in 2024 – the same figure as in 2023.

To deal with this, Mrs Teo said SCDF will be hiring foreigners as paramedics and emergency medical technicians from March.

APOs have been recruited from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the Philippines, India and China, with these new officers making up about 3 per cent of the total APO workforce as of December 2024, she added.

Mrs Teo said: “Overall, the Home Team has achieved good outcomes for our people. These are reflected in how Singaporeans view the Home Team positively and hold our officers in high regard.”

 

[k1976]

Run while u still can

 

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6 foreign worker dorms with total capacity of 45,000 beds to be built in next few years​

Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon said that the Government has been working closely with the dormitory industry to increase the supply of bedsST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO

Esther Loi
Apr 08, 2025

SINGAPORE – Six new dormitories for workers, with a combined capacity of around 45,000 beds, will be built over the next few years, said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon on April 8.

These include the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) new 2,400-worker dormitory in Jalan Tukang that is set to open in early 2026.

Dr Koh was responding to a question by Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang) in Parliament on the ministry’s long-term strategy to ensure sufficient and resilient housing for foreign workers.

The Straits Times has asked MOM for the locations of the other five new dormitories.

Based on ST’s checks, a new dormitory named Pioneer Lodge is being constructed in Soon Lee Road.

A post by construction and property group Wee Hur Holdings on property portal EdgeProp.sg shows that Pioneer Lodge can accommodate up to 10,500 workers once it is completed in October 2025.

Dr Koh’s comments on April 8 came on the back of the closure in April of two Sembawang dormitories, which house up to 9,000 workers hired by 390 employers.

The bed crunch has left firms scrambling to find alternative accommodation for their workers by end-April, before both dorms are demolished to make way for a new housing estate.

Adding that the Government has been working closely with the dormitory operators to increase the supply of beds, Dr Koh said this includes extending the expiring leases of dormitories where possible, and allowing existing dormitories with excess space to increase their occupancy while meeting current dormitory housing standards.

Besides those measures, Dr Koh said the ministry has been speeding up and facilitating applications for new dormitories created by converting factory space, and for temporary workers’ quarters to expand its supply of beds.

While the Government has put in measures to increase the supply of beds, he added that this will not be sustainable if the demand for work-permit holders grows continuously.

Dr Koh urged employers to adopt productivity measures, so they would be less reliant on migrant workers. These measures include investing in technology to reduce the manpower needed, or upskilling workers to raise productivity levels.

Mr Yip then asked how MOM will strike a balance between safeguarding workers’ welfare and avoiding excessive costs for businesses. He also asked the ministry about its efforts to roll out regulatory upgrades in a cost-effective and phased manner.

These regulatory upgrades refer to the higher standards of living that must be applied across all new dormitories, as announced by MOM in 2021.

The majority of existing dorms would need to progressively meet interim housing standards – less stringent than those announced in 2021 – through retrofitting works between 2027 and 2030, as part of the dorm transition plan.

By 2030, about 1,000 foreign worker dormitories must meet these interim standards.

The interim standards include a limit of 12 residents per room, mandatory en-suite toilets and a minimum of 3.6 sq m – down from 4.2 sq m in the original standards – of living space per resident.

Addressing Mr Yip’s follow-up questions, Dr Koh said this dorm transition plan is a phased approach that ensures there are enough available beds for the highest possible number of workers at any point in time.

Therefore, the transition of existing dormitories to ones that adhere to these new living standards will be carried out gradually to ensure that there is no shortage in supply, he added.

He noted that there will be an increase in the supply of beds with the construction of six new dormitories.

Describing the transition as a progressive approach, Dr Koh said the ministry is in close contact with the Dormitory Association of Singapore to hear from industry players.

The ministry is also reaching out, via the association, to inform employers that may need bed space for their workers about spare bed spaces in other dormitories as there are matching efforts that take place at industry level.

“With that, I think we can transit to the desired dorm standards over time without impacting too much of a dorm supply.

“Over time, as the supply and demand balance is achieved, we will see dorm prices actually stabilising. In fact, that has been the case over the past year,” said Dr Koh.