(02-11-2011, 11:40 AM)kichialo Wrote: Nothing will change and the ruling party will do nothing until Singaporeans wake up at the ballot box. 
Hope this is not another big wayang ?
Don't discriminate against Singaporeans
New guidelines to end practices biased towards hiring of foreigners
By Kor Kian Beng
THE Government has sent a strong signal to employers that Singapore will not stand for foreign managers who hire and promote their own kind, at the expense of qualified local candidates.
Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin yesterday announced new guidelines taking aim at such discriminatory practices. These include job advertisements that indicate foreigners are preferred, and preferential hiring of foreigners over suitable Singaporeans.
Drawn up by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (Tafep), the new guidelines are a response to a spike this year in the number of cases about unfair treatment based on nationality - 51 in the first nine months of this year.
Speaking at a tripartism forum, Mr Tan stressed that while Singapore stays open to foreigners, its own citizens must remain the core of its workforce, a point the Prime Minister had made in his National Day Rally speech in August.
Yesterday, Mr Tan said the Government is taking steps at the national level to moderate the demand for foreign labour, by raising levies, qualifying salaries and qualifications for work permits.
But on the ground, it is for employers to watch what they do. Many Singaporeans have expressed anxiety over discriminatory practices in their workplace, 'including allegations of foreign managers hiring their own kind'.
'Let me emphasise that discriminatory practices have no place in Singapore,' he said. Companies, he added, have a responsibility 'to attract, recruit and develop Singaporeans so that Singaporeans remain at the core of our workforce'.
On why laws are not being enacted to combat discrimination, Mr Tan said complaints about discrimination are not straightforward. To address them involves changing employers' mindsets, which is better done through moral suasion.
Anti-discrimination laws would also reduce flexibility in the labour market, a strength for Singapore, he said.
Still, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will act against errant employers who persist with discriminatory practices, Mr Tan said.
If an issue cannot be resolved through consultation, MOM has other ways to 'encourage an employer to do the right thing'. It can, for example, slap demerit points on employment agencies for such practices.
Tafep will hold workshops to educate employers and help them adopt the new guidelines.
Both labour chief Lim Swee Say and employers' group chief Stephen Lee threw their support behind the new guidelines.
Mr Lee, president of the Singapore National Employers Federation, said employers recognise that having Singaporeans at the core of their workforce strengthens their long-term competitiveness as foreign workers tend to be more mobile.
He also noted in a dialogue that Singapore's cap on foreigners - which stands at one-third of the three-million workforce - is already one of the highest in the world. Mr Lee said employers accept the cap. Companies, he added, must take steps to nurture Singaporeans as their core.
'If you replace your core with all foreigners because of short-term expediency, then I start to question the viability of the company in the long run,' Mr Lee added.
Mr Lim, NTUC secretary-general, said the guidelines give companies access to foreign manpower, yet help Singaporeans benefit from good jobs and wages.
He said employers and workers need to change their mindsets of each other. Some employers seem to believe that Singapore workers are not willing to take on low-level jobs, not able to take on high-skilled jobs, and that there are not enough of them to fill mid-level jobs, he added.
As for Singaporeans, many of them say employers are not willing to pay better for low-level jobs, are not doing enough to help them move up to higher-level jobs and view them as not able to take on mid-level jobs.
Said Mr Lim: 'So as long as we're caught in this mindset on both sides, we'll forever be in a no-win situation.'
kianbeng@sph.com.sg
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