Ideas for Singapore

[setan]

A lot of hiring Singaporean managers actually would want to employ FT over a Singaporean for a variety of reasons.

1. Cheaper. This is critical to keep their department budget under control. This will keep their job safe as the managers tend to be the ones drawing the higher salaries.

2. Control. Overall, it is easier to control FT as the job means more to them. Singaporeans have home ground advantage and need not worry about renewing their employment passes.

3. Dedication. A number of foreign talent do not have liabilities(N.S.) or families here. They work 24/7 and their routine alternates between work and sleep. Singaporeans have all the distractions.

This is purely my personal observation after working many years in the manufacturing sector.

In manufacturing sector, the number one factor is cost and no one is indispensible as the system is always in place especially in MNC.

As for "Control" & "Dedication" factor, it is true for the earlier batches of foreign worker employed in the early 90's. The "Control" & "Dedication" quality factor is fast deteriorating now. Maybe the reason is that there are too many job opportunities in Singapore for them because of the unfair advantage of lower in cost.

Perhaps, this is one of the reason for our low productivity index in recent years in Singapore.

This is probably like you say to sustain their higher salary.

[Gosling]

I think this is the last I will post in this thread. The original topic was "ideas for singapore", but has degenerated into a FW debate.

If you want to start a thread about ideas for Singapore, it is fair to expect that it has to eventually address what is bothering Singaporeans. Foreign talent issues are what bother Singaporeans the most in recent years.

It will be a pity to stop posting the moment people launch posts that disagree with you. Thread-starters should have the expectation that as a thread progress, it is inevitable that disagreements will crop up sooner or later. Political topics are highly sensitive, so anyone who wants to start a thread on political topics should expect this.

It is natural for thread-starters to want people to agree with them or even sing their praises and insights. This is even more so for highly egoistic people which can be detected to subtle readers.

Do you think about others pulling you back or are you thinking about how you can pull ahead of the pack? Which kind of thinker are you?

This is again a simplistic argument for foreign talent. Of course, we should think of ways to pull ahead. But first, government policies should not pull Singaporeans back and put us at a disadvantage to the foreigners whom they welcome. Is there a level-playing field between Singaporeans and foreigners in the job market? Why do Singaporeans feel being put at a disadvantage even in their own country? Why have so many Singaporeans migrated to other countries? Government supporters should self-reflect before parroting government arguments.

[tanjm]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/your-we...2011-06-16

[violinist]

What defines a country?

[dreamybear]

I think it's very well-written and clearly articulated, because as a middle-class citizen, I encountered what the writer described below !

Although I acknowledge the importance of economic growth, I hope one day S'poreans will aspire to have a country less focussed on material stuff like HDB common areas non-critical upgrading or newer better facilities, and emphasising more on a slower pace of life, greater sense of belonging to the country, better relationships between citizens.

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Forum: Pressure cooker society results in bad behaviour
Published Oct 15, 2019, 5:00 am SGT

Mr Lim Ang-Yong rightly views Professor Tommy Koh's lament about the behaviour of Singaporeans as "the growing and expressed intolerance of a few of our retired elitists, who are often detached from the changing realities of everyday living complexities in crowded Singapore" (No need to put down those from Third World, ST Online, Oct 12).....

Walking up to MRT stations or eating in hawker centres, we are interrupted by fund-raisers, promoters and distributors of fliers of all sorts, whom we have little choice but to rudely ignore. We cannot be expected to smile back, listen to their story and politely refuse.

We compete for breathing space along narrow MRT escalators, in crowded MRT trains and in supermarket aisles. We cannot relax on footpaths for fear of injury by a personal mobility device user. Any vacant seat, standing space or short queue is a luxury. We have to deal with noise and dust from upgrading works which are endless and omnipresent in Singapore. Back home, some have to contend with smells and noise from inconsiderate neighbours......


https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/lette...-behaviour

[karlmarx]

There is a price to pay to enjoy all the pleasant civic amenities, such subsidised housing and healthcare, and luxury consumption. The former is only possible with large tax revenues, which means larger personal and corporate incomes. To be earning higher income, it is not possible if one (whether an individual or a company) is not competitive. And one cannot be relaxed if one is to be competitive. Periodical holidays are not enough for companies and their employees to be less tense, especially if they are working towards some lofty goal.

I have read forum letters to the Straits Times, dating back to the 70s, where similar feelings of anxiety and frustrations towards city living are expressed. If local business and labour market continue to globalise, I'm not so optimistic about a slower pace of life taking root in Singapore.

[specuvestor]

Agree something got to give. If we want to be in World Cup finals, for whatever reaosns, we will have to allocate more resource there. But is that our competitive advantage for an island nation?

Similarly our own resource is manpower. If manpower output is not optimised, where will the output be from? Unlike other countries blessed with natural resources that they can dig from the ground to get USD revenue.