On 3 Oct, Tan See Leng talked about the issue of foreign hires in Singapore in parliament. He is convinced that allowing companies free access to hiring foreigners is important. He thinks otherwise companies will leave Singapore.
“Companies may exit Singapore if they do not have access to the complementary foreign manpower they need, taking the jobs for Singaporeans with them.”
Tan See Leng
If companies are coming here ONLY because they can hire foreigners, we don’t need these companies.
First of all, Singaporeans are not asking for a complete ban on hiring foreigners. What we’re asking for is more scrutiny. We cannot continue to take in people just to appease foreign political leaders by saying yes to all their people.
Second, companies come to Singapore for a myriad of reasons. Security, language, connectivity, infrastructure, lack of corruption etc. If companies are really only coming here because they can bring their fellow countrymen in, and will leave if we restrict them from hiring so excessively from their own countries, we really don’t need such companies around.
Thirdly, Tan See Leng needs to really consider why companies, both local and foreign, prefer to hire foreigners. It is unlikely that there are zero Singaporeans who can fulfill the role they are looking for, especially when we boast that we have the top universities in the world. A possibility is because they have to pay for locals’ CPF, making foreign hires a cheaper and faster option.
Singapore needs to be forward looking.
Besides thinking about current needs, the government should be looking at our future. What are we doing to make sure that Singaporeans are skilled for the future? We have good computing faculties in our universities. It cannot be that they continue to be not good enough for companies here, despite having been around for quite some time.
What is also being done to cushion the negative effects of foreigners? Especially those who instead of trying to assimilate into our society, proudly showcase their negative behaviors here? From being attuned to littering everywhere, to others who will argue with law enforcers to get their way.
Singapore needs to put Singaporeans first.
