SINGAPORE: Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin has said that the opposition Workers' Party's proposal for a zero-foreign manpower growth in this decade, when put in practice, will hurt Singaporeans.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday on the Population White Paper, Mr Tan noted that in fact, the strategies outlined in the paper has opted for slower growth and a significant reduction in the foreign labour force numbers.
He noted Singapore cannot continue on the same growth trajectory as before but what it needs to decide on is the pace of growth that will bring benefits to citizens.
And in achieving this, he said the country will need to transit carefully.
Mr Tan said the Workers' Party's decision to freeze the foreign labour force growth rate immediately is an "alarming" one.
He also asked for details on how the opposition party proposes to keep the foreign workforce growth rate at 1 per cent for the next decade, especially when there are limits to how much the resident labour force participation rate can grow, with an ageing population.
Mr Tan also rejected the Workers' Party's proposal that the government could dip into the country's reserves to help fund the productivity efforts of businesses.
He said the government needs to be careful when dealing with the reserves and that this "is not a rainy day".
"Singaporeans have also indicated a desire to slow down because they feel that pace of growth, because we have crossed that physical and social threshold. We cannot continue on as before. We can't.
"And we are also at a stage, from a profile perspective, different stage of economic development. This is where we need to change in terms of the direction we are going. So the White Paper is the product of this desire to get it right and chart the course for the future," Mr Tan said.
- CNA/ck
WP's call to freeze foreign manpower growth will hurt S'poreans: Tan Chuan-Jin
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WP's call to freeze foreign manpower growth will hurt S'poreans: Tan Chuan-Jin
