How the next 5 years will be different
A changing Singapore ... next 5 years
Alicia Wong
TODAY
Friday, 19 February 2010
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
If the last 5 years saw an increased intake of foreign labour and immigrants, the
next 5 will see, hopefully, locals stepping up to be re-skilled, re-trained and re-educated to keep Singapore's economy thriving as the inflow of foreigners is slowed.
That difference was a central theme of
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's annual speech at the Tanjong Pagar GRC Chinese New Year celebration dinner last night.
Mr Lee explained to some 1,800 guests and residents why the Government had increased the intake of foreigners over the past five years.
"The crucial thing for any country is to make economic progress. Without economic progress, with no growth, you'll not be here tonight," said Mr Lee, who cited examples of renovated estates, lifts being installed and new blocks being built.
The higher pace of growth previously was, in part, due to foreigners here, Mr Lee said in acknowledgment of their contributions.
"Without them, the 2 IRs would not be built, all the schools, buildings would not be there," he said.
"So when you grumble about - Serangoon estate grumbles about the workers near the neighbourhood - please remember they're human beings. They come here to earn a living and do the heavy work for us. Without whom, you'll not be here."
This year, "unless there's a setback", Singapore is expected to register 4% to 6% economic growth, he said - a tad higher than the 3% to 5% forecast by the Trade and Industry Ministry.
Mr Lee painted a possible scenario, should the economy slow down in the future: Young Singaporeans will face difficulties finding jobs and will not be able to afford to buy new flats. Prices of all assets will go down, demand will drop, and salaries, jobs and promotions will decline.
"When this happens, many of our own talents will leave for greener pastures, which will exacerbate the downward spiral and eventually lead to Singapore's decline," he said.
"That is why the Government decided in the past 5 years that it was better to grow the economy and manage the accompanying social pressures, rather than slow down the economy," he said. "If our neighbours grow and we stagnate, Singapore will face a very different geopolitical environment in the future."
With growth, it "cannot be helped" that Singaporeans will have to "put up with more crowded trains, more crowded buses", he said.
Yet, the next 5 years will see a change. "Now we're going to do the reverse, we're going to slow down the intake (of foreigners)," he said.
However, he cautioned against a "reverse spiral", which would result in "low growth, maybe even no growth".
"To slow down our intake of foreign workers and yet continue to grow and prosper, our local workers must increase their productivity," he said.
Two weeks ago, the Economic Strategies Committee released its recommendations, calling for a new phase in Singapore's economy - with a quantum leap in productivity.
Mr Lee echoed the report when he said the next 5 years will offer many opportunities for Singapore, arising from East Asia's rise as the fastest growing region worldwide, with China and India leading the growth.
"To do well in the next 5 years, we must raise skills across the board, have enterprise innovation and a restructuring of our industries," he said. "Every worker has to be re-skilled, re-trained and re-educated to achieve higher standards of capabilities."
Mr Lee cited the need for retraining, in particular, among those above 45, who did not have the opportunity for an education as do younger people today.
He said a "3-way partnership" between the Government, unions and employers will help achieve this. While the Government provides schemes such as the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience, unions must encourage their workers to use the programmes, and employers must invest in re-training and up-skilling of their workforce.
"Keep together, work together, grow, so your children will have a better futures, better schools ... Once you have no growth, nothing can happen, and we go down," Mr Lee said.
"This year, unless there’s a setback we’ll make 4% to 6%. ... It means there are jobs, it means your salaries are firm, you get increments. It means your home prices stay up, your stock prices stay up and you are able to lead a better life. So carefully calculate what is in our interest, put up with the inconvenience and let’s make do."
- MM Lee on economic growth