WP’s alternative population policies
The Workers’ Party proposed an extreme scenario as a plausible choice for Singaporeans.
This involved an immediate stop to any increase in foreign workforce from 2013 until 2020.
They also proposed that we should rely exclusively on increasing our resident workforce. This was to be done by encouraging older workers to participate in the workforce, including mothers and grandmothers.
What did WP’s alternatives mean for Singapore?
It means that for one decade, the only source of additional manpower for a new business in Singapore, or one that wants to expand, should come from older workers and women and from the existing pool of foreign workers made jobless because the company has shut down or contract.
According to their proposal, we would not even have one more foreign domestic worker in Singapore for one decade (good luck to young mothers), and certainly no additional workers especially for the construction sector which is in fact critical to our infrastructure plans.
WP’s proposals would have killed our economy, our competitiveness, and along with it, our jobs and our future.
Their proposals with its immediate cessation of any additional foreign manpower will accelerate business closures and the offshoring of activities. Singaporeans will lose their jobs and the economy sent in a downward spiral.
Yet, at that time, the WP was praised and hailed as the party that cared for Singaporeans.
The Population White Paper presented in Feb 2013 was a noble one with a misnomer for a name. The paper was about planning for a rapidly ageing population and how to ensure the seniors among us are well taken care of while the young will still have vibrant jobs, and how to create liveable and green environment.
Unfortunately, the important debate was hijacked by the WP to focus primarily on population figures. It was politics and it served WP well.
The paper was thrashed even though everyone practically agreed with the infrastructure plans in it.
We watched in amazement as the PAP got a severe beating for planning to take care of the needs of a rapidly ageing population while the WP enjoyed a huge wave of popularity for alternative proposals that would kill off jobs and future.
For this reason, we could not be bystanders anymore, and the Facebook page Singapore Matters was started in the hope that as Singaporeans who love Singapore and Singaporeans, we hope to be able to help create better understanding of government policies.
Reference:
https://www.mti.gov.sg/Newsroom/Speeches/2013/02/Population-White-Paper-Debate-A-Bright-Future-for-Singaporeans-
https://www.facebook.com/SingaporeMatters/photos/5439887339430948
