'This is a mistaken view,' said Mr Lee, who explained that MNCs need skills and workers from all over the world, and non-Singaporeans help enlarge the pie and create more jobs for locals. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday highlighted three potential 'stress lines' which may divide the Singapore society as the economic pain deepens.
He urged Singaporeans to stay united and address the challenges openly and effectively, and continue to sustain and reinforce what they have built.
Speaking at a May Day Rally attended by over 1,400 at Downtown East in Pasir Ris, PM Lee said Singapore would emerge a tempered and stronger society if it manages the stresses well.
'A united Singapore will enhance our reputation, and bring in more investment and jobs,' he told the gathering of Cabinet Ministers, MPs, trade unionists and members at what he described as his 'most difficult May Day' celebration.
Mr Lee said he was asked where were Singapore's 'stress lines' at a recent dinner he had hosted for a US MNC board.
He listed three potential areas of divide between:
* Singaporeans and foreigners
* The more successful and less successful
* Different races and religions
On the first stress line, he said many Singaporeans see foreigners as taking away scare job opportunities.
'This is a mistaken view,' said Mr Lee, who explained that MNCs need skills and workers from all over the world, and non-Singaporeans help enlarge the pie and create more jobs for locals.
'Without non-Singaporeans working alongside Singaporeans, the jobs may not be there in the first place,' added Mr Lee, who cited the integrated resorts as an area where few Singaporeans have experience working in, and which would need foreigners to run some operations.
The majority of IR jobs will go to Singaporeans, the PM assured.
On the divide between the more successful and less successful, he said the income gap has widened over the last few years, even as the Government has done much to help lower income Singaporeans through various assistance schemes.
'In this downturn, we will have serious strains if the less well-off feel left behind,' cautioned Mr Lee, urging the more successful to take the lead in belt tightening and sharing of the burden.
As examples, he said companies imposing austerity measures must start from the top, who should take the lead in cutting their pay earlier or even taking a deeper pay cut. Senior government officers, for instance, have had their salaries cut by 20 per cent automatically, he added.
Turning to the race and religion fault-lines, PM Lee expressed concern that Malay and Indian workers would be more affected because larger proportions of them have lower skills.
He called for special effort to get them trained for jobs that are available, and urged employers to 'hire equally, and retain workers equally, based strictly on merit and performance', especially in a recession.
'We should also continue to build trust and confidence between different religions, and enlarge the common secular space that all Singaporeans share. That way, all groups will have maximum freedom to practise their different religions in their private spaces,' said PM Lee.
