Tending the manpower landscape

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s May Day message struck a note of cautious optimism as he spoke of how slower economic growth is expected in 2023 but added that Singapore should avoid an outright contraction. This is good news, but there are several challenges ahead nevertheless. There is a risk of recession in Western countries, and nationalist and protectionist sentiments are undermining the multilateral trading system. These are ominous signs for Singapore, the value of whose trade is more than three times its gross domestic product. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong noted at the May Day Rally on Monday how Singapore is affected by shifts in global investment flows, and the provision of massive subsidies by the advanced economies to build up their domestic production, particularly in strategic industries. Such trends sharpen the already competitive international environment in which the Republic must strive to attract foreign direct investment.

This is where the assiduous tending of the manpower landscape makes an important difference for Singapore. The tripartite system, in which the Government’s steadying hand balances the playing field between employers and employees, is a time-tested method to ensure that capital and labour cooperate fundamentally to keep Singapore going as a viable trading state. Tripartism is based ultimately on the symbiotic partnership between the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). The NTUC’s ability to garner the support of workers for the Government’s policies is reciprocated in the PAP’s implementation of pro-worker laws and policies.