Keeping Singapore economically relevant an important task for 4G leaders: Shanmugam

SINGAPORE - Finding ways to keep Singapore economically relevant will be an important task for the country’s fourth-generation (4G) leaders in the coming years, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said on Dec 29.

The country’s high land and labour costs will make foreign investors question why they should plough money into Singapore, and local small and medium-sized enterprises are also struggling as it is “not easy to find labour”, said Mr Shanmugam.

“Those of you who have been to India and China will know hundreds of millions of people – bright, hard-working, hungry – they can do everything that we can do. So the question for (the) 4G is going to be economic relevance,” he said.

He added that these are serious issues that Singapore will need to address in the next five to 10 years, and the 4G leaders have been thinking about these challenges for some time.

Mr Shanmugam was speaking at Naam Ras Kirtan Darbar, a cultural event celebrating Sikh history and tradition held at the Singapore Expo between Dec 26 and 29, that saw more than 40,000 visitors.

In his speech, Mr Shanmugam acknowledged that Singapore is in a much better position compared with other countries, pointing out, for instance, that there is less concern about housing, healthcare, education and jobs compared with other places.

But he also noted that there are serious global challenges.

These include the wars in Europe and the Middle East, global inflation and the destabilisation of countries such as Iraq, Iran and Syria, he said.

He also cited tensions between the US and China as a reason why the world is in “quite a dangerous situation”.

Singapore is “a small boat in a big ocean”, an ocean that is “facing a lot of hurricanes and heavy winds”, said Mr Shanmugam.