Budget debate: Tan See Leng urges Leong Mun Wai to not undermine cohesiveness with data requests

SINGAPORE - Manpower Minister Tan See Leng on Friday (March 4) called on the Progress Singapore Party's Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai to not hurt Singapore's cohesiveness by constantly requesting employment data that differentiates between original and new citizens as well as permanent residents (PRs).

Doing so would create societal rifts, the minister said in response to Mr Leong during the debate on the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) budget.

"I urge Mr Leong - have a care," said Dr Tan. "Please don't undermine the cohesiveness we have painstakingly built over the years. And please ask people who share your point of view to also have a care for the rest of us."

Mr Leong had criticised what he saw as MOM's reluctance to differentiate employment data by categories of "original citizens", "new citizens" and PRs, and the decision to "lump all the figures" under one grouping of "locals".

"We do not have a clear picture of how policies have affected each category of people," he said, adding that the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) had previously disputed figures Dr Tan had provided in July last year on job creation for locals.

In a ministerial statement then, Dr Tan said the number of local professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) had grown by more than 380,000 from 2005 to 2020.

But during a September parliamentary debate on two motions on jobs and foreign talent policies, the PSP's other NCMP Hazel Poa contended that a portion of these jobs could have been due to PRs taking up citizenship and foreign workers becoming PRs.

On Friday, Mr Leong repeated this argument, saying most of the 380,000 increase was "not a real increase" as it would have been due to new citizens and PRs.

"If we truly want the foreigners to complement the Singaporean core, then MOM must ensure that Singaporean jobs are not being threatened," he said.

During his speech where he announced new policies such as a points-based framework for Employment Pass applicants, Dr Tan also addressed Mr Leong's points by using the same phrases that Finance Minister Lawrence Wong did in his Budget round-up speech on Wednesday.

"We get the sense that the persistent requests coming from him for more information are red herrings. They are distractions from the key problem at hand," said Dr Tan, who is also Second Minister for Trade and Industry.

Mr Wong had made similar comments in response to requests from the Workers' Party for revenue and expenditure projections as they debated the upcoming goods and services tax (GST) hike.

Dr Tan pointed out that in his July ministerial statement, he had already shared that the majority of local PME growth over the past decade had gone to Singaporeans born in Singapore - and had repeated this in Parliament in September.

"But Mr Leong persists in drawing these divisions, asking for statistics splitting between original citizens, new citizens and permanent residents," said Dr Tan.

"I've also alluded, at that particular point in time, that as a society, we should not constantly be drawing such lines.

"Many of our new citizens and PRs share family ties with Singaporeans, or they've studied; they've worked; they've contributed and they have also lived here for some time," he added.

"They contribute to our strengths as a society and as an economy. Singapore is an immigrant nation - and openness is one of our society's core strengths that has defined who we are."

Added Dr Tan: "Singapore is, and Singapore will always be, committed to remaining open to foreigners who complement our local workforce and who are able to add vibrancy to Singapore's economy."