Tag: Singapore

Barack Obama: Singapore’s Racial Integration Has Contributed To Its Success

One of the reasons why Singapore has been so successful is because “it has been able to bring together people who may look different, but they all think of themselves as part of Singapore”, said US President Barack Obama yesterday (June 1).

“That has to be a strength, not a weakness, but that requires leadership and government being true to those principles,” said Mr Obama, who was speaking to 75 emerging leaders from countries in the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN). The group, aged 18-35, was the first to visit the United States as part of the Young South-east Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Fellowships announced by Mr Obama in November last year.

Mr Obama, answering a question from an attendee, was calling for an end to the discrimination against the Rohingya in Myanmar, when he noted that one of the reasons for Singapore’s success has been the Republic’s ability to integrate the different races.

“The one thing I know is that countries that divide themselves on racial or religious lines, they do not succeed,” he stressed. “Each country is different, but there are some rules if you look at development patterns around the world that are pretty consistent, and those are two pretty good rules. Don’t divide yourself on religious and ethnic lines and racial lines, and don’t discriminate against women. If you do those two things, you are not guaranteed success but at least you’re not guaranteed failure.”

Answering an attendee’s question about economic development in Myanmar, Mr Obama also pointed to Singapore. He noted that businesses know they can find a very skilled workforce here and the rules are “international standard rules, in terms of operations”.

Mr Obama noted that in the age of the Internet, when companies can be located anywhere, “the most important thing is to find some place where there’s security so there’s no conflict, where there’s rule of law and the people are highly skilled. And if you have those those things, then people will invest”.

The session lasted for more than an hour, where Mr Obama spoke on topics including America’s relationship with South-east Asia and Anwar Ibrahim’s imprisonment. He also spoke about his “special attachment” to the region.

“As a boy I lived in Jakarta; my mother spent years working in villages to help women improve their life. So South-east Asia helped to shape who I am and how I see the world,” he said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 3, 2015
100Kg Stingray Caught At Pasir Ris Park

A regular fishing trip to Pasir Ris on May 22 turned extraordinary when one of the anglers caught a giant stingray, estimated to weigh around 100kg.

Akid, 33, said he and his friends were surprised with his catch.

According to Chinese evening newspaper Shin Min Daily News, the six men struggled for more than two hours trying to reel the stingray in but it was in vain. A child and his friends had to wade into the water to drag the stingray to shore.

The men wanted to release the stingray after taking photos of it, but it had died.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 3, 2015
Salaries To Rise By 4.4% This Year, Says Towers Watson Survey

Employees here could see their salaries grow by 4.4 per cent this year, on the back of low inflation, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

This is slightly more than the 4.3 per cent last year.

The survey, compiled by global professional services firm Towers Watson in February, comprised 2,000 responses from companies across 19 countries in Asia-Pacific.

“The Singapore Government has been sticking to a tight monetary policy to keep the lid on inflation,” noted Mr Sambhav Rakyan, data services practice leader for Asia-Pacific at Towers Watson, in a statement.

“Its policy to stabilise property prices has also helped curb inflationary pressures.”

The survey also showed that Singapore’s pay increase will be in line with that across the Asia-Pacific region, which is forecast at 4.3 per cent this year, compared with the 3.3 per cent last year.

“This is good news for employees, who are finally seeing the results of the post-financial crisis pick-up in economic growth and in receiving more cash in hand,” said Mr Rakyan.

In East Asia, China is expected to see the highest increase, at 7.4 per cent, while Hong Kong will see the smallest, at only 1.3 per cent.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 3, 2015
Lim Swee Say Outlines Four Manpower Priorities For Singapore

After spending his first month on the job meeting employer groups, business chambers and trade associations, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said on Tuesday that he has been able to get their agreement to work towards four priority outcomes.

These are: becoming more manpower lean, building a strong Singaporean core, ensuring the foreign workforce is of good quality and maintaining Singapore’s competitiveness.

Speaking to the media for the first time since he moved from the labour unions to be Manpower Minister, Mr Lim said that this will help to ensure that manpower constraints do not become the limiting factor for Singapore’s economic growth.

“I think at the back of the mind is that given the constraints (businesses) face with manpower, how are they going to be able to respond to external competition…I requested they work together to think and look beyond the considerations of today,” he said at the Manpower Ministry headquarters. He took up his current post on May 4.

Action must take place at the industry and sub-industry levels, he added. “We don’t have to wait until everybody agrees to start. All it takes is three companies, five companies, seven companies that are prepared to take the lead.”

Mr Lim also said that he has been explaining to business leaders who have asked whether they will be able to employ more foreign workers that the ministry cannot afford to adopt a more liberal policy.

“If we continue to do so, the ratio of local workers versus foreign manpower will continue to decline…One day Singaporeans will wake up to find ourselves as a minority in our Singapore workforce, and obviously that’s not sustainable, that’s not desirable,” he said.

Other areas such as the national jobs bank will be reviewed, and more details are expected in around a month’s time, he said.

Continuing his push for a three-way partnership between unions, employers and the government, Mr Lim, who was labour chief for eight years, said that his actions would show his commitment to finding solutions that benefit all three – encouraging good business, good careers and good economic growth.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 3, 2015
School, Career Worries Among Students’ Concerns

Anxiety over their future — be it in school or at the workplace — was among the concerns raised by students during a question-and-answer session with Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong at the annual pre-university seminar today (June 2).

More than 20 questions were raised during the hour-long session, which was attended by around 550 students from 30 pre-university institutions — polytechnics, junior colleges and the Millennia Institute.

One student noted it is difficult to gain admission into local universities, with competition for places seemingly coming from foreign students, and sought clarity on this issue.

In response, Mr Wong clarified that local and foreign students are on different admission tracks.

“All the universities have a separate track to take in international students because they want to add diversity into their student population. They think it’s a good idea to allow their own students international exposure and they want that to add vibrancy into their campuses,” he said.

Foreign students take up 10 to 20 per cent of the cohort at universities in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, and Singapore has also kept the proportion to about 15 per cent of the overall student population in each campus, he noted.

He also assured students that the number of university places have been increasing with the establishment of additional autonomous universities here, and local students can get a place if they meet these universities’ benchmarks.

Asked about the competition posed by foreign manpower for jobs, Mr Wong, acknowledging the concerns, noted that employers are keen on hiring Singaporean talent, but they also want to be able to hire talent from around the world.

“If we decide to close our doors and say foreigners cannot work here, the bank will have a very simple response and say, ‘Well then, I can’t operate in Singapore and I should operate in Hong Kong instead’ or ‘I should operate in London instead’, and then all of the Singaporean jobs will be lost. This is the tension, the dilemma we will always face,” he said.

The issue of encouraging youths to care more about the community was also raised, with one student asking how young people could be motivated to pursue jobs in sectors such as social services and sacrifice better pay elsewhere.

In response, Mr Wong said: “What we should try to do is to make sure that if you want to take the path in the social service job, then the remuneration is a fair one, a decent one and one that will allow you or whoever it is to have a good living.”

When a student observed that Singaporeans’ proficiency in their mother tongues appeared to be declining despite the bilingualism policy, Mr Wong said it was not only an issue of what is taught in schools, but also which languages are used at home.

Bilingualism remains important, he said, adding that efforts to develop a strong foundation in mother tongue languages will put one in “good stead in the future”. He noted that the decline in the use of dialects is not unique to Singapore; China is facing the same issue among its youths.

The pre-university seminar ends on Friday. This year’s programme will see students reflect on Singapore’s achievements over the past 50 years by interacting with Singaporeans from all walks of life and participating in panel discussions on their findings, among other things.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 3, 2015