Australia reviews its visa program to protect citizens from competition with foreign workers unlike Singapore
January 21st, 2010 | 
Author: Written by Our Correspondent
The Australian government has taken a series of measures to shield Australian workers from competition with cheap foreign workers from overseas.
The 457 Temporary work visa program has been reviewed to force employers to grant the same pay to skilled overseas workers as their Australian counterparts.
The change will come into effect starting from January 2010.
According to Australia’s Minister for Immigration and Chris Evans, the changes serve two purposes:
“It ensures overseas workers are not brought in more cheaply to undercut Australian workers and their conditions”. Secondly it ensures that Australian workers aren’t disadvantaged because overseas workers will now be more expensive and preference will go to Australian workers.” (Read Mr Evans’ speech here)
He also reiterated the Australian government’s committment to ensure that Australian workers are not disadvantaged in the labor market:
“The objective of the subclass 457 visa is to ensure that skilled workers are able to come to Australia quickly to meet industry, economic and labour market needs without impacting on the employment and training opportunities of Australians or undermining their terms and conditions. Consistent with that objective the Rudd Government has made it clear that overseas workers are not to be employed ahead of Australians.”
As of 2008, 25 per cent of Australia’s 21.6 million population are born overseas. Australia remains the top emigration destinations in the world despite its stringent immigration criteria.
Unlike Singapore which accepts any Tom, Dick or Harry without any proper screening, Australia only accepts foreigners who pass a basic English Proficiency Test or the IELTS.
Foreigners are only employed in selected sectors lacking manpower and it varies from one state to another.
To even qualify to apply for Australian PR, a foreigner must spend three out of the last five years entirely in Australia.
In contrast, Singapore gives out its PR and citizenships freely like toilet papers to foreigners some of whom are construction workers, cleaners, masseurs and prostitutes.
The celebrated Chinese national and Singapore PR Zhang Yuanyuan who insulted the entire nation by proclaiming her loyalty to China on CCTV7 revealed that she received her Singapore PR within 2 months of application.
Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said in Parliament lately that two out of every three PR applicants are successful, an astonishingly high succcess rate for a developed nation. In 2008, there are more than 90,000 PRs and 20,000 new citizens.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reassured Singaporeans in his New Year Day message that they remain a “priority” for his administration, but has done nothing to show otherwise.
Foreigners are allowed to compete directly with Singaporeans in jobs which can be filled easily by them such as administrators, cashiers, accounts executive, clinic assistants etc, yet the ruling party kept insisting that foreigners are only employed in sectors shunned by locals.
In a recent letter to The Temasek Review, Courts CEO Mr Terry O’ Connor explained that his company has no choice but to put up an advertisement to employ Malaysians in Johor because the take-up rate for the positions on offer among locals is very low. (read letter here)
He declined to reveal the terms and conditions including the basic salaries and working hours offered to Singaporeans.
As there is no opposition in Parliament to check on the ruling party, there is absolutely no political pressure on it to fine-tune its policies to serve the interests of Singaporeans.
Foreign workers help to reduce labor costs and in turn contributes to economic growth. A certain proportion of the annual salaries of Singapore’s millionaire ministers is pegged to GDP growth figures – the higher it is, the more money they will get from Singapore taxpayers.
A recent Wall Street Journal editorial wrote that the relentless influx of foreigners had depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, lowered labor productivity, increased the cost of living and led to an overall decrease in the standards of living. (read article here)
During a walk-about session at Hong Kah GRC, Law Minister Shanmugam told the media that many companies are recruiting Singaporeans as cleaners, but there are few takers for the job as Singaporeans, especially the young, do not like long working hours or shift work.
“Most Singaporeans prefer office job and choose to give up jobs such as cleaners,” he added.
In a frank interview with journalist Mark Jacobson from the National Geographic magazine, Singapore’s octogenarian leader Lee Kuan Yew defended the ruling party’s liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies.
Though he said he was aware of the fact that “many Singaporeans are unhappy with the influx of immigrants”, he continued to insist that it is for “good” of the nation:
“Over time, Singaporeans have become less hard-driving and hard-striving. This is why it is a good thing that the nation has welcomed so many Chinese immigrants.” Lee was quoted saying.
Lee described the country’s new subjects as “hungry,” with parents who “pushed the children very hard.”
“If native Singaporeans are falling behind because the spurs are not stuck into the hide, that is their problem,” he quipped.
[Source: The Singapore Solution]
Compare the speeches made by Singapore leaders to that made by Australian leaders and it is not hard to understand why that despite its ultra-liberal immigration policies, many foreigners prefer to emigrate to Australia than Singapore.
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I want a fair economy that ensures all segments of S’pore’s citizens benefit from the country’s economic growth. Not one which blindly pursues free market policies!
Singaporeans should be proud of PAP achievement/ success story: Singapore would continue to have economic success again?
Singapore success means rush for whatever economic gain at sight, even with extreme policies, or when not totally prepared, or for whatever better reason?
Singaporeans will prefer good government that will not hesitate to do right thing for Singaporeans well being, as many Singaporeans deserve much fairer treatment
our home affairs minister is sub-standard.
he was kick-out from foreigh ministry.
and how you expect him to lead his ministry to formula a good guildline and regulation on immigration.
he just need to meet his target of population grows, and he is good for nothing
Can invite Chris Evans to take over WKS or not, hah? Give this kind of people million $ pay, I don’t mind, man! It’s worth every cent! Give that …..Wah Kenna Sai? Really jia liao bee leh!
OMG
i want to migrate to there
Singaporeans will prefer good government that will not hesitate to do the right thing for Singaporeans’ well-being.
Conversely, Singaporeans will vote out any self-proclaimed good government that will not hesitate to put foreigners’ well-being over and above Singaporeans’.
Therefore, come this election, Singaporeans will rise and unite as one to vote out PAP.
Vote for Change. Vote out Greed!
@gm Do U think so, Singaporean deserve much fairer treatment. PaP just prosituting their policy to foreigner. Singapore last generation has been murder Policy Sop At Two. Now we have big labour problem.PaP bring in FT just fathope to fill up their pocket for another Fifty years.
Unlike Austraila , our garman is fire fighting trying to recover the economy . They are sleeping for years and are awake now . Sadly , it too late so they start the blame game and also influx masssive FTs hoping to steer the economy around . Again , they have the wrong policies resulting massive singaporeans jobless. They are lazy and stupid so they need to be voted out ..
Australia is a sub-continent with vast resources and yet the government is now trying to restrict the influx of foreigners.
So,does the government here know what they are doing or they are just too proud and cocky?
Even,Obama knows that he needs to take of the displaced americans.
The govt here seems to be the most foolish even amongst our asian neighbours.Even Malaysia knows how to protect their own malaysian workers’ interests.
A disloyal govt should be out of favour.
Actually of course those MIW knows better than you and I about labor policy. How can they not know. They pretend to look the other way. The reason behind is of course their extremely big salaries which is pegged to GDP. The best way to grow the GDP is of course to bring cheap and cheaper labor from overseas to cannibalize our own people’s job. That will force you to earn less salary and the MIW can continue to take bigger salaries.
That will mean win win win situation. Government WIN, Employer WIN, Cheap Labor WIN.
Of course you and I will lose. They say you die your business. We deserve to lose because we are not hard driving and hard striving. Singaporean are born losers.
I agree PAP need to adopt the Australian way. Singaporeans’ welfare is more important than Singapore Inc’s GDP growth. Any party that put Spore Inc’s GDP growth as more important than Singaporeans’ welfare is going to face problems sooner or later.
PAP – please listen up.
“Immigration figures released yesterday show applications for category-457 visas plummeted 49 per cent in the five months to November, after the laws required employers to pay equal wages and lift conditions for foreign workers.
Across the country, the average salary of those on 457 visas jumped to $85,300, up from $74,700 in the same period a year earlier”
http://www.theage.com.au/national/temporary-skilled-migration-halved-20100111-m2o9.html
HAVE YOU ALL EVER WONDERED WHY THE SO-CALLED FOREIGN TALENTS IN SINGAPORE IS MOSTLY FOREIGN TRASH.
The average was of TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS ON CLASS 457 VISA IS ALREADY A$85,300 or approximately S$110,000 per year or about S$9,160 per month approximately to current exchange rate. THAT MEANS THAT SOME ARE EVEN HIGHER THAN THIS PAY.
AND THEY ARE NOT OFFERED PR STATUS for all their badly-needed skills and earning this obscene amount of pay by Singapore standards.
HOW MUCH DOES THE AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME OF FOREIGN TALENT EARNS IN SINGAPORE A MONTH ON PERMANENT RESIDENCY STATUS, OR S-PASS OR PEPs???
Make your guess!!!
But I doubt on an average, most would NOT GET ANYWHERE NEAR S$9,160 per month.
So if there is real talent, who gets them first? AUSTRALIA OR SINGAPORE??? OR MAYBE MORE CORRECTLY PUT IT – WHO GET THE FOREIGN TALENTS AND WHO GET THE FOREIGN TRASH???
Here is the clue. A crude joke in Hong Kong Professional circle has this
- failed in London, try Hong Kong
- failed in Hong Kong, try Singapore
- failed in Singapore, try Dubai (Ooops, closed shop there already)
- failed in Dubai, try Shanghai!!!!
SO HOW DOES THE PEE-A-PEE conned Singaporeans to take in more foreigners?
VERY EASY – JUST CALL ALL FOREIGNERS “TALENT” AND BY MIXING FALSEHOODS TOGETHER, YOU GOT THIS CLICHE CALLED “FOREIGN TALENT” WHICH IN AUSTRALIA WILL NOT EVEN GRADED HIGHER THAN FOREIGN WORKERS ON VISA 457.
THE PEE-A-PEE of course works on the assumnption we don’t know the truth and the world is round of information easy reach. Well time has caught up.
And why “foreign talent” is so hard of integration in Singapore? Oooops I used the wrong words here. Foreign trash is so hard to integrate here because our multi-million dollar salaried “recruiters” of mass migration is ‘NO TALENT” in themselves. So talk UP the hoax up by labelling foreign trash as foreign talent and they are the best of ideas to import such talent (read trash) as such deserving of even more millions in pay soon!!!
Good piece of news.
Pape just got another Papsmeared on its Face.
Political Disaster at the Wrong time…maybe, KHARMA is coming.
KHARMA comes in many forms : Defeat , Death of love ones, health taking a dive…etc
Nobody can tell…only the Maker knows.
The title of this article is almost identical to the title of an article by the BNP several months ago. It’s just such a funny coincidence.
http://bnp.org.uk/2009/09/singapore-government-protects-its-workers-unlike-britain/
We welcome REAL talents, not people with fake qualifications, fake resumes, undercutting Singaporeans on pay, going through backdoors paying huge commission to their agents and employers, practicing nepotism by hiring own countrymen.
Australia is already clamping down on these practices. When is our world’s highest paid government going to do the same? Can we get Australian civil servants to replace ours?
The qualifying pay for Employment Pass here is 2.5k, thats lower than a fresh grad pay.
Michelle,
Thanks for posting the article in which PM Lee promised to protect Singaporean workers, and was used as an example in Britain. However, what the British didn’t know is that since PM Lee became prime minister in 2004, he has promised many things but has been unable to deliver on any of them. Most notably his raising of GST to 7% to “help the poor”. Instead we see more homeless and jobless people living in parks.
Since PM Lee took office, we have seen the highest intake of foreign workers in Singapore’s history. Official figures put our foreign population at 36%. Unlike Britain and Australia, we do not have a fair elections system to make our voices heard. So PM Lee can promise anything he wants without the need to fulfil them.
As Warren buffett says
‘First come the innovators, then come the imitators, then come the idiots’
singapore was imitating the immigration policy of usa but unfortunately they carried it to extremes and now this policy is becoming idiotic when any tom,dick and harry can get PR easily.
It cheapens the image of singapore,instead of a high class restaurant, we become a la carte buffet and attract the wrong ppl coming here.
Straits Times is not going to carry this news about Australia!
Next time when news cite how other countries practise FT policy, pls do not forget to cite Australia example.
A reader commented : “Here is the clue. A crude joke in Hong Kong Professional circle has this
- failed in London, try Hong Kong
- failed in Hong Kong, try Singapore
- failed in Singapore, try Dubai (Ooops, closed shop there already)
- failed in Dubai, try Shanghai!!!!
”
This is what i am afraid singapore to be attracting.
1. Top salaries is found usually overseas in Western countries.
Top talents will be invited there if they are top talents.
2. Open policies means many can easily come in.
3. Only when a person works and performs on the job can he have proven his Talent. Passing an Interview and writing impressive resumes cannot prove Talent.
4. While higher salary than 3rd worlds, singapore is not reputed to be paying the highest salaries for talents. Will top talents not choose Western countries ?
5. If like what our fellow reader suggested, what is there to stop ‘talens’ who failed in one country after another to try singapore ? Who or what can prevent these from infesting singapore? If you know, can you prove beyond reasonable doubt your claim?
I think enuf has been said.
Myanmar NOT WELCOME IN SG,
1) Over a quarter of Australia’s population was born overseas. This proportion – 25%, or 5.5 million people – is the highest recorded since Federation. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006 census and updated ABS data from June 2009.)
As at 31 December 2008, Australia’s population was 21,644,000, an increase of 406,100 people over the previous year. Net migration contributed to more than half of this growth at 62% or 253,400 people.
2) Australia’s jobless rate is higher than Singapore.
If Singapore has half the size of Australia, I say bring it on, lets get more talent to come over. We are not afraid of competition but damn it we are so small a country some say only a city how to take in so many people. The soil underneath us may also not even be able to sustain so many people.
Lets go slow before the island collapse under our weight.
Yet Singapore is admitting more foreigners. There is no excuse for their greed.
Just want all of the pests to clear off.
“2) Australia’s jobless rate is higher than Singapore.”
truth on Thu, 21st Jan 2010 11:45 pm
Australia’s unemployment rate at 5.5 per cent in December 2009 – ABS
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 14 January 2010
The Australian unemployment rate was at 5.5 per cent in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced today. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell 0.1 per cent, from the revised 5.6 per cent in November.
http://www.cnet.ngo.net.au/component/option,com_/Itemid,0/option,content/task,view/id,46210/
A report by the Manpower Ministry (MOM) has found that there’s been a spike in the resident labour force unemployment as of June this year.
Releasing the Singapore Workforce 2009 report today, MOM says there were 5.9 percent or 116,300 residents who were unemployed in June.
http://www.938live.sg/News/Business/EDC091130-0000159/Resident_labour_force_unemployment_at_5_9_in_June_amid_global_recession
You sure you got your fact correct or not. Are you ignorant or part of the internet brigade trying to mislead us.
Anyhow hantam.
3) A GST rate of 10% will be charged on most goods and services consumed in Australia.
4) On Census night in 2006, the homeless population in Australia was 105,000, according to an academic report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Counting the Homeless, 2006 (which includes data from the 2006 Census and other sources) found that absolute homelessness, such as sleeping out or in an improvised shelter, accounted for 16% of homelessness in Australia.
Singapore unemployment rate:
Sep 08 Dec 08 March 09 June 09 Sep 09
Seasonally adjusted
Overall (%) 2.3 2.5 3.3 3.3 3.4
Resident (%) 3.4 3.6 4.8 4.4 5.0
Non-seasonally adjusted
Overall (%) 1.9 2.4 3.0 4.1 2.9
Resident (%) 2.8 3.5 4.4 5.9 4.1
What the Aussie govt is embarking on is a noteworthy step towards a FAIRER employment/wage POLICY.
I hope that the greed of all rich corporate honchos would be STOPPED with such a policy and Australia’s success would be a case in point for other more developed countries.
UNDERCUTTING by workers from ‘POORER’ countries only serves to feed the greed of these rich business operators and their top executives who reward themselves eventually with the extras from the so-called cost savings derived from retrenching higher paid native workers.
No doubt,we should help our fellow human-beings and workers from poorer nations but every government owes its loyalty and obligations to its citizens.Besides,the unethical conduct of these foreign workers in abusing the loop-holes in the system in cahoots with prospective employers is morally unacceptable.
More developed countries can help the poorer developing countries in various other ways,not neccesarily by displacing their own citizens and giving jobs to these foreigners.
The educated and ‘TALENTS’ of these poorer nations should really apply their talents in one way or another to help build their own nations instead of causing problems for the workers of the host nations by their willingess to undercut host-coutry’s workers and rob them of their livelihood.
UNFAIR and UNJUST employment practice should not continue to be lauded or tolerated anymore.In fact,it’s a degradation and a shame to human and social development.
In fact,if CHINA is really ‘booming’,there shouldn’t be so many PRCs here taking on low-paid jobs or even prostitution.
The truth untold is that CHINA is to a great extent a culprit in this game of unfair wage competition by their unfair edge in supplying CHEAP LABOUR for the world.Some poorer asian neighbours are just imitating and the rest of us,including not a few of our ASEAN countries,are PAYING the price!
If we insist that this is FAIR GLOBAL COMPETITION,then,imho,there is no end.Workers from a lot of less populous countries would continue to be the losers for,in the end of it all,HOW CHEAP IS CHEAPER?
This is the link http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/speeches/2009/ce090914.htm to the speech where Senator Chris Evans announced the changes.
A stark contrast in the stance taken by a govt by the people for the people and that of a govt for itself.
What does these Aussies know, our Papaya leaders are so different they are the best money can buy and by we pay them really top bucks unlike those anywhere in the world including Australia so how can you compare ideas and decisions from these lowly paid people with our leaders.
@truth on Fri, 22nd Jan 2010 12:34 am
“3) A GST rate of 10% will be charged on most goods and services consumed in Australia”
True, but most foods are GST free. I usually pay no more than A$3-4 GST on a A$60 grocery shopping bill.
@ truth on Fri, 22nd Jan 2010 12:57 am
Australian unemployment higher than Singapore? Truth be told, the unemployment get social secuity payments, THEY ARE CAPTURED in statistics. Singaporeans unemployed is faded into the dark holes of unknown – some ekeing out a living in entrepreneurship, some selling insurance, some selling properties, some ekeing a living on the edges,- A LOT DON’T EVEN EARNING MORE THAN $600 A MONTH OF UNDER EMPLOYMENT, SO WHAT ARE YOU COMPARING??
TRUTH ALSO BE TOLD, Australia took into a lot of refugees with language problems and skill set non existent – these are semi-permanent unemployable WHATEVER THE ECONOMIC PROSPECTS PREVAILING.
SO WHAT ARE YOU COMPARING AGAIN??
A LARGE SECTOR OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY IS AGRICULTURE – big grain producing farmers, capital intensive business, how many migrants will move there and with the kind of seed capital to enter into wheat, barley, oats, sugar-cane farming etc??
Australia has got a BIG mining sector – capital intensive and technology specific. How many migrants got skills to enter this industry – NONE or take a generation to settle into it.
Despite agriculture and mining unavailable to migrants for specific reasons, new migrants compete with Australians in the urban employment opportunities – still Australia unemployment is only 5.5% or thereabout.
SINGAPORE TAKES IN THE LOWEST GRADE FOREIGNERS TO REPLACE SINGAPOREANS who has no agriculture or mining to go to
AGAIN WHAT ARE YOU COMPARING?
You don’t fool me, Mr. I was probably there before YOU were born
Singapore’s GST is expected to go up to 12 per cent after the next GE. Unless we vote for change.
8. There were 5.9% or 116,300 persons (non-seasonally adjusted) in the resident labour force who were unemployed in June 2009, significantly higher than 4.0% or 76,200 a year ago. The rise was felt across all occupations and industries. The unemployment rate increased over the year from 4.3% to 7.1% for production & related workers; sharper than the increase from 5.8% to 7.6% for clerical, sales & service workers; and 2.5% to 3.9% for professionals, managers, executives & technicians. Reflecting their higher incidence of layoffs, manufacturing saw a larger increase over the year in unemployment rate (from 3.8% to 6.4%) than construction (from 2.8% to 4.1%) and services (from 3.6% to 5.3%).
http://www.mom.gov.sg/Home/Pages/Press_Release/20091130-Singapore_Workforce__2009.html
Don’t forget the invisible jobless
By Sue-Ann Chia, Senior Political Correspondent
Wed, Dec 30, 2009
The Straits Times
….The actual proportion of people unemployed in any economy in any given period has always been notoriously difficult to pin down. This is in part because the unemployment rate is calculated based only on what is called the number of ‘economically active’.
The ‘economically active’ refers to those who are actively working, or available for work and in search of work.
Two groups are left out from the calculation: One, individuals who have deferred job hunting to attend courses; and two, ‘discouraged workers’ who have stopped searching for work believing that it will be in vain……”
http://www.asiaone.com/Business/Office/Learn/Job%2BHunting/Story/A1Story20091228-188455.html
It why thousands of Singaporeans are always encouraged to go for courses during a recession. It makes the unemployment figure look good.
Dec 21, 2009
Spurs helps thousands
By Kor Kian Beng, Political Correspondent
THE half-time score for the two-year Spur training scheme has exceeded expectations.
A total of 264,000 workers, including out-of-work people, have attended its courses since the Government set up the $650 million scheme last December……..
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_469106.html
Does this mean that these 264 workers were not included in the unemployment figures because they were attending SPUR?
`There are no homeless, destitute or starving people ..Poverty has been eradicated`
Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore’s permanent representative to the UN
No wonder they can give two block of flats in Toa Payoh to the foreigners. There are no homeless in Singapore.
@ SoS(sons of singapore) on Fri, 22nd Jan 2010 3:02 am
IT IS A RACE TO THE BOTTOM. For every Singaporean working, there is a cheaper Chinese or Indian. The Government mismanagement the economy for 45 years depending solely on export-oriented but foreign owned investment. When export sector dried up, flooded this place with populations to create a semblance of domestic economy with cheap labour flushing out all ANAK SINGAPURA knwoing that this also unlikely to succeed. But in the short term lift GDP figure and giving the fortune-tellers and magicians big paychecks.
Singaporeans are the slaves sold in the market just like “ROOTS” slavery in American history because incompetent slave-owners run this place to the halt of economic near collapse, prop up only by an artificially generated bubble of housing sector ( BRING IN A BIGGER AND BIGGER FLOOD OF LOWEST QUALITY MIGRANTS BUT DON’T INCREASE HOUSING CONSTRUCTION – VERY EASY)
If gahmen’s got nothing to hide, why does the stats of unemployment rate always have to group S’greans & PRs into “RESIDENTS”? Come on! Give us the exact figure of S’POREANS who are jobless!
Change of political party is needed.
Vote PAP OUT !!!!!!!!!
Vote PAP OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VOTE PAP OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@liar’s poker on Fri, 22nd Jan 2010 8:46 am
Well say!
@Advance Australia Fair on Fri, 22nd Jan 2010 7:34 am
Fair dinkum!
@citizenofSG on Thu, 21st Jan 2010 8:44 pm
You hit the nail right on the head!
@ Advance Australia Fair on Fri, 22nd Jan 2010 7:34 am
Rent is also GST free.
And interest on borrowings on all investment mortgage payment are tax deductible ( a BIG ITEM) , so even the reasonably wealthy with investment property get a LOT MORE THAN THEIR GST PAID new car purchase, vacations, restaurant meals ( how frequent are these???).
I been there regularly. Check your Aussie mates, if you must, to find out the truth.
liar’s poker on Fri, 22nd Jan 2010 11:47 am
Yes indeed! And a real worklife balance too!
To all PRs reading these,
Just because some traitors in our country let you people flood in to service their greed DOES NOT mean the rest of us endorse it.
Pack your bags and get ready. Soon you will be leaving.
Regards
@liar’s poker @ 8.46 AM
thanks for expanding the issues.
hope singaporeans wake up and push forward for a better brighter tomorrow for themselves and their children.
@SoS JAN 22 210 @ 3.02 AM
Agreed.You highlighted some valid points.
I hope that wealth/income IS MORE EVNLY distributed.
Workers must unite or else it will spell more doom for them.
cheers!
Australian governors are guardian angels.
Australian governors provide their guardees with:
1. FREE education
2. FREE medical benefits
3. Unemployment allowance for every family member
4. High bank deposit interest rates for retirees’ wellbeing
5. Cheap FREEHOLD landed housing for family wellbeing
6. Cheap land for self-farming
7. Low prices for High Quality fruits and food
8. Good Air Quality for good Health
I am going to AUSTRALIA……..
It looks like everyone is getting info and is leaving. Plse lah don’t leave us behind …..
If you want to go….go quietly or else kena fishhead bashing ot chilli crab bashing instead of curry bashing!!!
Is it because our “elite” policy makers went thru the below and truely now exhibiting idiocy levels of decision making…and what is worse, their kids too will be going thru the same “elite” education system…and they may easily become the new “elite” policy makers and leaders of singapore…
http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-elite-education/
After reading the above article…
Instead of truely questioning original innovative and passionate independent thinkers/makers thru such a “elite” system…the peoples of singapore and many other countries are all getting this kinds of elite folks in charge of them in the future.
I truely shudder at the future of us all.
@truhuman 2 4.03 pm
wish you blue skies and everything nice!
do leave your contact with TR if you go there.
just wondering what would it be like if all good singaporeans
leave this place and leave the PAPies alone with their ‘PUPPY LOVE’?
will they find faults with these new ‘CITIZENS’?
Then,let’s see whether these ‘NEW’ citzens talk the same way as they do now on this blog?
It just so happen that these miw spolit brats got to fidn fault soemhow or other?
March 16, 2009
Foreigners got 7 in 10 new jobs
By Jeremy Au Yong, Political Correspondent
FOREIGNERS got the lion’s share of jobs created last year, but nearly all of these were in the construction and service sectors.
The latest official figures showed a record 156,900 of them joined the workforce, soaking up seven in 10 of the new jobs.
The remaining 64,700 new jobs went to Singaporeans and permanent residents.
These new numbers are derived from the labour market report for 2008 released by the Manpower Ministry yesterday.
While the stark difference in the share of new jobs may raise eyebrows, analysts say it does not indicate that locals were losing out.
They noted that most of the jobs taken by foreigners were shunned by locals.
Economist Choy Keen Meng of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) said: ‘I wouldn’t say that locals have been sidelined; it’s just that most of the new jobs created are in construction and low-skilled service industries.
‘So they naturally went to cheaper foreign workers.’
Labour MP Halimah Yacob agreed: ‘If you boil it down to the sectors, you will see they are working in jobs like construction, where it is not easy to attract locals.’
All in, a total of 221,600 jobs were created last year. But most came onstream at the start of 2008, before recession in the second half brought the carnage towards the end.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_350898.html
truth on Thu, 21st Jan 2010 11:45 pm, is this the case with Australia or any other country for that matter.
Time for Change is now.
Vote for Change or perish.
@sturmtruppen
That was a fascinating article that you shared. Thank you.
@Time for Change on Fri, 22nd Jan 2010 8:30 pm
221,600 new jobs is about 11% of resident labor force. Is this the case with Australia or any other country for creating this percentage of new job positions within half year? And is Singapore able to provide this amount of manpower?
interesting comment by “liar’s poker” about Singapore taking in sub-standard foreign workers because the govt failed to implement minimum-wages or some foreign worker control policy BEFORE our competitors did.
I think the govt’s previous efforts to build a Singapore Tribe has failed or taken the back seat when they decided to use foreigners and new-PRs to get favorable statistics in employment rate and GDP.
GDP grows with population size because foreign companies have to pay these workers. That may be a trick there PAP is using. I won’t be surprised that highly-paid foreigners would get their PR status quickly.
Govt may term that as ‘meritocracy’. Having a high pay in Singapore as a foreigner is an express ticket to quick PR status. It could explain why resale HDB flats are in high demand, it could explain why there are more cars on the roads and it could explain why Singapore’s citizen unemployment rate is strangely low.
Anyone rich and daring enough to obtain such data for some hypothesis testing?
There is no comparison between an efficient, people caring Australian govt and a totally incompetent Singapore Govt.
S-pass foreigner must earn S$2,500 per month, right???
How come convicted criminals of masseuse and cleaners got PR??
I don’t think cleaners earn more than $2,500 per month but massuese could be a lot more given “special services” income.
The danger is that many foreigners will come in and provide “special services” thereby shooting pass the qualifying benchmark of $2,500 or higher and gain entry as Permanent Residents.
But even then, compared these wage levels qualifying for S-Pass, PEP, Employment Pass or PRs, they are still very very much lower than those qualifying for 4 year temporary 457 Visa in Australia of Singapore equivalent of $9,160 per month.
WE, ON THOSE COMPARATIVE NUMBERS, MUST REALLY BE SCRAPPING THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL AND SELF-INDULGENT OF THESE FOREIGNERS AS ‘FOREIGN TALENT”. Or is it NOT??
You dont like go vote against PAP in the GRC system. Opposition 100% sure lose in our democratic and multi-racial country. GRC great system to ensure forever power and control. Why no country in the world have such a system except Singapore and why Singaporeans are so easily fooled and endorsed this election after election. You Singaporeans asked for it.
The minimum salary level to qualify for the temporary business stay 457 visa is not approximately SGD9160. We must get our facts right because there will be those who will actually believe and quote from you.
Of course, the message remains, that our minimum salary level of 30K/yr is more a wage compression than skilled entry device.
Source:
http://www.migration.nt.gov.au/news6a4b.html?ContentID=65
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The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans on Friday 23 May 2008ﾠannounced that Minimum Salary Levels (MSLs) for temporary skilled overseas workers will increase by 3.8 per cent from 1 August 2008.ﾠ This increase will apply to new temporary skilled migrants coming to work in Australia on a Temporary Entry Long Stay Business Visa (subclass 457) as well as those already in the workforce who currently hold a Temporary Entry Long Stay Business Visa (subclass 457) who are subject to an MSL.
The change will increase the current standard MSL from $41,850 to $43,440 per annum. For ICT professionals, the MSL will rise to $59,480 from $57,300.
In regional areas, the MSL will rise to $39,100 (from $37,665) and $53,530 (from $51,570) for ICT professionals.
If an industrial instrument, such as an award or agreement, prescribes a level of salary that is higher than the MSL, then this is the salary that must be paid under Australian law.
Basically, they have run out of ideas to grow the economy and have resorted to doing two things that they had earlier said they would never do.
Open casinos here and flood this island with cheap foreign labour.
Any incompetent leader can create thousands of jobs by promising foreign investors that they will be able to get cheap foreign labour in their country.
Which country in the world has brought in cheap foreing labour equalling 100 per cent of its population in 4 or 5 years?
Even New Zealand could create a million jobs in one year if it brought in cheap foreign labour from overseas to attract low cost, low value, labour intensive industries.
We need capable leaders who can grow this country without resorting to bringing in cheap foreign labour.
We need alternative voices in parliament.
Vote for Change.
@truth
You want to run down Australia? Don’t make me laugh. There is simply no comparison.
Australia is one of the very few countries that did not experience a technical recession during the GFC.
What would you know about a country you obviously have no experience of. Better that you stay in Singapore and continue to post your “truth”.
Nowhere in the world except in Singapore where the fortunes of the people is in inverse relationship to that of the state. When the state is doing well, it does not mean the people are also well too. In fact, the very opposite is true as we have been witnessing these past several years including this.
We have the leadership warning about not taking it easy when PRICES OF PROPERTY ARE GOING UP. WHICH AVERAGE SINGAPOREAN SHOULD BE HAPPY WHEN THAT THE COST OF A ROOF OVER HIS HEAD ESCALATES?