New plan to relieve hotel labour crunch

Straits Times, Published on Sep 29, 2012

By Jessica Lim

 

WORK permit holders working in hotels may now hold up to three positions at the same hotel in a government move to relieve labour shortages in the hospitality industry.

The Ministry of Manpower yesterday announced its Job Flexibility for Productivity plan, a pilot initiative aimed at helping hotels and hostels.

Businesses that want to participate in the programme may apply to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) from Monday.

"Hotels can optimise the use of their workforce by deploying their existing workers to perform more functions, instead of hiring more foreign workers," said Mr Lee Ark Boon, the ministry's divisional director of manpower planning and policy.

"The expected productivity improvements should contribute positively to their bottom lines."

Currently, a work permit holder can perform only tasks specific to the position he or she was hired to do. It is illegal, for example, for one hired as a cleaner to work as a receptionist as well.

Under the new initiative, however, approved businesses may deploy such workers to a maximum of two other jobs in the same company for two years.

Singaporean workers can already rotate between roles.

The programme, which the ministry and STB will review over the next two years, is one answer to the hospitality industry's struggle to recruit and retain workers.

Because it relies largely on foreign labour, the sector has been hit hard ever since the Government made it more difficult for employers to hire foreigners.

There are more than 300 hotels and hostels licensed by the Hotel Licensing Board here. Since July 1, the proportion of work permit and S Pass holders allowed to work in each firm in the services sector has been cut from 50 per cent to 45 per cent.

The Singapore Hotel Association's executive director Margaret Heng said yesterday the move would "help hoteliers manage their resources more effectively".

Mr Kevin Bossino, the regional manager for Accor Singapore, a hotel chain, called it a "positive change".

The group will consider applying for the programme, he added.

The ministry said successful applicants must continue to comply with the Employment Act, which states, among other things, that staff cannot be asked to work more than 12 hours a day.

Employees must also be trained, and paid a fair wage for the extra work.

Royal Plaza office staff help out in the cleaning

Hotel rolls out initiative as labour crunch in housekeeping turns dire

Straits Times, Published on Sep 29, 2012

By Yasmine Yahya

 

Royal Plaza on Scotts general manager Patrick Fiat leading by example in vacuuming a meeting room. Amid a labour shortage, the five-star business hotel in the heart of Orchard Road has asked its back-office staff to clean their own workspaces so the housekeeping department can focus solely on guest rooms and public areas. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

MANY companies complain about difficulty in finding local workers for service-related jobs, but perhaps nowhere is the crisis more evident than at the posh Royal Plaza on Scotts, where even top executives sometimes wield a toilet brush and a vacuum cleaner.

The five-star business hotel in the heart of Orchard Road has asked its back-office staff to clean their own workspaces so the housekeeping department can focus solely on guest rooms and public areas.
The 78 staff in departments such as sales, marketing, human resources and information technology now take turns to vacuum their own offices, empty wastepaper baskets and even clean the office toilets - for no extra pay.

Managers, including general manager Patrick Fiat, are not exempt.

The initiative began two months ago as the labour crunch in housekeeping became dire, he said.
"The guest rooms are supposed to be ready for check-in at noon, but sometimes guests have to wait until 4pm or 5pm. This happens maybe five or six times a week."

The hotel now employs 15 per cent fewer staff than it has budgeted for.

"The worst-affected department is housekeeping, where we have enough staff now for an average occupancy of 70 per cent, but we are running at around 90 per cent occupancy on average," Mr Fiat said.

The labour shortage is a result of two factors - a sharp increase in the number of hotels here and the Government's move to tighten the supply of foreign labour.

Royal Plaza participates in job fairs and holds recruitment drives targeted at locals every two to three months, but it is hard to get Singaporeans to take up housekeeping jobs.

Its latest local hire in housekeeping took seven months to find and recruit.

The crunch is so bad that managers have had to call on staff from the engineering, security and front-office departments to help with housekeeping.

They do simple things that do not require training, such as stripping away bed linen, clearing rubbish and putting fresh towels in the bathrooms.

In his 16 years of working at Royal Plaza, engineering supervisor Chua Boon Kin had never had to do such tasks until last month, when he was asked to help redo more than 10 guest rooms.

"I am happy to help out. I've worked here so long and it takes only about five minutes for each room," said the 51-year-old.

While the housekeeping team was complaining about its workload, the back-office staff were starting to murmur that their offices were not being cleaned regularly.

Mr Fiat said he put two and two together and one morning called a meeting of the office staff and presented them with vacuum cleaners.

The move was not about cutting costs, he insisted.

The hotel could have hired external contractors to do the office cleaning, but this would have been "an easy way out", he said.

"To me, it was more to send a message that we are all together in the same boat and we have to help one another.

"There's no point complaining or moaning, let's work together."

Associate sales director Josephine Lim, 35, said the 14 people in her office have a "buddy" system where they are grouped in pairs and take turns to vacuum the floor and clean the pantry each week.
This means each person does these tasks only once every seven weeks.

"We take turns bringing home the cleaning rags from the pantry to wash and bring them back after the weekend," she said.

The regular cleaning sessions have turned out to be quite a good bonding experience, she added.

"All the sales staff tend to go out for meetings most of the time so we barely see one another, but now I've found out, for example, that my buddy likes fishing, which I never knew."

Background story

BONDING WITH COLLEAGUES
'All the sales staff tend to go out for meetings most of the time so we barely see one another, but now I've found out, for example, that my buddy likes fishing, which I never knew.'
- Associate sales director Josephine Lim, 35, on how the regular cleaning sessions have turned out to be a good bonding experience
 

Population rises to 5.31 million

Most of increase stems from 100,000 foreigners entering over the past year

Straits Times, Published on Sep 29, 2012

By Janice Heng

The total population in Singapore hit 5.31 million at the end of June, up from 5.18 million a year ago, according to the Government's annual Population in Brief report released on Friday morning. -- ST PHOTO: RAJENDRAN NADARAJAN

The total population in Singapore hit 5.31 million at the end of June, up from 5.18 million a year ago, according to the Government's annual Population in Brief report released on Friday morning.

The citizen population grew to 3.29 million, up from 3.26 million in June 2011, while the number of permanent residents (PR) stayed fairly stable at 0.53 million.

The biggest jump was in non-residents, which include foreign workers, their dependents, and foreign students. There were 1.49 million non-residents in June, up from 1.39 million a year before.

The report said this 7.2 per cent rise was "due to strong manpower demand in a tight domestic labour environment".

The number of new citizens and PRs, however, continued to fall.

In 2011, 15,777 people were granted citizenship, and 27,251 were given permanent residence.

This is down from the 18,758 new citizens and 29,265 new PRs in 2010. The numbers have been falling since 2008.

The report is produced by the National Population and Talent Division, the Singapore Department of Statistics, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

Foreign workers and the voice of business

Straits Times, Published on Sep 28, 2012
By Janice Heng

Businesses in Singapore have been feeling the impact of the tightened flow of foreign workers. The shortage will bite deeper, given the Government's plans to build more infrastructure, which will add to demand for more workers. -- ST FILE PHOTO

THE Ministry of Trade and Industry's (MTI) Occasional Paper on Population and Economy, released on Tuesday, seemed slightly out of character for the economic agency.

That is because the 23-page paper, which looks at the interplay between economic growth and foreign workers, was curiously light on fresh data analysis.

In contrast, an MTI article released in May was built around an econometric model and a data set covering thousands of firms. Researchers crunched the numbers to figure out if foreign firms in Singapore's manufacturing sector led to "productivity spillovers" in local firms. (Conclusion: No clear productivity impact.)

Another released in February breaks down the link between productivity and wages via a mathematical equation.

Compared with them, Tuesday's paper shed no new light on the current public debate on labour shortages and foreign workers, economists noted. "I expected them to give some sort of projection," said DBS economist Irvin Seah.

Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang has said, however, that the paper's aim is relatively modest. That is to merely to lay out the facts and explain to Singaporeans "the trade-offs between population and the economy".

To recap, the paper gets its starting point from the two main components of economic growth: growth in labour force, and productivity.

Singapore is already working on raising productivity growth, but it is labour force growth that poses a bigger challenge. The country's labour force participation rates are already very high and the population is ageing.

This is why foreign workers are needed to complement the labour pool, argues MTI. If Singaporeans decide against the import of foreign labour, they will have to contend with lower growth, which means lower real wages for workers. It will also mean costlier public services like health care, which will be hit by a shortage of labour.

Singaporeans have to choose which outcome they prefer, the paper suggests.

But since it didn't include robust analysis on real wage projections, or have data showing how slower growth would result in higher health-care prices, the paper came across less like economic analysis and more like an essay stating a point of view.

Perhaps the right way to view the paper, therefore, is to understand the context in which it is released.
The country is engaged in a wholesale review of public policy as it tries to figure out what sort of future it wants to have.

The issue of foreign labour has become particularly fraught in the last two years, with debate becoming politicised and dominated by the voices of those who oppose higher levels of inflows.

This might of course be a pushback from those who felt the last decade's pro-immigration and pro-foreign labour policies have gone too far in favouring business interests, leaving citizens to suffer the social impact of overcrowding and stiff job competition.

But there is every danger of the debate moving to the other extreme to ignore economic concerns. This prompted former Straits Times editor Leslie Fong to make a call in these pages for employers to speak up on the impact of a dwindling foreign labour force.

Seen in that light, the MTI paper provided a welcome balance in reiterating the economic imperative for foreign workers.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry is, after all, the champion of, well, trade and industry, and the ministry most seized by the need to spur growth.

There is thus merit in the ministry being open about taking a pro-business stance, and framing its paper as the economic case for continued, controlled foreign worker inflows. This is more candid than positioning the paper as a neutral background paper or mere "explanation" of trade-offs.

Businesses are already feeling the impact of a tightened flow of foreign workers. The shortage will bite deeper, given the Government's plans to build more train lines, flats, hospitals, nursing homes and eldercare centres, all of which will add to demand for more workers.

The MTI paper can thus be seen as the voice of business. Does this then mean the Government is too pro-business?

Here, it is important to understand that the Government consists of 15 ministries, each of which can be expected to have its own views and concerns on an issue, even as they all work for the good of the whole.

In a National Conversation meant for many voices, there might also be room for varied concerns within the Government itself.

As Second Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran told reporters on Wednesday night, MTI is not "being prescriptive" about the population issue. "At the end of the day, it is a choice we have to make collectively, try and build a consensus around the path that we think is most suitable for Singapore looking ahead," he said.

Ultimately, a decision must be reached at the highest levels of government, in concert with the people, about the future of Singapore, including the foreign worker issue.

And MTI's paper is part of an engagement process that ensures all voices are heard.

S'pore's population increases to 5.31 million

From Yahoo News

By Melissa Law | Yahoo! Newsroom – 1 hour 17 minutes ago

• 
  Singapore's total population increased by 2.5 per cent between 2011 and 2012, despite a low birth rate of 1.2 live births per female. (AFP file photo)

Singapore added a little over 128,000 people over the year up to June this year.

In the latest annual Population Trends publication by the Singapore Department of Statistics, the country’s total population reached 5.31 million at end-June, 2.5 per cent more than the figure a year ago.

The number of Singapore citizens grew by close to 28,000 to 3.29 million over the one-year period.

That of permanent residents (PRs) was up by a little over 1,000 to 533,100 over the period. This was a minimal increase versus the 1.7 per cent contraction the year before.

 
Key population statistics from Population Trends 2012. (Screengrab from report)

The non-resident population grew 7.2 per cent to 1.49 million in the reference period, according to the report.

Non-Singaporeans now make up a total of 38.2 per cent of the country’s total population.

Last year, the DOS reported a low total fertility rate of 1.2 live births per female – far below the 2.1 needed for replacement.

New move to allow hotel workers to work multiple roles

Straits Times, Published on Sep 28, 2012
By Jessica Lim

A file photo of a hotel operations specialist at the Grand Park Orchard Hotel. Foreign Work Permit holders now have the choice to work across different roles within the same hotel or hostel. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI

Foreign Work Permit holders now have the choice to work across different roles within the same hotel or hostel.

Currently, they can only stick to one role - the one stated on their work permit cards - while Singaporean workers could always rotate between roles.

The change arose from a new pilot programme, called the Job Flexibility for Productivity, announced on Friday by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Minister of Manpower (MOM).

There are presently more than 300 licensed hotels and hostels in Singapore. These hotels are licensed by the Hotel Licensing Board.

"Hotels can optimise the use of their current workforce by deploying their existing workers to perform more functions, instead of hiring more foreign workers," said Mr Lee Ark Boon, the divisional director of Manpower Planning and Policy at MOM. "The expected productivity improvements should contribute positively to their bottom lines."

The Ministry, which encouraged all licensed hotels to take part in the programme, said that opportunities to multi-task should also be offered to both local and foreign workers.

Those who want to participate can apply to do so with the STB from Oct 1.

Once an application is approved, the participating business can deploy its employees to a maximum of two other job functions within the same establishment for two years.

This could mean that restaurant staff could be deployed to work as a receptionist during down-time. Benefits include reducing a hotel's reliance on foreign workers, and in the longer term, improve productivity and raise wages.

The Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) welcomed the move. SHA executive director Margaret Heng, said that this will help hoteliers manage their resources more effectively.

Putting the squeeze on errant bosses

MOM and CPF increase efforts to ensure compliance with employment regulations

by Wong Wei Han

TODAY, Sep 28, 2012

 

SINGAPORE - The authorities are intensifying the clampdown on employers who flout employment laws, with a ten-fold increase in the number of inspections - from 500 to 5,000 - starting in November.

These intensified inspections will first target the food and beverage, retail, security and cleaning sectors, where issues of non-compliance with the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Act and the Employment Act are more common.

The goal is to help "employees, particularly more vulnerable groups like low-wage workers, enjoy their basic employment rights under the law," according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and CPF Board yesterday.

The inspections will focus on ensuring payment of CPF contributions, on-time salary payment, provision of paid annual and medical leave, and adherence to working hour requirements, among others.

The enhanced efforts by the authorities complement the WorkRight initiative announced earlier this year, which couples enforcement with education efforts.

A campaign called I Know My Employment Rights, I Do It Right will be rolled out tomorrow with the aim of educating employers and employees on their rights and obligations under the CPF Act and Employment Act.

Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin highlighted the WorkRight initiative on the Manpower Blog yesterday as a means "to ensure that workers are not underpaid for their contributions at work and enjoy their employment rights".

"While most employers are responsible, there are some who continue to flout the law, hoping to benefit from short-term gains. MOM and CPF are therefore ramping up inspections, audits and promotional outreach activities (under the campaign)," said Mr Tan.

The latest measures follow a pledge by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in his May Day Message in April, in which he said that the MOM would step up awareness and enforcement efforts to ensure compliance with employment laws and support lower-wage workers, amid persistently high numbers of cases of non-compliance.

According to data from the CPF Board released in April, audits and investigations completed last year had recovered a total of S$9.5 million of CPF arrears for about 10,000 employees in around 3,700 companies.

About 70 per cent of these errant employers had underpaid CPF contributions, and the rest did not contribute at all.

In 2010, about S$9.5 million in CPF arrears was recovered for some 6,000 workers employed by about 2,600 companies.

An MOM spokesperson told TODAY that 50 employers were convicted last year for non-payment and underpayment of CPF contributions, while 26 employers were convicted of Employment Act offences, of which 22 were for salary-related offences.

Singapore Will Take in Foreigners at Comfortable Pace, Lee Says

From Bloomberg

By Sharon Chen - Sep 27, 2012 12:00 AM GMT+0800

Singapore will continue to take in foreigners even as citizens complain about overcrowding and increased competition for jobs, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said.

“We have slowed down the intake of foreigners but we will continue taking in foreigners at a pace” that citizens “find comfortable,” Lee, 89, said at a conference in Singapore yesterday.

Singapore, which occupies an area about half the size of Houston, has added about 1 million people since the beginning of 2005 as the government allowed more immigration to make up for a declining birth rate. The influx contributed to crowded transportation and more competition for jobs, housing and places in schools, fueling voter anger that led to the ruling party’s smallest electoral win last year since independence in 1965.

Foreigners and permanent residents make up more than a third of the island’s 5.2 million population, and of the 122,600 jobs created in Singapore last year, about 70 percent went to workers from overseas. The city’s fertility rate of 1.2 children per woman is too low, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Kuan Yew’s elder son, said last month.

“We are in a particularly perilous position,” said the elder Lee, referring to the country’s population.

“If we are not taking in migrants, immigrants, from China and from the region, we will be a diminishing and aging population.”

Squeezed Out

Singapore rejected more foreigner job permit applications and renewed fewer existing ones in the first seven months of 2012, Tan Chuan-Jin, acting minister for manpower, said in Parliament on Sept. 11.

It also granted fewer permanent resident permits on average in 2010 compared with the annual rate from 2004 to 2008, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said in a written reply to a parliamentary question this month.

The government has made it more expensive for companies to hire overseas workers by raising levies, and in the past year, it has increased salary thresholds and required better educational qualifications for some categories of foreigners.

“We have many complaints from our own citizens who see a large number of foreign faces on trains and buses and they say look, I am being squeezed out of my country,” the former prime minister said yesterday. Still, “we are short of workers,” he said.

Maid biodata rule unfair to agencies, hard to carry out

Straits Times, Forum, Published on Sep 27, 2012

 

IT IS commendable that the Ministry of Manpower standardised maids' biodata for the agents ("Govt right in standardising maids' biodata" by Mrs Julianna Guizard; last Thursday). However, it is not pragmatic to have it included as one of the maid agent's licensing conditions.

Take the incident of her previous maid committing theft, as cited by Mrs Guizard. To deter the rogue agent from deceiving other unsuspecting potential employers, she should have filed a police report so that appropriate action would be taken against her former maid, which would lead to her eventual repatriation and blacklisting by the ministry.

Every industry will have unscrupulous practitioners. But does the Government insist that employment agencies guarantee the worth of the applicants?

While due diligence is expected to be exercised by the agencies on the accuracy of biodata, they cannot be held liable for inaccuracies in the maids' personal information or the assessments done by overseas recruitment agents and even testimonials. Even the Singapore immigration authorities are unable to check personal particulars such as age and marital status.

Harsher fines and stricter controls are already in place to deter errant agents. Imposing an unrealistic rule would only lead to the end of the industry, as there is no way to verify the accuracy of biodata even if employers pay agencies higher processing fees.

Similarly, the ministry's mandatory ruling requiring that employers be made liable for the maids' repatriation expenses, even if the latter have committed serious offences such as abusing young children or misconduct, discourages people from hiring maids.

Maid policies should not be of the one-size-fits-all variety. Due consideration must be given to special and exceptional cases, especially when the maids are deemed to be at fault and go missing; it is only fair that the employers' security bonds should not be forfeited.

Alice Cheah (Ms)
Managing Director
Caregivers Centre

Maid stipend to be given to employers from Nov

51 applications approved to help those with elderly, disabled members

Straits Times, Published on Sep 27, 2012

By Amelia Tan

 

Dementia patient Abdul Rahim Karim, 86, who is cared for by maid Ponitriana (left), 33, lives with his wife Azuzah Mohd Hanp, 79, daughter Roziah, 52, and granddaughter Nabilah, nine. He is among 51 successful applicants for the $120 monthly stipend. Over 330 applications were filed, but many did not come with the necessary documents. -- ST PHOTO: RAJ NADARAJAN

FROM November, the first batch of 51 employers will receive a government grant to help them offset the costs of hiring a maid to take care of frail, elderly or disabled family members.

The monthly stipend of $120 comes from the Foreign Domestic Worker Grant, which is expected to cost $25 million over the next five years. Eventually, more than 6,000 middle- and low-income families are expected to benefit from the grant.

Employers generally pay their maids a monthly salary of $400 to $450, as well as a monthly levy of $265 to the Government.

Households with family members above 65 years old now pay a discounted levy of $170. The new grant is given on top of this monthly concession.

Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports Halimah Yacob said yesterday that more than 330 applications have been filed since Aug 7, when applications for the grant opened.

But only 51 applications were approved as the rest were incomplete and did not come with the necessary documents, she added.

To qualify, households must have a per capita monthly income of $2,200 or less.

The elderly or disabled family member, after being assessed by a doctor, must be someone who requires help when taking a shower or moving around, for example.

This person must also be living with the applicant, and the maid who is employed must have attended training approved by the Centre for Enabled Living.

Applicants must provide the necessary documents to prove that these criteria have been met.

Madam Halimah said it is important that applicants fulfil these conditions when they submit their applications, so these can be quickly approved and grants given.

More than 4,000 people have made inquiries on the grant through e-mail and phone.

Madam Halimah was speaking to reporters before visiting the home of one successful applicant, Mr Abdul Rahim Karim, 86, who has dementia.

Mr Rahim, who has had two strokes, lives with his wife, daughter and granddaughter in a four-room flat in Balam Road in MacPherson. An Indonesian maid takes care of him.

His daughter, bank officer Roziah Abdul Rahim, 52, is the sole breadwinner of the family.

She spends close to $1,000 every month to employ the maid and pay for the medical bills of her parents. Her mother has arthritis and has difficulty walking.

Ms Roziah said: "The costs add up. I am thankful for all the help I can get."

Madam Halimah also announced that eldercare facilities and services supported by the ministry will be given new and simpler names to help families understand them better.

The integrated day facilities, for example, will now be known as senior care centres.

These centres provide basic day care as well as rehabilitation and care for dementia patients.

The Ensuite Social Home Care - a service that allows the elderly to be cared for by a care worker trained to provide a range of services, from basic nursing care to therapy activities - will be renamed Senior Home Care.

Seniors activity centres and seniors service centres will be renamed senior activity centres. These are mostly located in rental flats and studio apartments and are where the elderly can take part in recreational activities.

 

Baby-making ideas tossed up at dialogue

One participant asks for financial help for couples who have trouble conceiving

Straits Times, Published on Sep 27, 2012

By Phua Mei Pin

Mr Iswaran (left) and Mr Tan interacting with participants at the dialogue on population last night. Only one participant at the session, which lasted more than an hour, raised an issue related to the economy. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

ONE man asked for more financial help for couples who have trouble conceiving. A social worker suggested that more resources and support be made available to those wanting to adopt children.

And one young man jokingly suggested that all single MPs get married before the next general election, to set a good example.

From light-hearted to serious, many ideas were thrown up by participants at a dialogue on population last night, with most fixed firmly on one goal: to get Singaporeans in the family way.

Although the organisers had intended for the session to discuss the economic implications of Singapore's ageing population and shrinking labour force, most of the 100 or so participants were more interested in coming up with ideas to encourage Singaporeans to start families.

The session, which lasted more than an hour, was held by the National Population and Talent Division as part of a series of dialogues to get people to talk about what Singapore's population strategy should be.

Attending the dialogue were Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran and Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin.

A 26-year-old woman said she was single not because she did not want to start a family, but because she needed to build her career first, to ensure a minimal standard for her future family.

A mother said that by the time her 20-year-old daughter was done with school and comfortable with her career, her daughter would probably be past her child-bearing years.

To sympathetic looks and nods around the room, she confessed: "I really have no clue how to solve this."

The young man drew laughter when he said: "Last year's GE, we saw quite a lot of MPs who are singles. I think it would be good if they set an example and get married in the next five years." To which Mr Iswaran said: "Don't look at us! We're both married with kids."

Only one participant raised an issue related to the economy, and it was to point out the pressures that small and medium enterprises faced after the Government tightened the tap on foreign manpower.

Responding, Mr Tan said he understood their concerns, but added: "One of the big steps that we feel companies can do is to wean ourselves off the access to a fairly free-flowing inflow of labour from before, to one that's a tighter labour market."

Both he and Mr Iswaran also tried to highlight the interplay between personal choices and the larger economic considerations of foreign manpower, unemployment and slower growth.

Mr Iswaran acknowledged that Singaporeans need to have a fundamental conversation about their values and families, and that some would choose to emphasise careers while others would prefer to focus on their families. But he also reminded the group that they would only have such options in a lively economy.

"We should not leave these discussions with the presumption that somehow, Singapore's economic future is a certainty," he said.

"The fact of the matter is, it will have a profound impact on the way we live our lives in the future."

***

Background story

Consider 'not so palatable' facts in foreign worker debate too: Minister
WHILE the population debate is an emotive one, Second Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran yesterday urged Singaporeans to consider the implications of their choices as they joined the conversation on the issue.

Even as he acknowledged people's concerns about the influx of new immigrants and foreign workers, he stressed the need for an "honest conversation" that took into account the facts.

That was why, he told reporters last night, his ministry released a paper this week laying out the implications of cutting the inflow of foreign workers.

It warned of limits to the growth of the local workforce and its impact on the economy, while also highlighting the potential fallout from an overly liberal foreign worker policy.

Said Mr Iswaran: "Now that does not mean that we are being prescriptive about it because, at the end of the day, it is a choice we have to make collectively, to try and build a consensus around the path that we think is most suitable for Singapore.

"But it's important... we take into account these sorts of facts, and some of these facts may not be so palatable. But it's important we all hear them and digest them, and factor them into our own thinking."

The minister also made these points to dialogue participants.

Singapore, he indicated, needed to take a calibrated approach to population and economic policies so that they were sustainable.

For instance, striving for high growth would stress the country's resources, while low rates of growth would mean less opportunity and therefore require redistribution.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Trade and Industry put up answers to frequently asked questions on the issue at its website:
www.mti.gov.sg/MTIInsights/Pages/MTI-Occasional-Paper-on-Population-and-...

MOM & CPF Board to boost enforcement inspections by 10-fold

TODAY, 04:08 PM Sep 27, 2012

 

SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board will increase their joint enforcement inspections on employers by ten-fold from this November.

The increase from 500 to 5,000 inspections a year is meant to improve compliance with the CPF Act and Employment Act so that employees may enjoy their basic employment rights.

This is particularly so with more vulnerable groups like low-wage workers.

Areas of focus include payment of CPF contributions, on-time payment of salary, provision of paid annual and medical leave, and working-hour requirements.

Greater attention will also be placed on industries where the number of cases of non-compliance with the CPF Act and the Employment Act tend to be higher.

These include the food and beverage, retail, security and cleaning industries.

In a joint statement today, MOM and CPF Board say they will complement enforcement with education.

Through the "I Know My Employment Rights, I Do It Right" campaign, workers will be educated about their employers' obligations towards them.

Employers will also be educated about their responsibilities.

Tapping the power of the community to multiply the effect of the campaign, a hotline and an email address will also be advertised.

Workers and the public can report non-compliance of the CPF Act and Employment Act through the hotline or the email address.

In the Manpower Blog, Acting Minister for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin commented on why enforcement and education on the ground about employment rights is necessary.

He noted that while most employers are responsible, there are some who continue to flout the law, hoping to benefit from short-term gains. This created the need to step up enforcement.

He said it is also crucial for workers to understand that going along with their employers to forgo their CPF contributions is to their disadvantage, as they would be missing out on government subsidies such as Workfare.

Mr Tan commented that even as efforts are made to increase the wages of low-income workers, inclusive growth is not just about money.

A progressive workplace and fair work practices ensure that employers are responsible and employees, particularly low-wage workers, are not shortchanged, he said. CHANNEL NEWSASIA

Indian expatriates 'need time to fit in'

Integration has to happen at its own pace, says envoy
Straits Times, Published on Sep 26, 2012

By Rupali Karekar

Indian High Commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan spoke on the topic "India: Is the despair misplaced?" in an address to the Singapore Press Club yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

GETTING Indian expatriates to integrate with the local community cannot be a forced affair - it has to happen at its own pace, New Delhi's envoy to Singapore feels.

"Some things take their own time," High Commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan said yesterday, as he tackled the hot-button issue in an address to the Singapore Press Club at Mandarin Orchard Hotel.

"Even in India, we notice such gaps... People with common ethnic or regional roots living in the same part of city may not have the same proximity or interaction as other groups in the same city."
In Singapore, he said, these issues will get resolved over time.

Singapore's ethnic Indian population numbers about 350,000, a third of whom are permanent residents working in industries such as banking, information technology and consumer goods.
There have been complaints that some of them do not mix enough with Singaporeans, live and dress ostentatiously and try to avoid having their sons do national service.

"It is good that we are trying to bring people together", but you cannot hasten that process very much, Dr Raghavan said. A gap between elements of the diaspora - those who have been here for long and those who have come here recently - is inevitable. Still, there is greater mingling between the two and they do mix in places of worship and at cultural events.

More than 80 people, including journalists, government officials and business representatives were in attendance to hear Dr Raghavan speak on the topic "India: Is the despair misplaced?"

India was among the fastest-growing major economies in the decade to 2010, but expansion has slowed significantly in recent months.

In his speech, Dr Raghavan said fragility in the global economy following the 2008 global meltdown and the recent euro zone crisis has, to some extent, affected India's growth prospects.

"The (Indian) Prime Minister, speaking a few days ago, underlined that the immediate priority is to orchestrate a rebound in the second half of this year and then try to reach 9 per cent by 2017," he said.
Later, at a question-and-answer session moderated by Singapore Press Club president Patrick Daniel, Dr Raghavan said now would be a good time for Singapore companies - which have been inclined to look more towards China - to also look at India.

One attractive investment prospect was the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor which had drawn interest from Japanese and South Korean companies. Arrangements were being put in place so investors are not burdened by bureaucratic delay.

"There are developments taking place in India which would provide the kind of investment facilities (for Singapore companies)... with reduced interface with the local regulatory system," he said.

Fielding questions on foreign policy, Dr Raghavan suggested that New Delhi was not unduly alarmed at China's rising influence in South Asia, which is considered India's backyard. "The rise of China is a dominant narrative by far; all over the world, countries are interested in the issue."

But, he said, there is enough space for both countries to grow. The Asian giant is now India's largest trading partner and there is not necessarily a situation where the competition between the two is going to be unhealthy.

"I don't think our neighbouring countries are necessarily our backyard," he said, adding that the nature of border diplomacy requires that all countries establish closer relationships with neighbours. "Obviously, other developing countries will want good relations with China."

India itself was developing economic relations with countries like Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, which share geographic proximity with China.

Forms soon on maid safety pact

Introduced by year end, they must be signed by employers, agents and maids

Straits Times, Published on Sep 26, 2012

By Amelia Tan

Maid agents have been told by MOM that the new agreement is to ensure that maids follow safety guidelines when they clean high-rise windows. Agents who do not sign the safety agreement or fail to issue the form face a fine of up to $5,000 or six months' jail or both a fine and a jail term. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM

EMPLOYERS will soon have to sign an agreement to ensure that their maids follow safety guidelines when they clean the exterior of windows at their homes.

Maids and maid agents will also be required to sign the form, to be introduced by the year end.

Maid agents were told of this new agreement at a closed-door briefing yesterday by Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officers. About 500 agents attended the 21/2-hour meeting.

In response to The Straits Times' queries last night, MOM said employment agencies have a "major role" to play in ensuring maids' safety at work. The meeting was held to notify them of the new initiative and the results of a recent audit of 65 agencies.

The agreement comes after new safety measures announced recently by the ministry, including having an employer or adult supervise maids when they clean the exterior of windows, installing window grilles and ensuring that the grilles are locked when the windows are being cleaned.

The instructions are also printed on the form, the agents said.

They were told that signing the new agreement will be part of the conditions for getting a licence.

Agents who do not sign or issue the form may be fined up to $5,000, jailed for six months, or receive both a fine and a jail term.

This year, nine foreign maids have died after falling from high-rise buildings.

Maid agents who attended the briefing had mixed views about the new agreement.

Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) president K.Jayaprema said: "The new agreement makes the work of agents more tedious but they should take it in their stride. Agents and employers are responsible for the safety of maids."

Orange Employment Agency owner Shirley Ng said: "We can lend a helping hand to reinforce the safety message but we should not be held liable for safety. It is first and foremost the responsibility of employers to ensure the safety of their maids since they are living in their employers' homes."

Employers interviewed said the form was a way to reinforce the importance of safety.

Human resource manager Susanna Sim, 54, who has employed maids for more than 15 years, said employers may forget what they have signed but "they must believe in the importance of these safety precautions so that it comes naturally to them to watch over their maids".

The agents were also told yesterday that 65 maid agencies in Bukit Timah were inspected recently by MOM officers and about 70 per cent were found to have breached MOM's requirements for employment agencies. These included agency staff not wearing proper identification cards and receipts that did not detail clearly what customers were paying for.

MOM told the agents also that it would introduce a standard biodata form for maids soon and it would be made part of licensing conditions for them.

Trying to get the message across

Straits Times, Published on Sep 26, 2012

Mr Lim said many SMEs may have to close their businesses or relocate if the country cuts back sharply on hiring foreign workers.

This is an excerpt from a 14-minute Q&A session Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang had with reporters yesterday, before the Ministry of Trade and Industry released its paper to explain the trade-offs between population policies and economic growth:

• This is not the first time the Government has tried to explain the trade-offs. How is this any different from previous attempts? Well, we've got to keep trying and we've got to have more dialogues and, with the help of the media, get the message across.

• How will you know whether the explanation this time round will sink in? When we get feedback, when we get post-dialogue surveys, you will have to get a sense of whether people understand it. And in the end, this is a national conversation, right? I mean if Singaporeans say, "No, we're no longer in 3 to 5 per cent, we want 1 per cent (growth)," well (if) that's the outcome of the exercise, then we just have to be sure that everybody goes into it with a clear mind, that they understand the trade-offs.

• What do you say to the comment that the paper still follows rational economic arguments, that it does not strike to the very core of how Singaporeans feel about foreigners and economic growth, that foreigners take away jobs and compete for space, etc? If you take away the foreigners, if you take them away from starting of new sectors, you lose the sector. You talk to the SME bosses. They hire 30, 40 per cent foreign workers and it brings their costs down. It helps them to compete. If you say no, you cut it back sharply, many of them will just have to close their businesses or relocate somewhere where they can continue to be cost-competitive. So the local workers that they employ right now will have to lose their jobs and will have to find jobs elsewhere.

• Is this a prelude or do you see a possibility that we may reverse the tightening of the inflow of foreign workers? No, I don't want to go into that. If every Singaporean says, "Look, we have gotten over it, we now must be more flexible," then we are in a different agenda. Let's be realistic.

What foreigners have done for Singapore

Ministry lists their key contributions in a paper on population and the economy

Straits Times, Published on Sep 26, 2012

By Toh Yong Chuan

 

 

EVEN as the Government is reining in the number of foreigners that local firms can employ, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has emphasised that they are important to the Singapore economy.
Yesterday, it outlined five key contributions of this group in its paper on population and the economy. There are currently close to a million foreign workers here.
Foreigners pave the way for new industry sectors
They allowed Singapore to rapidly grow new sectors even when there were not enough Singaporeans with skills in these areas. As more local staff were trained, they took up the jobs held previously by foreigners.
Examples: Biomedical sciences and aerospace engineering sectors.
Foreigners provide the buffer for firms to grow or downsize quickly.
Local companies were able to seize opportunities from business cycles by hiring foreigners when they were needed, and letting them go during downturns.
Examples:

• Local shipyards captured up to 70 per cent of the global orders for oil rigs between 2007 and last year, only because they could grow their mostly foreign workforce.

• During the downturn in 2008 and 2009, foreign worker employment plummeted while local hiring continued to grow, although at a slower pace.

Foreigners complement the domestic workforce
In jobs shunned by local workers, foreigners pick up the slack and help companies stay viable.
Example: In retail and food and beverage sectors where profit margins are typically lower than 7 per cent, consumers can end up paying more should the firms have to raise wages to hire Singaporeans if they cannot take on foreigners.
Foreigners add diversity to the workforce
When multinationals bring their research and development functions to Singapore, they boost innovation here.
Examples:

• P&G is opening a $250 million research facility in beauty and male grooming at Biopolis next year.

• A*Star has set up a Centre of Excellence in Advanced Packaging with American company Applied Materials.

Foreigners build Singapore's physical and social infrastructures
Besides paying more than 25 per cent of total personal income taxes which help the Government fund social spending, foreigners also build roads and Housing Board flats, and care for the elderly and sick.
Example: There are now 19,500 foreigners working in nursing homes and community hospitals. The number is set to grow as caregiver jobs do not appeal to Singaporeans.

 

Growth will stall without foreign labour: MTI

Local workforce is ageing and number will start to drop in 2020

Straits Times, Published on Sep 26, 2012

By Janice Heng And Toh Yong Chuan

 

There are limits to the growth of the local workforce in Singapore, and this will in turn hold back economic growth for the country unless foreign workers continue to be allowed in, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has warned. -- ST PHOTO: JOYCE FANG

THERE are limits to the growth of the local workforce in Singapore, and this will in turn hold back economic growth for the country unless foreign workers continue to be allowed in, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has warned.

Its occasional paper, released yesterday, follows the National Population and Talent Division's July paper on population issues.

"What we're trying to do in this occasional paper is focus on the trade-off, or the relationship between population and economy," Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang told reporters ahead of the release yesterday.

According to the MTI paper, the local workforce will start to shrink in eight years, or 2020. This is because the number of working-age Singaporeans exiting the workforce will exceed those entering it.

One way to solve the problem is to get more locals to enter the workforce. A rise of one percentage point in the resident labour force participation rate - which is the proportion of working-age locals in jobs or looking for jobs - would add 30,000 workers.

But this cannot go on indefinitely, said MTI. Of local working-age men, for example, 92.1 per cent are already in the workforce - one of the highest participation rates in the world.

Moreover, Singapore's population is ageing, added the ministry. If not managed well, this could lead to lower innovation and productivity.

Singapore's current growth target is 3 to 5 per cent per year, of which 2 to 3 per cent is expected to come from productivity gains.

This means the local labour force must still grow 1 to 2 per cent, and attaining this with a shrinking local population means that foreigners are needed, said Mr Lim.

He noted that Singaporeans may well say that they do not need 3 to 5 per cent growth and would settle for 1 per cent. "Well, (if) that's the outcome of the exercise, then we just have to be sure that everybody goes into it with a clear mind, that they understand the trade-offs," he added.

MTI also pointed out in its paper that the problem of how to deal with an ageing and shrinking workforce was not unique to Singapore. Germany is trying to attract skilled foreign workers and Japan is looking to relax foreign worker policy.

It set out five ways in which foreign workers are important to Singapore. These include filling the gap while locals are being trained for new and emerging industries, and doing jobs that locals do not want. MTI warned, however, that an overly liberal foreign worker policy could depress local wages, put stress on public infrastructure and leave Singaporeans feeling displaced.

DBS economist Irvin Seah said the MTI paper "lays out very clearly the ongoing debate" and Singapore's economic challenges, but did not shed much new light. With its technical expertise, MTI could have done a rigorous study and put numbers to scenarios.

National University of Singapore economist Hui Weng Tat felt the report did not quite prove that higher growth means better welfare for workers. He noted that some countries experienced the same real wage growth as Singapore, even though they had lower GDP growth. "The correlation is not very convincing," he said.

 

MTI releases Occasional Paper on population and economy

by Lin Yanqin

TODAY, Updated 02:25 PM Sep 25, 2012

 

SINGAPORE - In the face of a lower economic growth trajectory and an ageing and shrinking workforce, Singapore will have to address these shifts by raising the productivity of businesses, encouraging more residents to enter and stay in the workforce, and complementing the resident workforce with a calibrated rate of immigration and foreign worker inflow.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) laid out this multi-pronged approach in an Occasional Paper on population and the economy released today, which outlined the economic challenges Singapore faces in the coming years.

"We are already on a lower growth trajectory...so Singaporeans must change their perceptions and expectations," said Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang at a media conference today. "Don't address this issue with the 8 per cent growth we have been achieving since independence...going forward those numbers are no longer realistic.

"So how do you manage that trajectory? We think, in the ESC (the Economic Strategies Committee), that we should strive to achieve 3 to 5 (per cent growth)... we think we can achieve it if we work hard, and also we are realistic in topping up, (with the) complement of foreign workers.

Elaborating in the importance of the foreign workforce, the MTI said that foreign workers in Singapore help to facilitate economic upgrading and restructuring and create new job opportunities for Singaporeans, when the talent needed to grow new industries is not immediately available.

Bringing in foreign workers with the necessary skill sets will help anchor emerging industries while the pipeline of Singapore workers is being developed, the MTI said.

Being able to tap on foreign manpower also helps Singapore companies stay flexible in responding to economic growth opportunities, such as by being able to quickly respond to job orders during an upswing in the business cycle.

Foreign manpower also complements the resident workforce by taking the jobs that Singaporeans shun, or the jobs left behind as Singaporeans move on to higher-skilled jobs.

The paper noted that infrastructure development must keep pace with economic and population growth "so that Singaporeans can continue to enjoy a good quality of life".

The release of the Occasional Paper follows the Issues Paper on Singapore's population challenges released by the National Population and Talent Division in July.

Foreign manpower helped build up key sectors: MTI

by Wong Wei Han

TODAY, Sep 26, 2012

 

SINGAPORE - Foreign manpower has played a central role in helping Singapore develop key industries such as the biomedical science and the marine and offshore sectors, which were cited by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in its Occasional Paper on Population and the Economy.

One challenge that Singapore faces in its attempts at industrial renewal is that "the skills and capabilities that new industries need may not always be immediately available" in the Singaporean workforce.

From starting relevant courses in universities to training supervisors and managers, it would require several years to build the requisite skills.

The MTI noted: "Having readily-available foreign manpower with the necessary skill sets allows us to anchor these emerging industries in Singapore first, while we develop the pipeline of Singaporean workers."

The biomedical sector is an example of an industry "which has started to localise", the MTI said.

The sector expanded rapidly in the late 1990s and by the early 2000s, Singapore had established itself as a key biomedical manufacturing location. For the pharmaceuticals and biological products industry in particular, the Singaporean PME (professionals, managers and executives) share of total employment has grown by about 14 percentage points in the last decade - reaching around one third of total employment in the industry in 2010.

Similarly, the marine and offshore sector capitalised on a boom between 2007 and last year by having the flexibility to turn to imported labour.

"Singaporeans have benefited as the share of residents occupying skilled positions in the marine and offshore sector has increased," the MTI noted.

As of 2010, there were nearly 20,000 skilled Singaporeans working in this sector. WONG WEI HAN

Strong case for S'pore to continue with calibrated immigration policy

CNA, By Imelda Saad, Tan Qiuyi | Posted: 25 September 2012 1424 hrs

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has made a strong case for Singapore to continue to make fine adjustments to the inflow of foreigners as the country faces an ageing population and dwindling workforce.

It also stressed that the days of high economic growth are over.

The time now, it said, is for Singaporeans to come to a consensus on the appropriate level of growth for the next 10 to 30 years.

Based on the country's stage of development, Singapore's Economic Strategies Committee has said that a GDP growth of between three and five per cent a year is a healthy target to aim for.

It exceeds those of most advanced countries that typically grow by two to three per cent.

But to achieve this, there needs to be rethink of growth strategies, especially against the backdrop of a shrinking workforce.

The ministry outlined three broad approaches in a paper on population and the economy, released on Tuesday.

Firstly, MTI said Singapore should continue to raise productivity through business restructuring and retraining of the workforce.

Secondly, the country should also work towards raising the resident labour force participation rate. However, the ministry said there is a limit to this.

The third strategy is to have a calibrated level of immigration and foreign manpower -- both for high-skilled and low-skilled workers.

While Singapore can strive to raise its resident work force participation for example, getting more women to work and keeping the elderly employed, there are limits to this.

For example, Singapore's male labour force participation rate is already one of the highest in the world, at 92.1 per cent for those aged 25 to 64.

While a percentage point increase in the labour force participation rate will add about 30,000 resident workers to Singapore's labour force of 3.2 million, it is not possible to continually increase the figure by one percentage point every year.

Then there are those who will not enter the workforce due to family and other care-giving priorities.

"Nonetheless, we should continue to strive to ensure that those who wish to work can do so, and to introduce suitable policies that can help residents to remain economically productive, no matter what their personal circumstances may be," said MTI.

So, the need to turn to foreign manpower which is needed in sectors where locals cannot fill.

Hudson's executive general manager, Andrew Tomich, said: "All organisations actually ask for local talents but unfortunately, in Singapore, it's really tough to find local talents that can move into these roles. So we do need to go outside of Singapore to find that talent and bring them in. Obviously, the local talent is the key but obviously we can't always find that so we need to be investing in, bringing in that high calibre talent to Singapore, to really pass that skills and knowledge to organisations and that country itself."

Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said: "If you take away the foreigners, if you take them away from starting of new sectors, you lose that sector. You don't get the jobs.

"If I don't allow the foreigner to come in, to start the BMS (bio medical science) sector, the aerospace sector, and I say look I must have 100 per cent Singaporeans before I introduce a new sector, then my response to you is it's very difficult and you may never have that sector.

"Second, complementing Singaporeans, talk to your SME bosses. They hire 30 to 40 per cent workers, it brings their cost down, let's be realistic, it helps them to compete. You say no, you cut it back, and if you do so sharply, then many of them will just have to close their business or relocate somewhere where they can continue to be cost competitive. So the local workers that they employ right now, will have to lose their jobs and have to find jobs elsewhere."

For the first time, authorities have revealed the distribution of foreign workers in the economy.

While many go to construction and manufacturing, the bulk - 41 per cent or more than 400,000 foreign workers - go to the services sector like F&B, retail, finance, landscaping and security.

The ministry said most are transient workers.

And while some Singaporeans may have expressed concerns about the presence of foreigners depressing wages, taking away jobs and even encroaching on space, Mr Lim noted that it's a different argument when you look at the sectors which these foreign workers are contributing to.

"So it depends which sector you talking about. So I think what this paper tries to address is instead of this generality that I am unhappy with foreign workers, well, talk about your sector. Which sector are you in, are you in the healthcare sector? Are you receiving services from the healthcare sector? Well, if you got no foreign workers, be prepared to pay higher cost."

The ministry also estimates that by 2030, the number of Singaporeans who are professionals, managers, and executives (PMEs), as well as technicians and associate professionals (TAP) will rise.

So, there will be a continued need for foreign workers in low-skilled jobs, to complement the resident workforce.

High skilled foreign manpower will also help companies as they restructure to meet the needs of the new economy.

The ministry said that is because the skills and capabilities that new industries need may not always be immediately available in the Singaporean workforce.

"As there is often a minimum of three to four years from course commencement to graduation, it will take that long before we have graduates with the necessary skills for these industries. An even longer time is required to train experienced supervisors and managers in these fields," said MTI.

The paper said having a "readily-available foreign manpower with the necessary skill sets" allows Singapore to anchor these emerging industries, while the country develops the pipeline of Singaporean workers.

MTI added that foreign manpower also helps to cushion Singaporeans from unemployment during downturns. This was seen during the recession years of 2008-2009, as well as post-911 and the SARS period.

The foreign workforce also contributes to Singapore's taxes. The ministry said while foreigners currently account for about 20 per cent of all income taxpayers, they contribute more than 25 per cent of Singapore's total personal income taxes.

Foreigners living and working in Singapore also add to the GST tax base. "Their tax contributions increase the fiscal resources for government to meet various public expenditure needs, including social programmes and transfers to maintain a progressive fiscal system," said MTI.

Mr Lim also warned of the consequences should Singaporeans choose the path of even slower growth.

"At the end, this is a national conversation, if Singaporeans say no, we are not interested in three to five per cent growth, we want one per cent, well that's the outcome of the exercise, then we just have to be sure that everyone goes into it with a clear mind, we understand the trade-offs and you're taking that trajectory. I'm explaining that managing slower growth is far, far more difficult than managing a decent, appropriate sustainable growth. When you are doing that one per cent or one-and-a-half per cent, you are playing around with stalled speeds most of the time," he said.

The National Population and Talent Division is also putting together a white paper on population policies, due out early next year.

- CNA/al/ck

Local, international poly students bond while aiding elderly

Straits Times, Published on Sep 25, 2012

Polytechnic students with residents from the Crystal Light Methodist Home, brought together by Project One Heart. A number of the students hailed from Malaysia, China and Myanmar. -- PHOTO: TEMASEK POLYTECHNIC

FOR Republic Polytechnic's (RP's) Project One Heart, the name says it all.

The project, supported by the Community Integration Fund, brought together local and international students from all five polytechnics this year to take part in community service.

Service Learning Club president and second-year RP student Kenneth Gwee, 19, said that the group had decided to expand an annual service event to help the elderly - not only to include all the polys, but also specifically invite international students to take part this year.

The event, which took place in May, involved more than 200 student volunteers who were put in local-international pairs to be matched with around 100 elderly residents of the Indus Moral Home, Sarah Senior Activity Centre and Crystal Light Methodist Home.

Over two weekends, the pairs worked on handicraft with the elderly, distributed vouchers, and went to the supermarket to help them shop for groceries.

"We had a common goal to make the elderly happy," said Mr Gwee.

A number of the international students who took part in the project hailed from Malaysia, China and Myanmar.

One of the participants, Malaysian student Tan Sin Hui, 20, described the difficulties of adjusting to life in Singapore when she first moved here three years ago.

She said she initially struggled to make friends because she was not fluent in English. She enjoyed the opportunity given to her by Project One Heart to do both community service and meet others.

"Regardless of nationality, we're very interested in helping the less fortunate," she said.

LESLIE KAY LIM

 

Show highlights issues faced by new arrivals

Straits Times, Published on Sep 25, 2012

Among the participants in Encounters On A Crowded Island are (from left) Julia Ahmad (hidden), Rajkumar Thiagaras, Samantha Lee, Tan Ying Ling, Thomas Ang, Natasha Dalmia and Andrea Ang, seen here in a rehearsal. Their playback theatre performance deals with integration and migration issues. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM

ENCOUNTERS On A Crowded Island, conceived by theatre practitioners Elaine Foo and Michael Cheng, is a project co-funded by the Community Integration Fund (CIF) that highlights migration and integration issues.

Eighteen participants from Singapore, Malaysia, India and Portugal were trained in playback theatre during workshops beginning in May, which culminated in performances at the Toa Payoh Central Community Club last weekend.

Playback theatre is a form of interactive community theatre which involves audience participation and improvisation.

"It's a medium that encourages empathy and promotes emotional connections," said Ms Foo, 36, describing the art form as one where people can air their views and listen to one another.

The 90-minute show served more purposes than just reacting to incidents that provoked discussion about immigration, the Singaporean said, noting that it allowed people to "move past the hyperbole and noise, and focus on personal stories and experiences".

The CIF will cover up to 60 per cent of the Encounters project's qualifying costs - including production and publicity - up to around $17,000.

The project also received a National Arts Council's Community Participation Grant.

For participant Natasha Dalmia, 30, the Encounters project has been an interesting way to address the integration issue in Singapore.

The management consultant moved here from India six years ago and has volunteered at her local South East Community Development Council and the YMCA.

"It's a dance between questions, emotions and dialogue," she said of the playback theatre experience.

"You can't listen to these stories and not empathise. We've become good friends."

LESLIE KAY LIM

 

COMMUNITY INTEGRATION FUND - $5.1m spent on 220 integration projects

$3.1m more allotted to help new immigrants and foreigners fit in

Straits Times, Published on Sep 25, 2012

By Leslie Kay Lim

 

THE Community Integration Fund (CIF) has disbursed $5.1 million, out of $10 million, to about 220 projects and has allotted another $3.1 million to new spending.

Launched in September 2009 by the National Integration Council (NIC), the CIF offers funding for projects that help new immigrants and foreigners integrate with Singaporeans.

Up to 80 per cent of total expenditure, or up to $200,000, can be doled out for each project. The majority of these are organised by community groups, including grassroots bodies, associations, clans and non-profit organisations. Schools have received funding from the CIF as well.

The original mandate was to disburse $10 million over three years. In response to queries from The Straits Times, the NIC said that as the initial timeline comes to a close, there are plans to extend the CIF as "integration requires sustained effort over a long period of time". Details are still being worked out, an NIC spokesman added.

Since 2009, projects funded by the CIF have included those organised by artists, students and medical workers to bridge the gap between locals and foreigners.

Experts agreed that it was difficult to assess the "success" of the projects funded by the CIF - that is, if they have improved relations between the two groups.

"A high participation rate or enthusiasm for a community cause may not necessarily translate to greater integration between the newcomers and locals," said Dr Selina Lim, a senior lecturer at UniSIM, who described the projects as a "good first step" towards better understanding between the two groups.

"Ultimately, it's the quality - not the quantity - of interaction during as well as after the CIF project that would be a better measure of the level of success."

These thoughts were echoed by Dr Leong Chan Hoong, a research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, who added that because the CIF and the NIC are relatively new, "policymakers should allow more time for the two initiatives to develop".

The NIC was also established in 2009.

Dr Leong said that other indicators of effective integration include the percentage of immigrant unemployment, home ownership and participation in national service and the civil service.

Mr Seah Kian Peng, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said the CIF was necessary to support integration efforts.

He said: "The right question we should ask ourselves is, can we afford not to have a CIF?

"While we may not know the full impact of its benefits and effectiveness, I have no doubt that it is necessary and is an investment towards upkeeping our social harmony and building a more inclusive society."