Yesterday (7 May), an opinion piece submitted by Andy Chew Teck Huat to Straits Times had suggested that Singaporeans are guilty of poor treatment towards the migrant workers.
In regards to the Parliament when Nominated Parliament Member (NMP) Anthea Ong asked whether the Government would consider issuing an apology to the migrant workers, Mr Chew wrote: “To be honest, it should be Singaporeans who need to apologise for the state these workers are in now. We want everything to be cheap at the expense of these workers”.
He also stated that Singaporeans should not pretend to care about the migrant workers now because thousands of them are infected with COVID-19.
To end his article, Mr Chew urged Singaporeans to stop being hypocrites by blaming the Government for this issue.

“Singaporeans should not pretend that we care for them now because thousands of these workers are infected.”

Upon reading this piece, former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Yee Jenn Jong shared his opinion onto his Facebook page, suggesting that this type of thinking “absolves the Government of responsibility”.
Besides clarifying that his post was not intended to argue whether the Government should apologise, Mr Yee reminded everyone that a Government establishes the laws and sets the tone of how the country should be run.
“I am not arguing whether Government should apologise. But my problem with this type of thinking is that it absolves the Government of responsibility. Let’s be clear, a Government establishes the laws (via parliament) and follows through with enforcement and policies through the executive arm. It sets the tone for how the country is to be run.”
He believes that it is the elected Government’s responsibility to set what roles the migrant workers should play in this country with proper legislation and clear policy directions.
“It is the responsibility of the elected Government to do proper legislation, set clear policy directions to ensure what role we want foreign workers to play in our economy and how to ensure that living conditions are suitable. Ours is one that prides itself that it has to be well remunerated because it is always planning well ahead and keeping Singapore highly prosperous.”
To support his views, Mr Yee used Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and Taiwan as examples of their construction workers’ high productivity rate. He also noted that Singapore is “several times” lower in productivity than some of the countries he mentioned.
He had also described that many countries set a target to keep their labour highly skilled as well as to lower the number of migrant workers, explaining that it would be up to the Government to set the “right policies”.
“Take for example, the construction industry. The high productivity rate of construction workers in Japan, HK, Australia, Taiwan and many other developed countries did not happen by accident. Singapore is several times lower in productivity than some of these countries! Many countries have deliberately set as a target to keep labour highly skilled and keeping down the number of foreign workers. It would be the responsibility of the Government to set the right policies.”
Noting that “everyone” all over the world wants things to be cheap, Mr Yee pointed out that it would be the Government’s responsibility to set the legislation and policies to find the balance.
At the end of his opinion, he expressed that it was baffling for the article author to push the blame to all Singaporeans for not caring about the migrant workers.
“Everyone all over the world wants things cheap. It is a matter for the Government to set the legislation and policies to find the balance. Pushing the blame to Singaporeans is baffling.”

“So let us all stop being hypocrites, and putting all the blame on the Government.”

Upon reading this piece, former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Yee Jenn Jong shared his opinion onto his Facebook page, suggesting that this type of thinking “absolves the government of responsibility”.

Besides clarifying that his post was not intended to argue whether the Government should apologise, Mr Yee reminded everyone that a government establishes the laws and sets the tone of how the country should be run.

“I am not arguing whether government should apologise. But my problem with this type of thinking is that it absolves the government of responsibility. Let’s be clear, a government establishes the laws (via parliament) and follows through with enforcement and policies through the executive arm. It sets the tone for how the country is to be run.”

He believes that it is the elected Government’s responsibility to set what roles the migrant workers should play in this country with proper legislation and clear policy directions.

“It is the responsibility of the elected government to do proper legislation, set clear policy directions to ensure what role we want foreign workers to play in our economy and how to ensure that living conditions are suitable. Ours is one that prides itself that it has to be well remunerated because it is always planning well ahead and keeping Singapore highly prosperous.”

To support his views, Mr Yee used Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and Taiwan as examples of their construction workers’ high productivity rate. He also noted that Singapore is “several times” lower in productivity than some of the countries he mentioned.
He had also described that many countries set a target to keep their labour highly skilled as well as to lower the number of migrant workers, explaining that it would be up to the government to set the “right policies”.

“Take for example, the construction industry. The high productivity rate of construction workers in Japan, HK, Australia, Taiwan and many other developed countries did not happen by accident. Singapore is several times lower in productivity than some of these countries! Many countries have deliberately set as a target to keep labour highly skilled and keeping down the number of foreign workers. It would be the responsibility of the government to set the right policies.”

Noting that “everyone” all over the world wants things to be cheap, Mr Yee pointed out that it would be the government’s responsibility to set the legislation and policies to find the balance.
At the end of his opinion, he expressed that it was baffling for the article author to push the blame to all Singaporeans for not caring about the migrant workers.

“Everyone all over the world wants things cheap. It is a matter for the government to set the legislation and policies to find the balance. Pushing the blame to Singaporeans is baffling.”

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