The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said today (18 May) that Singapore would have been hit hard by a shortfall of at least 100,000 workers and 30,000 domestic workers if migrant workers had not been allowed to enter Singapore after the circuit breaker period last Jun.

MOM said that there would have been a labour shortage of 70,000 service sector workers, 30,000 construction workers and 30,000 domestic workers if Singapore had closed its borders last year.

MOM was responding to the swelling public anger after Singapore entered into a series of lockdown measures which started on Sunday (16 May). The measures came after a number of clusters, including the Changi Airport cluster, started popping up in the last couple of weeks.

Many Singaporeans were asking why Singapore did not shut its borders earlier in order to bring down the number of imported Covid-19 cases, especially after the mutant virus variant B1617 ran amok in India.

MOM replied that since 2 May, Singapore has “completely stopped entry of all from South Asia”.

“At the same time, businesses have been appealing for more workers to be allowed to enter Singapore to address manpower shortages,” it said, shifting the blame to businesses.

MOM added that the outflow of migrant workers has exceeded the inflow over the past year, and as a result of border restrictions to mitigate importation risks, Singapore has not been able to adequately replace those who have left.

“Border restrictions will impact Singaporeans’ daily lives and this will be felt more keenly in the coming weeks and months,” the ministry said in its statement.

“Our restrictions on inflow of workers from higher-risk countries will also likely persist for some time, until the situation improves.”

MOM merely repeats what Lawrence Wong said earlier

MOM did not show a breakdown of the imported cases but was merely repeating what Minister Lawrence Wong said earlier in a media briefing on 4 May, earlier this month (‘Lawrence Wong says SG didn’t close border with India due to need for migrant workers, but traveller stats shows otherwise‘).

Then, Wong told the media that Singapore can’t afford to shut its borders as the country needs migrant workers to build homes. He was also trying to explain why Singapore did not close its border to India earlier, given the record new outbreaks happening there.

“We are small… We need migrant workers to build our homes,” he said.

“We’ve already become very tight, to the point that the backlog of applications has been growing… Many projects have been suffering from delays, as all of us know.

“More recently when we restricted the flow of workers from India and the entire South Indian continent… it means considerable delays will be added to all of our projects.”

“Some of our housing projects may now be delayed by up to a year or more. So it does come at a considerable cost to Singaporeans.”

Infected travellers from India not restricted to migrant workers only

However, a cursory check by TOC shows that those who flew directly from India did not compose entirely of migrant workers (a.k.a. work permit holders) only.

In fact, many more were students, work pass holders, dependant’s pass holders, short-term visit pass holders, and Singapore residents.

For example, four days before the the ban on travellers from India on 23 April with regards to long-term and short-term pass holders who flew directly from India, many of the infected were not migrant workers:

Infected travellers from India on 19 Apr:

  • Work Permit – 1
  • Student Pass – 1
  • Work Pass – 3
  • Dependant’s Pass – 1
  • Short-Term Visit Pass – 2
  • Long-Term Visit Pass – 1
  • PR – 4

Infected travellers from India on 20 Apr:

  • Work Permit – 2
  • Student Pass – 1
  • Work Pass – 2
  • Dependant’s Pass – 1

Infected travellers from India on 21 Apr:

  • Work Permit – 0
  • Student Pass – 1
  • Work Pass – 2
  • Dependant’s Pass – 1
  • Short-Term Visit Pass – 1
  • PR – 2

Infected travellers from India on 22 Apr:

  • Work Permit – 3
  • Student Pass – 2
  • Work Pass – 2
  • Dependant’s Pass – 2
  • Short-Term Visit Pass – 1
  • PR – 1

So, it’s surprising that Minister Wong and MOM only mentioned about the need to open Singapore’s border with India due to the need for migrant workers and not mentioned the rest.

Migrant workers who support Singapore’s service and construction industry are here as Work Permit holders. They are not entitled to apply for PR nor are they allowed to apply for a dependent pass or short term visit pass for their relatives.

MOH issues statement that B.1617 variant is not just a Singapore problem but a global concern

As for Ministry of Health (MOH), it issued a statement in response to media queries regarding the number of short term visitors who were infected.

MOH wrote that the B.1617 variant of COVID-19 prevalent in South Asia is “not just a Singapore problem” but a “global concern” as highlighted by the World Health Organisation (WHO)

The statement was issued by MOH in response to media queries on the number of imported COVID-19 cases who were short term visitors.

Newly appointed Health Minister Ong Ye Kung took over the Ministry on Saturday – the third ministry he has helmed in his political career – following the cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 23 April.

According to MOH, the number of imported COVID-19 cases in South Asia over the past 28 days was 271, with 50.2 per cent are Singaporeans or Permanent Residents (PRs).

Of the 271 imported cases, 46.5 per cent were work pass holders, student pass holders, or dependents, and 3.3 per cent were short term visitors.

“The B.1.617 variant prevalent in South Asia is not just a Singapore problem. The World Health Organization has deemed it a variant of global concern.

“According to the Gisaid Institute, Europe has sequenced almost 2,000 B.1.617 infections, US 486, Australia 85, Japan 29 and China 17.

“This is a major reason why transmission is rising throughout Asia — in Malaysia, Thailand, Japan. Even hitherto safe regions, such as Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, are experiencing outbreaks of community cases,” said the Ministry.

MOH stated that these cases are imported because “all borders are porous”, adding that “all it takes is one case to cause an outbreak and no country can seal itself off totally”.

“At the minimum, citizens and residents must be allowed to return home,” it remarked.

For imported cases in Singapore, the Ministry revealed that there are about 409 imported cases over the past 28 days from 16 April to 13 May, with 41.6 per cent of them were Singaporeans or PRs.

In addition, 50.6 per cent of them were work pass holders, student pass holders, or dependents, and 7.8 per cent were short term visitors.

“All short term visitors are allowed to enter only if they have family ties here, or on specific compassionate grounds such as to attend a funeral, or seek medical treatment,” said MOH, adding that every arrival is subject to stringent Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) and tests.

The Ministry noted that community transmission has occurred because the virus breached the nation’s safety measures, including at Changi Airport.

“The infiltrating virus can be from SC/PR/work pass holders or a short term visitor. This is a challenge faced by all countries because no one can entirely close their borders,” it asserted.

MOH, however, did not specify the number of cases that contracted the B1617 variant in Singapore.

According to the Gisaid website, as of Sunday (16 May), the number was 156. Singapore was ranked 4th in the world with the highest number of infections involving the B1617 variant.

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