There’s a lot of anger bubbling in Singapore. Singaporeans are under the assumption that foreign talent (particularly from India due to CECA) are muscling in and taking jobs away from locals. Whether the hate and ire is deserved, I don’t know. What I do know is that it seems like the Government is being held as the fall guy while Big Business slinks in the shadows and away from the spotlight.
Think about it.
Parliament debates and online commenters all put the blame sorely on the PAP Government for their policies, including CECA. No matter how much the PAP pushes back and tries to explain matters, those against them are still firmly set against whatever’s shown.
I’m not saying who’s right or wrong but it seems like both sides have forgotten that there’s a third party that’s been relatively silent on the foreign talent issue; Big Business.
I’m talking about the MNCs that are based here, who hire talent from inside and outside the country. The PAP might be the ones setting policy, but these are the guys doing the hiring for the jobs.
Big Business might not be behind the PAP’s policies, but that doesn’t mean they have the right to stay out of the spotlight and hunker down from the fiery anger that public’s flinging at the PAP.
If you think about it logically, Big Business should also step up to take some of the heat off the PAP. Like it or not, you can’t blame everything on them.
I mean, Big Business are the ones hiring the foreign talent…but I’d wager that they’re doing so with a damn good reason; Singaporean’s just aren’t experienced enough or qualified for the job.
No business would willingly hire incapable workers.
It’s against the dogma of being a business in the first place. A business is in it to make money. They’re not going to risk that just to hire cheaper workers or those with fake degrees or even their countrymen.
If the job isn’t done right, what good is the worker? That’s not against Singaporeans, Malaysians or any other nationality.
Companies care about the bottom line. It is illogical then that companies would willingly hire foreign workers if they didn’t fit the required bill that Singaporeans aren’t filling.
Big Business needs to get out there and say ‘Yeah we hire foreign talent. But those we hire are the ones we need. We don’t discriminate because it’s contrary to our business. Why would we hire overseas workers if locals can do the job and with less hassles? It’s just plain financial sense.’
Being transparent is pretty much the only way to settle everybody’s issues with foreign talent employment.
If the PAP and Big Business have gone out of their way to make their case and still somebody is calling foul, then obviously it’s not an issue of foreign talent that’s the problem.
It certainly sounds like Xenophobia instead, and that is something that we should never tolerate in any shape or form.