GE2025: Immigration policy must lift, not sideline Singaporeans says WP's Michael Thng

AsiaOne

Immigration has to remain the cornerstone of Singapore society.  Workers' Party's (WP) candidate for Tampines GRC Michael Thng acknowledged that immigration has to remain a cornerstone of Singapore's society but cautioned that our immigration policy must lift Singaporeans, not sideline them.  Thng took part in a roundtable discussion on Sunday night (April 27), along with representatives from four other political parties - namely the People’s Action Party, Red Dot United, People's Alliance for Reform, and Progress Singapore Party,

Transcript

00:00I think it's important to remember that immigration has to remain the cornerstone of Singapore society.

00:08It is an important part of what we need to keep as a part of our DNA

00:12to welcome talent and friends from all around the world.

00:15But we must ensure that immigration policy lifts Singaporeans and not sidelines them.

00:20And so to achieve this balance, one of the things that we've put forward

00:23is the idea of ensuring a more deliberate skills transfer

00:27between foreign talent and our local workforce.

00:31And I think this is important, right?

00:33Because sometimes the industries that we want to chase

00:35that we may not have the talent pool just yet to be able to properly capture.

00:40And it's well and good for us to allow that foreign talent to come in

00:43and the first generation of employees that we have to be able to staff out

00:46and really try and make a dent in that particular industry.

00:48We must create the right incentives such that companies have a reason to

00:53then start trying to transfer that skills across

00:56so that while the first generation of workers may be foreign-born,

01:00after that you may have opportunities for Singaporeans to take more of the jobs.

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Transcript

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