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Tackling new challenges after a roller coaster year

Fireworks during NDP2015. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

Fireworks during NDP2015. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

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Tackling new challenges after a rollercoaster year

Experts single out transport, jobs, the economy, nation’s 'software' as priorities for 2016

Kelly NgKellyNg [at] mediacorp.com.sg Published: Monday, 4 January 2016

Following a momentous year when the country went through a roller coaster of emotional highs and lows, the next 12 months could see the Government – buoyed by a strong mandate in the recent General Election (GE) – getting back to business and moving decisively to tackle immediate and longer term challenges, experts say.

Political analysts, economists and former Members of Parliament interviewed by TODAY singled out three main issues as the Government’s priorities: Transport, jobs and the economy. At the same time, it needs to focus on the country’s software – including preparing and training Singaporeans to compete against the best in the world - and manage the transition of a Singapore society that is forging its national identity, the experts added.

The country’s leaders – the ranks of which had been bolstered after September’s GE – would have their work cut out, as Singapore moves into the post-Lee Kuan Yew era. The death of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister was one of several significant events that took place last year, which also marked Singapore’s 50th year of independence and saw the People’s Action Party romp to a landslide victory in the GE, winning 69.9 per cent of the popular vote share.

Fireworks during NDP2015. Photo: Wee Teck Hian

One of the most pressing challenges facing Singapore is the slowing workforce growth. By 2020 – or in less than five years - more citizens will leave the workforce then start work each year, based on projections by the National Population and Talent Division. The Government has been preparing for that eventuality, as it seeks to transform Singapore into a manpower-lean economy and wean off its dependence on imported labour.

Already, the effects are starting to bite: The number of jobs created in the first nine months of last year fell to its lowest since 2009, when Singapore and other economies were recovering from the global financial crisis.

Dr Walter Theseira, a senior lecturer at SIM University (UniSIM), singled out for greater attention the matching of skills and education of graduates and the professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs). He said: “Are we educating and producing talent who enter occupations that they are trained for? Are our increasing number of graduates employed in positions that actually require their skills? For mature PMETs, to what extent are the difficulties they face when retrenched due to lack of current skills, and how can SkillsFuture and our educational institutions help to close that gap?”

Assoc Prof Eugene Tan
SMU law don

The Government needs to help businesses recognise their social responsibilities to groom and nurture local talent.

While Singapore has little choice but to tap on foreign manpower, the inflow must be calibrated, the experts reiterated.

However, with efforts to restructure the economy and raise productivity achieving mixed success so far, Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan said: “If we need to sustain the economy, do we wait till 2020 to act in the face of a shrinking local workforce, or do we deal with it pre-emptively? Have we put in place enough safeguards? How do we make sure that Singaporeans understand the importance of foreign labour?” 

He added that more should be done to develop a Singaporean core in every sector. “The Government needs to help businesses recognise their social responsibilities to groom and nurture local talent,” he said. At the same time, the authorities have to crack down on companies with discriminatory hiring practices, he added.

Associate Professor Alan Chong from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies said it was not viable to return to the old strategy of pursuing high growth by importing large numbers of foreign workers. Noting a view held by some that slower growth could enhance the quality of life, he said: “When you bring in large numbers of foreign workers, on paper you may have solid economic growth, but are Singaporeans content?”

TODAY file photo

The Government has formed a high-powered The Future Economy committee to look into the country’s economic strategy. Regardless of the strategy adopted, the Singaporean worker will be key to the Republic’s ambitions, the experts stressed. Mr Charles Phua, president of the Association for Public Affairs at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said: “In our formative years, we educate our labour, plough capital, focus on value-added services. In future as other economies catch up, we need to be the Silicon Valley of Asia…to create value rather than incrementally adding it.”  

Assoc Prof Chong said that the way forward could involve deepening skills in high-technology areas, such as nuclear energy safety and geo-monitoring satellites. “These are areas of expertise that we can offer Southeast Asia, especially in light of the rising cases of natural disasters in the region…If Singapore can produce a corpus of talent in these areas, our graduates will be in demand,” he said.

Mr Charles Phua
President, Association for Public Affairs,Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

In our formative years, we educate our labour, plough capital, focus on value-added services. In future as other economies catch up, we need to be the Silicon Valley of Asia…to create value rather than incrementally adding it.

Citing the appointment of Mr Ong Ye Kung as co-Acting Education Minister to oversee Higher Education and Skills – the first time that a minister has been appointed to specifically oversee these areas – Assoc Prof Chong said  that the Government could be looking develop such highly specialised talent. 

The ongoing SkillsFuture movement and proposals by The Future of Economy committee could further entrench the habit of lifelong learning and deepening of skills, the experts said.   

Reflecting on the work of the previous term of government, Dr Theseira noted its success at guiding Singapore through the global financial crisis and in “changing the direction of Singapore’s social and economic policies to focus more on Singaporeans”. In the coming term, the Government “has to show that we can achieve economic growth as a mature economy that is trying not to rely on immigration”, he said.

Given the big shoes to fill for new Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, Dr Theseira noted that there would be much interest in how Mr Heng — who took over the portfolio from Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam — crafts and delivers the Budget in March.

CIMB Private Banking economist Song Seng Wun said that the world will be watching how Singapore continues to stay relevant in a rapidly changing global environment and in the aftermath of the death of Mr Lee, who has largely been credited with steering Singapore from Third World to First against the odds. 

Reuters file photo

Several experts interviewed noted a Singapore society in transition and the need for the Government to focus on the country’s software - including strengthening the national identity and developing human capital - in order to keep Singapore thriving in its next phase of development.  To achieve these goals, however, is by no means straightforward, they said. 

Mr Song said: “The basic necessities, which in your grandmother’s time were a luxury, are now taken for granted…Now, it is the intangible things that need to be tackled.” Adding that expectations in the past were more homogenous, he said: “These are much, much harder (to address) because everybody has different expectations.”  

Moreover, while the Government strives to meet the rising expectations, it has to do so in a way that will not diminish Singaporeans’ drive, he pointed out. “You need hungry people who can think, to drive growth and innovation,” he said. 

Assoc Prof Eugene Tan
SMU law don

Sometimes, I feel that we are reducing education into examinations…But it is not just about pushing (students) across those lines only. We need to move away from hard targets and look more closely at people outcomes.

With Singaporeans today generally no longer solely motivated by material gains, an environment has to be created in which people can fulfill their potential in various fields, including less conventional ones, Assoc Prof Tan said. For a start, society needs to break out of the straitjacket by which it defines educational success, he said.

For instance, the society can be more accepting of Singaporeans who may not decide to pursue varsity education, or choose to do so at a later stage of their lives, he said. Educational outcomes must also be more holistically assessed, he said. “Sometimes, I feel that we are reducing education into examinations…But it is not just about pushing (students) across those lines only. We need to move away from hard targets and look more closely at people outcomes,” said Assoc Prof Tan.

Similarly, outcomes at the workplace should not be reduced to numbers and hard targets, such as the amount of hours clocked. “When everyone spends so much time at work, we end up with a mono-dimensional workforce, and it takes away life in so many dimensions,” he said.

Damai Secondary School Normal stream students applaud their teachers for their guidance before receiving their N Level exam results. Photo: Robin Choo

With the country celebrating its Golden Jubilee last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had on various occasions spoken at length on strengthening the national identity, among other issues.

At the Ho Rih Hwa Leadership in Asia Public Lecture in June last year, for example, PM Lee described it as the most profound and fundamental challenge over the next five decades.  He warned that Singapore runs the risk of “dissolving into globalisation” with no sense of a distinct identity, as the country becomes more cosmopolitan and Singaporeans are increasingly well-travelled.

Separately, PM Lee stressed that a shared conviction among citizens will be a key to Singapore’s future when he spoke at the annual S Rajaratnam lecture in November.  

Assoc Prof Alan Chong
S Rajaratnam School of International Studies

Much as we are open to the rest of the world for education, business, and so on…To prevent erosion of the Singaporean identity, we have to look at what Singaporeans mean for Singaporeans.

As Singapore navigates the next 50 years amid a rapidly changing global landscape, the challenges to a “coherent Singaporean identity” will only grow stronger, said Assoc Prof Chong.

“Much as we are open to the rest of the world for education, business, and so on…To prevent erosion of the Singaporean identity, we have to look at what Singaporeans mean for Singaporeans,” he said.

The recent terrorist threats are a wake-up call for global cities and prompted tightening of national borders, he said. “You also need to think about the old-fashioned, nationalistic defence of cities.”

“Every time each of this cities suffer from a terror attack, (Singapore) suddenly mirrors their panic, because we have become like them: A global host for commerce, ideas, and events…It is not surprising, that when the Islamic State or Jemaah Islamiyah mention targets around the world, Singapore will be (one of them). We are as good a substitute target as any of the others. Globalisation is both a plus and minus,” he said.

Away from the security front, Singapore may also risk “losing its soul” as a global city. “We want to become like something else, we import their fashions and habits,” he said. He suggested greater investment in local artistic talent as a way to enhance national identity. 

Assoc Prof Tan reiterated the need to focus on the “softer” aspects of development and nation-building: “If you look around, Singapore is no short of fantastic edifices and skyscrapers but have we become so enamoured with hardware and not put enough emphasis on software?”

“We will need to regard the social and economic aspects of growth as two sides of the same coin. How do we and can we see social spending as a form of social investment?”

In recent years, the Government has ploughed in large investments to bring the public transportation system up to speed. Nevertheless, it remains a work in progress and new Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan – who has earned a reputation as Mr Fix-it - has been quick to roll up his sleeves. 

Since the massive MRT breakdowns in 2011, which saw a Committee of Inquiry convened, the rail system continues to be plagued by disruptions. Mr Khaw has set a target of catching up with Hong Kong in rail reliability but it would take several years, he had said.  

The 2011 disruptions were eclipsed as the worst to hit the country’s rail system in July last year, when the East-West and North-South lines simultaneously broke down, affecting some 413,000 commuters. 

Assoc Prof Chong: “Transport is an old issue from 2011 that has not been resolved… (Mr Khaw) is under tremendous pressure to deliver a durable cure for the transport system.”

After taking over the portfolio following the September General Election, Mr Khaw recently signalled a possible restructuring of the rail industry, which experts had predicted to be on the cards following the changes to the bus industry which is now under a contracting model where the Government owns all the assets. 

Currently, public transport operators SBS Transit and SMRT are responsible for the daily operations and maintenance of trains, while the Land Transport Authority designs and builds the rail lines, as well as ensures that train services are safe and meet stipulated standards.

Former Member of Parliament Inderjit Singh said: “Among the three key services Singaporeans need, two already have a nationalised tone—housing and healthcare. Transport needs to be relooked. We don’t really have competition so the current privatised approach will not work since there is monopoly for each of the lines.”

Assoc Prof Park Byung Joon
SIM University

The current model in Singapore works well when the infrastructure is young. But in the long run, the question becomes, whose responsibility is it to upgrade the systems? When a breakdown occurs under the current model, it may not be fair to pin all the blame on the train operator. Having one company be in charge for both operating and capital investments will ensure a clearer line of responsibility.

However, SIM University Adjunct Associate Professor Park Byung Joon, who specialises in urban transport, suggested that operators have full responsibility for the MRT lines - from operations, maintenance to capital investments and upgrading.

“The current model in Singapore works well when the infrastructure is young. But in the long run, the question becomes, whose responsibility is it to upgrade the systems? When a breakdown occurs under the current model, it may not be fair to pin all the blame on the train operator. Having one company be in charge for both operating and capital investments will ensure a clearer line of responsibility,” he said. Nationalisation of the rail industry may not be politically feasible, he added. “Should we have such a massively huge Government?” he asked. 

Meanwhile, the restructured bus industry could continue to face manpower challenges, notwithstanding efforts by new entrants to make bus driving a more attractive vocation. “Unless working conditions for bus captains and maintenance crews are improved, recruiting and retaining employees will continue to be the most difficult challenge, especially when more buses are to be leased under the bus contracting model,” Dr Park said. 

As for the taxi industry, policymakers have yet to fully grapple with the rise of private-car sharing mobile applications, the experts noted.  Senior Minister of State for Transport Ng Chee Meng is spearheading the Government’s efforts to look into the issue. 

Dr Park said: “On-the-spot private-car hiring cannot co-exist with the taxi industry. If (the former) remains unrestricted, it may be the end of the existing taxi industry, or the industry will at best be substantially reduced. This means we lose an unofficial ‘social safety net’ which the taxi industry has been (providing) for mid-career, middle-aged Singaporeans.” 

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