Johor/Singapore

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hi,

This topic filters off from the Kaz's semi-regular update on Johor

The item below is taken from Mr. Wang's perceptive blog on Singapore issues. I usually catch-up on Mr. Wang's comments when in Singapore.

It's here because I guess that if we know what's happening in Singapore it'll affect Johor. I'll also probably affect the rest of Malaysia as the follow-on period between how it pans out in Malaysia and what actually happened in Singapore is usually between 10 - 20 years. Najib's 10th Malaysia Plan - foreign talent?

14 March, 2010 : The Strange History of Productivity in Singapore
So the latest buzzword in Singapore is productivity. The ministers are touting it as the next great new idea that will ensure Singapore's survival and success in the future.

This is funny. Because productivity is not a new idea in Singapore. In fact, it is rather old. Back in the 1970s and 80s, productivity was one of our favourite national campaigns (along with the "Speak Mandarin" campaign and the infamous "Stop At Two" family-planning campaign). Productivity even had its own mascot (known as Teamy the Bee). And it also had its official song that would be aired on radio and TV. The lyrics went something like this:

"Good, better, best,
never let it rest,
If it's good, make it better
If it's better, make it best!"

I still remember it, because I was in primary school then, and it was a simple, catchy tune (the kind that would appeal to young children). By today's standards, the words are very corny. But then the world was a simpler, more innocent sort of place back then. Anyway, productivity was such a big thing in the 1970s and 80s that it even had its own statutory board. Yes, along with key public institutions such as the HDB, URA, PUB and CPF, we also had .... the NPB! The National Productivity Board.

The purpose of the NPB was to promote practices in Singapore that would lead to increased productivity. A big part of the strategy involved studying the Japanese workforce, who were known for their high standards and productivity. When did the productivity drive start to dwindle and fade away?

I can't pinpoint an exact date. We know however, that the NPB died in 1996. Parliament repealed the National Productivity Board Act in April that year. From then onwards, the NPB officially ceased to exist.

Around the same time, whether by coincidence or not, Singapore launched its new key strategy for the nation. It was all about getting skilled manpower from overseas to relocate to Singapore. In that same year, the phrase "foreign talent" entered the national vocabulary for the first time.

Well, you know the story from there. As the years passed, "foreign talent" became a looser and looser term.

"Foreign talent" used to mean highly-skilled professionals from overseas, who possessed expertise and knowledge that was scarce in Singapore - people such as cardiac surgeons and university professors.

Then over time, the term "foreign talent" ballooned and expanded. It began to include nurses; engineers; IT system analysts; chefs; soccer players; bus drivers; bankers; construction foremen; salesgirls; junior executives; middle managers; receptionists; photographers, school teachers. Basically every kind of Tom, Dick and Harry. The floodgates were thrown wide open.

In 2006, PM Lee, when making his National Day rally speech, tacitly abandoned the word "talent". He didn't say "foreign talent" anymore; he merely said "foreigners", when referring to the foreigners working and living in Singapore.

It was both honest, and dishonest, of him. Honest, because he was admitting, in his own way, that not all our foreigners were "talented". Many were decidedly mediocre. This was the inevitable result of our strategy of importing as many foreign Toms, Dicks and Harries as we possibly could.

It was dishonest of PM Lee, because he abandoned the word "talent", without expressly pointing out that he was doing so, and without saying why. It was a verbal sleight of hand. Most people didn't spot it. The policy had morphed, from a small-scale initiative to recruit highly-skilled foreigners, to a huge initiative to recruit any foreigner who would put his hand up. PM Lee wanted to admit, and yet not admit, that the policy had changed.

Anyway, the problem with taking too many low-skilled foreigners is that the national productivity goes plummeting straight down. That has happened in Singapore, it has been discussed a lot recently, so I won't go further into it.

Here's to Teamy, our dear old friend. When all else fails, going back to the basics may just work.
End of Article
http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/

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The problem with Wang is, his arguments don't always hold water. Take the statement:

the problem with taking too many low-skilled foreigners is that the   national productivity goes plummeting straight down

which is the takeaway point from his essay. What exactly is he against? The number? The skill level? Or the fact that they are foreigners? Is he touting low-skilled Singaporeans? Fewer foreigners? He doesn't actually say anything explicitly. Okay, so a lot of foreigners were imported and they came from a variety of occupations but...so what? Does having too many, say, foreign chefs actually contribute to lower productivity? Does having too many foreign gear-shift assemblers automatically contribute to lower productivity? No, of course it doesn't.

If he was talking about employment rates, cultural assimilation, dilution of the mother culture, I think he'd have a point. But he's talking about productivity and not backing it up with anything. The labourers who now build the new casinos are mainland Chinese. Is the productivity now lower than with equivalently low-skilled local labour? Who knows, he doesn't even posit the question!

His essay, imo, doesn't make sense. Just because you're bringing in low-skilled workers to do low-skilled jobs doesn't have a bearing on productivity. You can bring in high-skilled workers to do high-skilled work and still have a problem with productivity. Just look at the modern IT industry. There are other factors involved such as, y'know, actually paying the workers! Wonder if that impacts productivity? Hmmmm... Methinks his elitist mindset is showing.

Kaz!

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PM Lee wanted to admit, and yet not admit, that the policy had changed.

And ain't that the way in Singapore.  If you're a foreigner in Singapore you never know where you stand 'cause policies change but they don't always tell you they've changed.  U-turns just sort of happen and get brushed under the carpet.