HONGKONG AND MACAU WORKERS IN SINGAPORE

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Acting Minister for Labour the reasons for the Government's plans to encourage workers from Hongkong and Macau to come and settle down in Singapore.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: It is Government's policy to encourage highly skilled workers to be recruited not only from Hongkong and Macau but also from other Asian countries and to offer such workers permanent residence if they are found suitable and can blend into our society.

Unfortunately, not many Singaporeans are willing to acquire construction skills and make a career in the industry. It is therefore unavoidable that we have to rely on foreign workers to supplement our limited pool of local construction workers.

Hongkong and Macau are good sources of highly-skilled workers for construction and other trades. With their wage levels higher than Singapore's, they will not depress Singapore wages as when we rely on workers from low-wage countries. We are aware that Singapore contractors are not enthusiastic over their wages. table - EVIDENCE OF LAND VALUE (Cols. 93 - 94) Annex I - PRE-PRIMARY AND PRIMARY I REGISTRATION EXERCISE 1985 (Cols. 95 - 96) Annex II - ESTIMATED NUMBERS FOR THE PROPOSED 1985 REGISTRATION SCHEME (Cols. 97 - 98)