TACKLING THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Debate resumed.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to tell the PAP Government that the morale of the people of Singapore is now very low. Many people are worried that the economy will get worse. Many of them may lose their jobs and the businesses may go bust. The people are concerned that once they have lost their jobs, or when their business collapses, how are they and their families going to survive, as the cost of living in Singapore is so very high. I do not think I need to reiterate this point.

In many of my previous speeches, I have urged the Government not to make the burden of living so hard for the people. But the Government always says that all things are "affordable" to the people.

When the economy is good, our people may be able to afford the services and facilities, but barely so. At this time of a severe downturn, the Government should promptly re-examine the charges and tariffs to see whether they are still "affordable" to the people. In the Government's so-called "market economy" and privatisation of public services, the bottom line is inevitably that the charges are affordable to the people. Now, these people lose their jobs, but the cost of living is still the same. The burden has not become lighter.

As far as this package is concerned, it has not broken through the Government's existing framework. Through all these rebates and temporary measures, the Government is trying to show that it cares for the people. In order to help the low-income families, the fees of the tertiary institutions are frozen. I think what the Government should do is to reduce the fees, the charges, the conservancy and service charges and the utility charges. A temporary freeze is not enough. How can you put off the fire on a cartload of wood with just a cup of water?

In this package introduced by the Government, it says everybody can get a $200 subsidy. In a family, if the sole breadwinner loses his job and is unemployed, how is he and his family going to live with $200? In the present economic situation, the Government should first of all find out how to reduce the burden of the people. For example, GST. Will the Government consider reducing the GST or to suspend GST for the time being? As for those who are the sole breadwinners of the family, once they have lost their job, I think the Government should see how many dependants they have, and use it as a basis of consideration, just like our public assistance scheme. I think only in this way can the Government give them some genuine help.

On the other hand, the Government should also conduct a comprehensive review on the foreign talent policy. Yes, no doubt, if we want to be a hub of the global economy, we have to adopt an open-minded attitude to accept these foreign talents. But the problem is how do we define talent? From what I understand, to qualify their applicants for the Employment Pass system, many companies are making use of various loopholes to employ foreign workers to save on their manpower cost, and I think this is not a very foolproof method. I have written to MOM on this, but to no avail.

Mr Speaker, Sir, Singaporeans are born in this country. They have completed their national service, they have shouldered their responsibility as citizens. But now, these foreign talents are coming here to snatch away their rice bowl. Of course, from DPM's speech, I understand that the Government has already begun to look into this matter. But whether or not this matter can be effectively resolved, I think it is still doubtful. The Government should take a deeper look into the matter and work out some means to oversee this system. We should not reject our local talents and ask these foreign talents to take up jobs which could actually be taken up by our own citizens. I think this is unfair to our own people.

This present package can be said to be more presentable than the two previous so-called off-Budget packages. In the previous packages, the main emphasis was on saving business costs, and the workers are the people who suffer. This package can be described as a "painless" package. Why is it painless? Because the General Election is coming. After the election, the pain will come. Singaporeans should be mentally prepared for this.

Mr Tay Beng Chuan (Nominated Member): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, today the Government has announced the new off-Budget package at a total cost of $11.3 billion. We welcome this package.

Prior to this, the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry had urged the Government to introduce a package of no less than $10 billion, and to have more bold and efficient off-Budget measures to help the businesses tide over the difficult times. The various chambers of commerce and the Singapore Confederation of Industries and other organisations have also made similar appeals to the Government. This package announced by the Government has fully illustrated that the Government has the confidence and capability to deal with the present economic problems, and has also placed great importance on the appeals of the business community. It has shown its sincerity in wanting to help the business community get out of this crisis.

In this package, there are some adjustments that have been adopted, just like it was mentioned by the previous speakers before me but, on the whole, this package is one that is praiseworthy. On behalf of the business community, I would like to express our sincere thanks to the Government.

This new financial assistance package is a measure to stimulate our economy, to help our economy turn around at a faster pace. It is indeed a shot in the arm for our economy. Particularly, in this package, there are various assistance schemes. Financial assistance schemes were introduced in the hope that the employees from the various sectors - industrial and commercial sector, property sector, service sector and the SMEs - would be given more job opportunities, so as to help the unemployed find jobs. I think the workers from the various enterprises should treasure and seize this opportunity, and make full use of the measures in this package and adopt a more positive attitude in their work, to continue learning, to upgrade themselves, to re-skill themselves, and to enhance their competitiveness. In this situation of economic recession, as employees, they should be more realistic in their expectation. They should not add on to the burden of the employers, because in the present situation it is a very important thing that the businesses do survive, so that the workers are able to retain their jobs.

I also hope that the employers will also make full use of the measures under this package and strengthen themselves so that they are able to ride through this stormy weather and, if necessary, the various chambers of commerce should work together with the relevant authorities so that the measures could be more effective in their implementation.

The enterprises should look at the long-term perspective and take this opportunity to reposition themselves and to restructure their businesses so that they could perform better after the economy has turned around. With this package announced by the Government, apart from being grateful to the Government for understanding our difficulties, we also hope that the Government would quickly implement these measures so that they could have immediate effect.

We also hope that the Government would allow these measures to be implemented over a longer period of time and to avoid withdrawing these measures the moment the economy turns around, like in the past. I think we should give the businesses some breathing space so that they will be able to recover from this crisis.

Mr Speaker, Sir, we believe that so long as we could maintain and manifest this spirit of tripartism among the Government, the labour and the management, with each party giving its best, and all working with sincerity and unity, we will surely pull through these difficult times and head for a brighter future.