Makansutra founder KF Seetoh took to social media on Thursday (Mar 3) to call out certain statements and justifications made in Parliament in the past week. Some of the Members of Parliament (MPs) he took to task included PAP MP Ang Wei Neng who suggested in Parliament that there should be a time stamp on degrees by institutes of higher learning (IHLs) in Singapore.
Mr Seetoh, an advocate for all things hawker and often in-touch with ground sentiments of the common man wrote in his Facebook post: “And on degrees..where do I even start about that ‘renew degree every 5 years’ suggestion in Parliament”
“He talking about his marriage cert ah. What opioids is he on,” Mr Seetoh quipped.
Speaking on the second day of the Budget debate on Tuesday (March 1), Mr Ang had called for university graduates here to be required to attend upgrading courses every five years. Mr Ang’s suggestion drew much flak from the community and raised concerns that the suggestion may entail paying higher fees to renew university degrees while encouraging wealthier students to turn to overseas universities where their degrees will not expire.
During the Budget reading, Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong said that there will be an increase in the qualifying salary and levies for S Passes. Mr Wong said the minimum qualifying salary helps ensure those coming in are “of the right quality”. The government will aim to ensure that S Pass holders are comparable in quality to the top one-third of local associate professionals and technicians, he said.
“Also another helicopter in Minister.. we raise the S Pass base pay so that employers have to hire locals. Does he have any friends or kids of his friends who were shunned from these blue collared service or even hawker jobs. The fella got see how pathetic responses the F&B Jobs FB page is. More postings than response,” Mr Seetoh added.
He explained that Singaporeans do not want the jobs paying them S$3,000. He also added that another Minister also said that there are not enough locals to support our industries, hence the need for foreigners. “do they talk to each [other] or not ah?” Mr Seetoh wrote.
“Be owners of our country, not blind followers, people. Be what and whoever you wanna be, don’t kill, don’t hurt others, and always look out for the less blessed,” Mr Seetoh called.