Lawrence Wong on racism & foreign workforce in Singapore

With Finance Minister Lawrence Wong declared as Prime-Minister-in-waiting earlier this month when PM Lee Hsien Loong announced him as the ruling People’s Action Party’s head of the fourth generation (4G) of leaders, it’s worth taking a look at what he has said about two important issues to Singaporeans.

A recent article in Bloomberg, which has been republished in several online sites including the Financial Post, featured a compilation of Mr Wong’s comments on such pressing issues as racism and immigration, among other significant issues.

Mr Wong has been in the United States since Apr 17 to attend the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings, the G20 2nd Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (FMCBG) and others, but wrote in a recent Facebook post that he is wrapping up his trip and will be returning to Singapore soon.

On the foreign workforce in Singapore, the minister has underlined what many others in the PAP have said about the country’s need for staying open to foreign businesses.

“As a small island-state with no natural resources and no hinterland, the only way we can only survive and prosper is to stay open and connected,” he said in Parliament last September.

“If we were to take a politically craven approach and impose many stringent conditions on their ability to operate here, we will lose out on many good investments. We would have fewer foreigners, for sure. But many Singaporeans will also be deprived of good jobs and career opportunities. It’s like cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.

Singapore will remain open and welcoming. We must. But those who do business here must also recognize the value of our workforce and abide by our rules.

He also called upon Singaporeans to be “big-hearted and accepting of those who are different from us,” and for non-Singaporeans to “respect our norms and way of life, and make the effort to fit in.”

“We will continue to ensure that the companies we attract and root in Singapore are those who are committed to nurturing and growing our Singaporean core. Both sides need to make the effort. Singaporeans must be big-hearted and accepting of those who are different from us. Non-Singaporeans must respect our norms and way of life, and make the effort to fit in.”

Just last month, Mr Wong told Members of Parliament that the country’s foreign worker shortage will be filled “within the next few months”.  He also cautioned that Singapore must not be perceived to be unwelcoming to foreigners, as this would discourage foreign investments from coming in.

“If global investors conclude that this is so, Singapore will become less attractive to them, and it will be ordinary Singaporeans who suffer the most,” he said.

“We must never let anti-foreigner sentiments take root here or give the impression that we are becoming more inward-looking,” added Mr Wong. “And I caution some in the House who have been shrill on this subject.”

As for racism, Mr Wong admitted in a June 2021 speech that racism exists in Singapore while he called for the majority Chinese population to exercise more sensitivity, amid a spate of racially-tinged incidents.

“Social media has helped to create greater awareness of racism here…. We must recognize that in any multi-racial society, it is harder to be a minority than a majority. This is so everywhere in the world.

So, it is important for the majority community in Singapore to do its part, and be sensitive to and conscious of the needs of minorities… we should be upfront and honest about the racialized experiences various groups feel, and deal squarely with them.” /TISG

Lawrence Wong: We must never let anti-foreigner sentiments take root here