Singapore—Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai from the Progress Singapore Party has called for higher wages in the construction industry.
This will attract more Singaporeans to take up construction jobs and reduce the dependence on foreign workers, he said in Parliament on Tuesday (May 11).
Mr Leong said the “strong, able-bodied Singaporeans” working as food delivery riders would be motivated by higher wages to work in the construction industry.
The PSP NCMP said, “I always find it very uncomfortable and pitiful to see very strong Singaporeans queueing up at the F&B outlets to collect food for delivery.”
He said he always wondered why “strong, able-bodied Singaporeans”, such as food delivery riders, did not work in other sectors.
Mr Leong said he was glad that steps were being taken to motivate Singaporeans to work in the construction sector by introducing scholarships, for example. Higher salaries, he added, would make the sector even more attractive.
He was then asked by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah if he meant that delivery riders would make the pivot to the construction industry.
The NCMP agreed.
He added, “Given this Covid environment now, if you raised the wages high enough, there’s a threshold that I think Singaporeans will come in even as a general construction worker.”
Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development, replied that the Government’s approach is not quite so simple.
“Singaporeans are doing those (construction) jobs, but it is very different from the kind of job that the member envisions Singaporeans will be doing,” he said.
The minister stressed Singapore will still need migrant workers, adding that the Government aims to enhance their skills.
He said, “At the end of the day, even as we automate, even as we increase productivity… there will still be a need for some foreign workers. We hope they’ll be more skilled (and we’ll) keep them here to supplement the core of Singaporeans that we want to build for the sector.”
/TISG
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