I just came across a silly article entitled This Is Why Singaporeans Will Not Be Protected In Our Jobs By The Government witten by a Roy Ngeng. In it, he mentioned that by signing the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India in 2005, the government had actually sold out Singaporeans. He also mentioned that the government cannot introduce any laws or policies to protect the employment of Singaporeans because of the above CECA. Such allegations are nothing but nonsense. First thing first. I recommend you check out more about the CECA with India at: fta.gov.sg/fta_ceca.asp?hl=6. You will then have a better idea of what the CECA is about. The CECA was signed in 2005. Though we do not know what was negotiated then, it is not difficult to understand that at the negotiation table, there would have been a lot of give and take. Both parties would win some and lose some. If we had wanted everything in our favor, why would India want to sign the agreement with us? And if India wanted everything in her favor, why would we want to sign the agreement with them? So it is fair to conclude that the agreement was a win-win. Next, by signing the CECA both countries stood to benefit economically. One of the benefits was the removal of tariffs for certain goods from both sides. This would reduce import and export costs thus making the businesses of both countries more cost competitive. This also meant cheaper goods for consumers in both countries. Thus, it is puzzling that when such an agreement actually benefits Singapore and Singaporeans, the author equated it to the government selling out Singaporeans. The author has also forgotten that with even with the CECA in place, it doesnt mean that Indian nationals can come and work in Singapore as and when they like. They still have to apply for Employment Passes or Work Permits before they can work here. This is where the Fair Consideration Framework comes into play. It requires employers to consider Singaporeans first. So again, how is this equated to the government selling out Singaporeans? The author even put up a lot of charts to try to convince the readers the government indeed had sold out Singaporeans. But sadly, in the first place, his assumption that the government had sold our Singaporeans was wrong. To me, it seems like a case of if you cannot convince them, confuse them. Thus, the article by Roy Ngeng accusing the government of selling out Singaporeans and not protecting the employment of Singaporeans is really nothing but BS.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:07:38 +0000
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