9/24/2013

The Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) consideration

The much awaited policy change from Chuan Jin has finally arrived. As usual this is received with much trepidation, scepticism and jubilation. Some welcomed it as something that has to be done, better late than never, some dismissed it as too little too late, and why must it take another year to be implemented. Reactions from the employers are muted but fairly agreeable except for the recalcitrant companies that are keeping mum for their indiscretion over the years.
 

Singaporeans should welcome this move or gesture as a step in the right direction. It may seem too little and lacking in what it intends to achieve, but like the atrocious housing problem that was left to ferment and rot for too long, the problem is so immense and widespread that a simple policy change like this would not do very much and cannot do very much. We should give Chuan Jin some time to fine tune this change along the way. And he has mentioned that there will be close monitoring and follow up measures to rein in the culprits that are taking advantage of the generosity of Singapore and Singaporeans.
 

What can also be done is to look at some other measures that could compliment the works of MOM. Patrick Tay of NTUC is still mooting over the introduction of dependency ratio or quota for the employment of PMEs. Let’s make this very clear as some are still talking about foreign workers. This is an issue that concerns PMEs and the policy change should be confined to this sector. For those still sleeping, please leave out the issue of foreign workers from this discussion. They are a different matter to be dealt with separately. NTUC should not miss the chance to take the initiative to reinforce the FCF with their own recommendations to give more meat to this change and make it look real and not wayanging. It would lose its credibility as a national institution for not looking after the interests of Singaporeans.
 

What could also be done is to dovetail this process by overhauling the HR practices of Ministries, stats boards and the civil service, and GLCs. Chuan Jin may want to give these organizations the same one year grace to put their house in order. Govt service, ministries and stats boards should be the employer of citizens and PRs only, and the ratio could be 70:30 for PME positions. There is no need for foreigners to be in such services unless some jokers believe that there are no Singaporeans that can do the job. Only nuts will believe in such nonsense. There are exceptions where specialists or professionals are needed due to their special skills or a shortage in the industry. Exceptions can always be handled separately.
 

In the case of GLCs, these are also within the control of the govt, and not market forces like the housing farce, the dependency ratio could be 70:20:10 for PMEs ie citizens, PRs and non citizens. I need to emphasise PMEs again and again to make sure idiots do not start uttering about foreign workers in the same breath.
 

In both the govt service and GLCs, the ratios quoted are only a guide and could be toggled and fine tuned to meet the realities of needs and supply and demand. For a start, all HR positions in govt service and GLCs must be filled by a Singaporean to protect the interests of Singaporeans. There is absolutely no need for HR positions to be filled by a foreigner. And to avoid people gaming the system, new citizens of less than 5 years should not be allowed to fill such a position.
 

Get our own house in order first, ie govt service and GLCs. The MNCs and private organizations can be tackled at a different pace with a lighter touch, but a dependency ratio is still needed.
 

Chuan Jin and the MOM staff have worked hard for this change. And they did not waste time and money going on overseas trips to learn from other countries to come up with the measures. This only shows that they meant business and not thinking of ‘jia hong’ and another wayang. Let them do the job and make changes along the way. Many things have to change for this Singapore Spring to take place within the govt, with govt support and the will to see it through.

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its easy to tell people that they want companies to hire Singaporeans first. No problem for that. The issue is how do you enforce? What sort of punishment if fail to comply? Talk is cheap unless with muscle. Companies could just :wayang" by interviewing Singaporeans but making sure they do not make the grade. Thereafter they openly hire FTs. It is only another layer of trouble for them.

The real solution is to defer reservist recalls unless there is security tension. In normal years let the NS and regular soldiers defend our country. Those who had finish NS should be allowed to comncentrate on their carrier and family. Emploters would be more likely to take Singaporeans rather than foreigners. Can the generals let go of this arm?

Anonymous said...

Sgpolitics.net

[Fair Consideration Framework for employment does not protect lower income Singaporeans]

Written by Ng E-Jay
24 September 2013


"The Fair Consideration Framework fails on two points: .. "


http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=8538

Anonymous said...

"The issue is how do you enforce?What sort of punishment if fail to comply?"
Anon September 24, 2013 9:05 am

Hahahahaha. No issue lah, if I were Tan Chuan Jin.

Because 60% Sinkies will still consider PAP as the best available party to be govt come next GE.

So doesn't matter lah, enforce or not enforce, punishment or no punishment, tio bo?


Anonymous said...

Ha ha ha,

I shall remain a sceptic on this issue.

As many pointed out, housing and car policies ramped through overnight. How many were affected? Any period given to adapt to new changes? Why sinkie interests and consideration for grace period given not important?

Why foreigners issue so thoughtful and caring? Funny hor! Sinkie serve NS and still must fight for non-discrimination at work place in own country by foreigners?

One year grace period?

For those still old, senile and getting more daft, think of what can happen during this run up period till 1 Aug 2014?

Will the new policies make things better for sinkie PMEs during this run up period or much, much worst.

One year of even worst burning hell before the arrival of the zillion miles far away fire engine!

Pee por pee por fire engine comes house already burnt to ashes lo! PMEs and families, children wait for tortoise fire engine all also perish inside fire liao lo!

Elation?

Can anyone be more daft, senile and 1 quadzillion times more AH Q?

Anonymous said...

"The real solution is to defer reservist recalls unless there is security tension."
Anon September 24, 2013 9:05 am

Aiya, if don't defer reservist, what will happen? What can the reservist do? Vote PAP out? WP ready to be govt?

So, if I were PAP, these will be the questions I will always ask if there is an issue with Sinkies.

So what do you think?

Anonymous said...

Most will be sceptical of what Chuan Jin can achieve except fans of Chuan Jin of course. And who can be more daft than his admirers.
Be it housing, coe, healthcare, public transport and education, what had all those tweaking over the years achieved? They pulled the people out of the frying pan into the furnance.
Yet, we have never run short of hopeful Sinkies.

When are You going to wake up?

Anonymous said...

@ 9.21 am:

//Aiya, if don't defer reservist, what will happen? What can the reservist do? Vote PAP out? WP ready to be govt?

So, if I were PAP, these will be the questions I will always ask if there is an issue with Sinkies.//

So?

Anonymous said...

furnance to be corrected to furnace.

Apology for the spelling fault.

Anon 9:26AM

Anonymous said...

@ Anon 9.26 am /// They pulled the people out of the frying pan into the furnance ///

Yes!

From frying pan into burning hell!

Since when it was not so and consistently getting better? You tell me lar!

Anonymous said...

One 90 year old grandmaster must be chuckling from his wheel chair onto his bed how come got 60+ years oldies much younger than him but much more senile than him. What did he said before? "Daft sinkies"? Could he be referring to some of the 60+ years old senile, daft lau ah pek, ah blogger here? Tao nao pai liao? Mb PeeAndPoo brigade suddenly cook a lot of free abalone porridge and free kopi o for senile and pretend to be kay siao and guillible lau ah pek. Ha ha ha ......... 90 year old grandmaster still chuckling at the naivety of 60+ years old lau ah pek. Ha ha ha ............

Anonymous said...

It seems to me there is a lot a lot of very very unhappy people out there.......Why...........

Our society is moving tooooooooooooo fast...... following the crowds.....chasing after everything........

Many are struggling....many are crying .....many are left behind.....

To the leaders...what is the use of being number one in a lot of areas when your people is very very unhappy and struggling ............

Slow down does not means no growth......

Slow down before it is too late ........

Anonymous said...

Once beatened(bittened) twice shy.
Twice beatened should be forever shy. BUT, for Sinkies, always beatened never shy. Remain always hopeful. Do the 60+(age) translate into the 60+ percentage?

What says Redbean?

Anonymous said...

We must lern from Aung Sang Suki. She does not think Singapore is the right model and I agree with her.

Anonymous said...

Only in Singapore - where anyone over 45 is an auntee or unker,and casually used with utter insincerity and condescension.
Or perhaps they're such an inbred lot where everyone is everyone's auntee and unker. Gotta love them.

Anonymous said...

@ 10.31 am

Ha ha. I ever called a 9 years old boy "Anggker" to get his attention and he smiled or rather grinned at me gleefully.

See!

Don't be so petty like a hen's tummy or a rooster's heart and take everything as an insult.

Anggkerrrrrr!

Anonymous said...

I feel so privileged and grateful to PAP.
I now know my children and I will be fairly treated in Singapore.

Anonymous said...

It isn't that "Singapore is NOT the correct model".
It is PAP that is not the correct role model.

Anonymous said...

>>10.41
Point proven - case closed.

Anonymous said...

@ 10.47 am

Have u heard abt 反老还童?

Perhaps instead pple call u "Anggkerrr", u hoping pple call u "DIDI".

Heard abt 90 year old "DIDI" glued to television set while day watching all kinds of cartoons from tom n jerry to superman to relive their childhood i suppose or d work of nature in reverse .......

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

People get the con job they deserve.

Nothing will change.

Anonymous said...

Getting down to the basics of trying to get a singaporean and showing that you have tried is just down to paper work which by now most singaporean companies with their ISO, QS, TS, etc should be familiar with so providing such paper work does not mean that the candidates are decided, it could mean that many candidates had sent in their profiles. To go a step in controlling such MOM should also conducted interviews on random candidates to verify if the stats are true, to justify that what they have set can work or is working, providing solution and lip service is very easy, but does it work??(my two cents worth).

It can be agreeded by most of us i think, that there are some jobs that we have no knowledge and experience in, being in a generous technical improving society, new inovations, new dynamics are born every day, those jobs will go to the ft's but to answer some hard headed directors, companies should show good management planning also to hired locals to understudy such jobs and that i truely know singapore can produce.
With these two points it should be safe i think to safe guard that sinkies do have jobs.......do let me know if there could be more done.

As for paying ft's more???, how much more, 50% the normal rate, 10%????, again MOM should put it in wrtting rather than leaving it.

Kaki

Anonymous said...

Tan Chuan Jin does have some die hard fans. His words alone provide hope and consolation.
If only adoration brings result, Sg would have been the Utopia.
Lee Kuan Yew WAS idolized by many.

Anonymous said...

The courtesy and kindness campaigns and the promotion of graciousness in the past didn't work, so maybe all these intakes of NEW Singaporeans is an attempt to replace all the culturally rude, unkind and ungracious OLD Singaporeans.

Anonymous said...

@ 1.46 pm

You seem to have got it quite wrong!

The campaign in the past sure worked like no known success on Earth --- think of the great Stop At 2 campaign.

It is so successful that the real talented, courteous and honest Singaporeans are on the way to join the dinosaurs in extinction.

That may explain the need to let in so many fake talents and scholars into our work places and universities.

Anonymous said...

While I agree with Ng E-Jay that the FCF does not protect the low-wage, I beleive only a minimum wage policy can of any use. Raising the minimum wage for EP to $3300 is not going to help Singaporeans, because to the employer this would still be cheaper and the worker has lest priviledges and power. What the government needs to do is to impose a $2000, $3000 and $5000 levy on each category of EP, making it cheaper for hire SIngaporeans, only then will it work

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Low wage of workers is another issue to be dealt with by the MOM. This FCF is to tackle problems of a specific area, ie PMEs. Let's not lump the two together. It would be too huge a problem to deal with at one go.

All the problems of the employment scene can be broken down to smaller pieces and acted on one at a time unless the problems are too interwoven to be treated as one.

Anonymous said...

I thought CFC has been banned globally.
A chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) is an organic compound that contains only carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as a volatile derivative of methane and ethane. They are also commonly known by the DuPont brand name Freon. The most common representative is dichlorodifluoromethane (R-12 or Freon-12). Many CFCs have been widely used as refrigerants, propellants (in aerosol applications), and solvents. The manufacture of such compounds has been phased out (and replaced with products such as R-410A) by the Montreal Protocol because they contribute to ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere.

Anonymous said...

"What are human beings for?"
Mr Bean, I can't agree that the Singapore answer is work, work and work.
The Singapore answer is tax, tax and more tax.
Or disguised tax, insurance premium, COE, GST, ERP, fees, duties, etc.

b said...

Just another wayang that will not change anything. Everytime they closed one door for foreign pmets, they will open another one for them. Probably he will be reappointed as the next pm or dpm. Generals make good dogs. Anyway, so long as more than 50% voters are happy with papaya policies, that is enough for them to stay in power forever. The rest can only kpkb and count themselves unlucky to be the 49% affected by those policies.

b said...

'Singapore answer is tax, tax and more tax. Or disguised tax, insurance premium, COE, GST, ERP, fees, duties, etc.'

- so? more than 50% are still happy to pay and pay to them and also vote and vote for them. that is enough for them to continue to stay in power.

Anonymous said...

"more than 50% are still happy to pay and pay to them and also vote and vote for them"

I doubt this is still true. The son of Punggol got only 40 over percent.

b said...

>433pm

whether it is true or not can only find out in the next election. afterall, democracy is a voting process for who to be eaten next among a group of 3 wolves and 2 sheeps.

Anonymous said...

Although the control of PMETs employment came so late in the wake of complaints from Singaporeans , still it shows that the MOM is at least waking up . It is better late than none at all . Yes , any ruling government of the country should ensure that companies hire it's citizens first before they are allowed to recruit foreign professionals ... it is not some rocket science to be learned .
This establishment of job bank run by Singapore Workforce Development Agency is a good move towards the right direction . But why wait for one year to implementation .. can't the related department expedite such move . One year can bring in some half millions or so foreign PMETS into Singapore and cause great hardship to our local graduates . And with the new rules in place , how effective will the relevant authority enforcing it ... otherwise it will be just another wayang and like what Matilah said , " getting con again ."

Anonymous said...

Sinkies will be overjoy with sweet words and comforting announcements.
They live on hopes and dreams which the Rulers are more than happy to promise. Delivery of promises are secondary to Sinkies. They are easily conned and they do not mind to be conned repeatedly.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@146:
>>all these intakes of NEW Singaporeans is an attempt to replace all the culturally rude, unkind and ungracious OLD Singaporeans.

BRAVO! You have to admit, Singapore has become more awesome since the govt initiated the "open borders" policy leading to a huge and rapid influx of "fresh genetic material" ;-)

Anonymous said...

We have to ask ourselves how we ended this way. For too long, foreigners have been upstaging singaporeans n wondering why our govt allows this to go on n on for so long till we are now in this shamby state.

Now we are just asking companies to give our citizen a fair go. When foreigners look at this new framework, they must be laughing n rolling on floor for its absurdity n it's lack of bite. Citizens asking foreigners for a fair go?

The govt should asked all MNCs for their org chart n check how many foreign n non-local born are there. Asked for the history of employment and it will b shocked at the number of foreign own kind bringing their own. Check their qualification vs the jobs n see how many are here to learn on the job. As a starting point, check on MNCs doing govt projects and b in for a shock.

Anonymous said...

Look out! Here comes the "ha ha ha" brigade. Folks who can't put together a decent sentence. Ha ha ha. Funi hor.

Anonymous said...

>>8:16<<

Yes , all these talk by MOM can end up in the dustbin if they are still sitting in the office shaking legs . If they are really sincere in their doings , they should go to companies to conduct first hand checks .
And this jobs bank establish by Singapore Workforce Development Agency, although a good move ... will be another wayang if company HRs will to ask the Singaporeans for an interviews and fail them . They can tell MOM that these Singaporean graduates are not good enough to their requirement . So , what can MOM do ? Are they doing enough to discourage companies from unfair hiring practices if there are no quotas to control and measure these ( EP ) Employment Pass( PMETS ) to companies .
Let wait and see the results few years down the road or if the reported workplace discrimination complaints numbers are down from the Fair Employment watchdog Tripartite Alliance .

Anonymous said...

Ending up in the dust bin is a foregone conclusion even a giventh.
The ineffectiveness and inability to solve a CREATED PROBLEM waste much time, resources and money.
What about suspicions that all that is being done are just for 'wayanging' however it is interpreted to mean.