The Rhetoric
“There are four million people in Singapore, one million are foreigners. You get rid of that one million foreigners, you will be unemployed. Many of you will not find jobs.”
–SM Lee Kuan Yew, Straits Times, Feb 19, 2003The Reality
“Poorly educated S’poreans can no longer look to construction work as foreign workers, who are willing to work longer hours and accept lower pay, have taken these jobs. Some workers suspect that they were laid off because their firms wanted to replace them with foreigners, who cost less to employ.”
–Straits Times, Mar 13, 2003“If we did not have some foreign workers to average down the wage cost for the employers, are you sure the employers can survive in Singapore?”
–DPM Lee Hsien Loong, Straits Times, Oct 29, 2001