By Shukry Rashid
Even though the unemployment numbers in 2016 are up, Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong said: “It’s not so bad because people are finding jobs. And overall, we are having new jobs being created. Not as many as before, but enough so that Singaporeans are fully employed.”
He iterated that retrenchments happen because of restructuring in the economy.
On economic growth, PM Lee said that he had hoped for 2–3 per cent growth in 2016. However, he said: “Overall, our growth last year is less than we had hoped for but more than we had expected, at 1.9 per cent.”
He was speaking at a visit to Senoko Power Plant together with NTUC union leaders in the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year on 28 January 2017 to extend appreciation to essential workers who work during the holiday.
PM Lee also noted that the economy picked up towards the end of 2016, in particular, the manufacturing sector. He added: “We hope that it will continue into this year.”
Mutual Understanding and Trust
Citing the power industry as an example, PM Lee said that it has had to restructure many times in the past as technology advanced. He added that each time technology changed to become more efficient, it also meant change and disruption for workers – which sometimes led to job loses or redeployment.
But he said that thanks to the help of the Union of Power and Gas Employees (UPAGE) and its leaders, workers were able to endure the restructuring and advance.
He added: “I’ve known the union leaders in UPAGE for many generations now, from Nithiah Nandan to Nachiappan, and now Samad Wahab. There is a lot of mutual understanding and trust, which has been built up, which has enabled us to do this. And I think we have to do that, built it across the economy.”
To find out more on how the Labour Movement is appreciating workers on the first day of the Lunar New Year, click here.
