By Ramesh Subbaraman and Fawwaz Baktee
At the sidelines of his visit to Changi Airport to appreciate workers on the first day of Lunar New Year on 8 February 2016, Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong urged Singaporeans to focus on the longer term with the eye on upgrading, training, SkillsFuture and improving productivity.
Giving his take on the state of the Singapore economy, PM Lee said: “There will be ups and downs and this year is likely to be a slow year. The business sentiment right now is a little bit cautious and anxious but we will have to take it in our stride. When our likely growth rates are 2 to 3 per cent, sometimes it will be 3, 4 [per cent], sometimes will be 1, 2 [per cent], sometimes may be even 0 to 1 [per cent]. So we have to expect that.”
On what the government would do to support workers in an event of a downturn, PM Lee emphasised that the focus should be on the long term.
“The ups and downs in the short term, we have to ride them. On the longer term, the focus has to be on upgrading, productivity, on training and SkillsFuture. These are the things we have been doing and if the economy slows down, it is an opportunity for us to take them even more seriously and work on them,” said PM Lee
This is one thing Budget 2016 is expected to focus on, with efforts to give economic upgrading plans a further push, he added.
Appreciating Workers
Held at Changi Airport Terminal 2, the Lunar New Year visit organised by the Labour Movement saw some 200 workers from different divisions thanked for putting their duties ahead of their holidays and personal celebrations.
PM Lee and Mrs Lee were accompanied by the NTUC Central Committee and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Transport Josephine Teo.
“It means a lot to show our support for all the workers who have been working hard behind the scenes during the festive season. Without them, I don’t think the average Singaporean would be able to enjoy the festivities and the daily living that is so convenient and gotten used to. I wish all workers are safe and healthy. For me, their safety, security and sense of peace is most important,” said NTUC Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing.
As a gesture of appreciation, the workers were given red packets, mandarin oranges as well as cookies provided by Mrs Lee. The visit was the 17th year the Labour Movement visited workers in the essential services on Lunar New Year’s day.
“I’ll only be celebrating with my family later in the evening when I get home … I’m really happy PM and the union leaders took their time to visit us today. I’ve been working here for almost 10 years now and it’s very common for those in my line of work to be working on festive holidays,” said 39-year-old Licensed Aircraft Engineer Steven Tan.
Source: NTUC This Week
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