SINGAPORE’s manpower challenges were topmost on the minds of a group of young executives at a dialogue with Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing.
Having toured Singapore’s port in the morning, Chan and some 70 professionals from youth leaders’ group Inspirit reflected on challenges faced by the port as well as Singapore’s low productivity growth and reliance on foreign workers.
With the Government tightening the flow of foreign manpower, participant Phua Mei Pin, 35, a journalist, wanted to know how port operators and the maritime industry were coping.
Chan said the going has been “very tough”. Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), for example, has a workforce of 7,000, of which 2,000 are foreigners from non-traditional sources like India and Myanmar. Full story
