So this is the new normal. If an academic fails to sing the correct tune, he faces the terror of denied tenure. On the other hand, if you toe the official line, you may just end up with the Albert Winsemius Chair. Albert Winsemius (1910–1996) was the Dutch economist who led the United Nations Survey Mission to Singapore (1961 to 1984), and generally credited with the economic development strategies that transformed a quiet fishing village into an roaring industrial powerhouse. The ka-ching of the casinos' cash registers came about years later.
Winsemius would surely roll in his grave to hear the professor associated with his namesake utter crap like it is a common fallacy to assert foreign labour is bad for locals as it reduces per-capita resources, reduces per-capita incomes. Confronted by data evidencing wages for the bottom 20 percent of Singaporean workers had fallen 10 percent in real terms from 1997 to 2010, he had to beat a hasty retreat and admit that "it was possible that the influx of unskilled workers may press down wages".
Not only the livelihoods of unskilled workers were at put to risk. The malaise spread up the food chain, and even the PMET (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians) were not spared. What happened was that the "transients", who were supposed to go home after the infrastructure was built, soon morphed into "foreign talents" that started to displace Singaporeans at the work place.
Professor Ng Yew-Kang justified the influx by arguing that " ..had we not increased (the population), then we won't have so many MRT routes and high bus frequencies." That's like saying obesity is great, because you get to wear clothing several sizes larger.
No, the professor is not so dumb. This guy knows enough about the art of tai-ji to publish a kungfu novel in Chinese. He's got his knickers in a twist because he tried too hard jumping in to defend a White Paper which is more soiled than a used douchebag. It's not a career breaking move, whatever nonsense he spouted, and got quickly shot down for, will all too soon be obliviated so long as he continues to move with the flow.
Winsemius would surely roll in his grave to hear the professor associated with his namesake utter crap like it is a common fallacy to assert foreign labour is bad for locals as it reduces per-capita resources, reduces per-capita incomes. Confronted by data evidencing wages for the bottom 20 percent of Singaporean workers had fallen 10 percent in real terms from 1997 to 2010, he had to beat a hasty retreat and admit that "it was possible that the influx of unskilled workers may press down wages".
Not only the livelihoods of unskilled workers were at put to risk. The malaise spread up the food chain, and even the PMET (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians) were not spared. What happened was that the "transients", who were supposed to go home after the infrastructure was built, soon morphed into "foreign talents" that started to displace Singaporeans at the work place.
Professor Ng Yew-Kang justified the influx by arguing that " ..had we not increased (the population), then we won't have so many MRT routes and high bus frequencies." That's like saying obesity is great, because you get to wear clothing several sizes larger.
No, the professor is not so dumb. This guy knows enough about the art of tai-ji to publish a kungfu novel in Chinese. He's got his knickers in a twist because he tried too hard jumping in to defend a White Paper which is more soiled than a used douchebag. It's not a career breaking move, whatever nonsense he spouted, and got quickly shot down for, will all too soon be obliviated so long as he continues to move with the flow.