Singapore opposition party to debate CECA in parliament

An Opposition political party in Singapore has accepted the challenge to have a parliamentary debate on employment policies along with the Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), which has been criticised in some quarters here as paving the way for Indian nationals to take jobs in the city-state, according to a media report on Tuesday.

Progress Singapore Party (PSP) member Leong Mun Wai wrote on Facebook that his party would seek further information from the government at the parliamentary sitting in July to prepare for the debate which was first mooted by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam in May over the issue, the Straits Times reported.

''Subsequently, the PSP will decide on a suitable time to file a motion,'' said Leong, who sits in Parliament as a Non-Constituency Member on the basis of having obtained the highest number of votes among losing candidates in the last General Election.

''It will be then up to the Speaker's discretion to confirm the date of the debate,'' Leong said.

''It is in public interest that all data and information regarding our employment situation is revealed. We are concerned about the lack of opportunities for our local workforce due to unfair hiring practices in some sectors,'' Leong was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The party would be asking questions related to the number of employment passes, S passes and work passes issued from 2005 to 2020, Leong said.

These passes are issued to foreigners working in Singapore and are categorised based on professional status.

Other draft parliamentary questions by the PSP include a request for a breakdown of industries and commonly-held jobs by nationals from China, India, Australia and the United States, it said.

The CECA, signed by Singapore and India as a free trade agreement in June 2005, has been criticised in some quarters as paving the way for Indian nationals to take jobs in Singapore from locals and it is an issue the PSP has raised on multiple occasions.

Shanmugam said in Parliament last month that there have been ''several canards'' about CECA.

''If anyone here believes that CECA is a problem, put it up for a motion, debate it openly and let's hear whether Singaporeans benefit or lose from it,'' local media had then quoted the Minister as saying.

''I'm looking at you, Mr. Leong,'' Shanmugam added then. ''I invite you to put up a motion to debate CECA. You know that most of what is said about CECA is false,'' Shanmugam said.

Leong on Tuesday said the PSP would take up the gauntlet despite its ''limited resources'' because the party believes in ''protecting our domestic economy and our people''.

He said Singaporeans and their companies lacked the financial buffer to weather the economic fallout from COVID-19 pandemic and attributed this to economic and tax policies resulting in widespread social inequalities.

The main economic policies affecting jobs and livelihoods relate to foreign PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) and free trade agreements, in particular the CECA, Leong said.

''PSP feels strongly that the time to rebalance the interests of the Singaporeans vis-a-vis foreign PMETs in the job market is long overdue,'' he wrote on Facebook.

''This rebalancing may involve the recouping of tens of thousands of jobs from work pass holders through tighter enforcement of our employment rules, amongst other measures.

''This will affect a portion of the total foreign PMETs in our workforce but is a necessary step to create a win-win situation for both Singaporeans and foreign nationals,'' Leong said.

He urged the Government to engage in the debate with ''grace, openness, transparency and trust that we all have Singapore's interests at heart''.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)