AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MINISTER FOR MANPOWER

UNCLAS SINGAPORE 001144

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL ELAB MARR ECON PHUM KCRM SN
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MINISTER FOR MANPOWER
AND SECOND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE NG ENG HEN



1. Summary. Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for
Defence Ng Eng Hen expressed his satisfaction with the
deepening bilateral ties between the U.S. and Singapore, and
highlighted our excellent military cooperation in a March 22
courtesy call with Ambassador Herbold. Minister Ng also
discussed the challenges of managing an aging domestic
workforce and a growing foreign labor pool, including the
need to improve protections for foreign maids. End Summary.

Bilateral Defense Cooperation
--------------


2. Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Defence Ng
Eng Hen told Ambassador Herbold on March 22 that he highly
valued the close relationship between the United States and
Singapore, noting that we see eye-to-eye on many issues and
cooperate very well on defense issues in particular. He
stated that Singapore greatly appreciates the United States'
actions in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and said that Singapore
was glad to contribute to those efforts in "some small way."


3. Ambassador Herbold thanked Singapore for its support in
Iraq and Afghanistan, adding that our close defense
relationship has been helpful in other ways as well. She
thanked Minister Ng for Singapore's deployment of helicopters
to support the Katrina rescue and recovery effort, and
pointed to the good work the United States and Singapore had
done cooperating on tsunami relief. Ng responded that, for
the Singaporean officers in Texas, it had seemed "natural" to
become involved in the Katrina relief efforts, and they were
"honored and thrilled" to make an important contribution. He
noted that both Katrina and the tsunami gave Singapore troops
the opportunity to work closely with U.S. troops in a real
operation, which is invaluable experience.

Labor Issues
--------------


4. The Ambassador inquired about Singapore's recent efforts
at job redesign and retraining aimed at helping older and
lower-skilled workers stay in the workforce. Ng said that
"job redesign" was a worthwhile attempt, but ultimately it
would not solve the structural unemployment problem.
Singaporeans cannot compete with Vietnamese or Chinese
workers, so Singapore cannot over-rely on labor-intensive
industries. The GOS therefore is concentrating on educating
and training its workforce for service and high-tech
industries, and will continue to rely on foreign talent to
fill in the gaps. The Ambassador remarked that Singapore's
management of its foreign worker population certainly did
reduce illegal immigration. Ng agreed, but noted that
Singapore's "draconian" regulations make it unpopular. For
example, European countries have pushed Singapore to grant
citizenship to anyone who works here for over five years --
something Singapore, as a country of four million surrounded
by a billion poor, low-wage workers, "absolutely could not
do," he said.


5. At the same time, however, Singapore has taken a hard
line on abuse and exploitation: if an employer mistreats his
workers, he will be punished, Ng said. Singapore could do
better in some areas such as housing and safety for foreign
workers, he conceded. While the GOS currently sets health
and safety standards for housing, he said, the Ministry of
Manpower (MOM) ultimately wants all foreign workers to live
in dormitories with good boarding and recreational
facilities. The Ambassador asked about treatment of maids,
which continues to receive press attention. Ng argued that
Singapore does not need a new law to deal with abuse of
domestic workers -- maids need to better understand their
rights under existing law and how to seek redress by going to
the authorities. Hence, the GOS has concentrated on public
outreach and education to make maids aware of their rights
and the resources available to them. Ng acknowledged that
Singapore is not up to the standards of other developed
countries, and said it would introduce still more protection.
He did not think Singapore has very large numbers of
unreported abuse cases.


6. Ng said that the government had decided that legislating
a rest day for maids would not be productive. First, the
Singapore government is loath to interfere with individuals
entering into private contracts, Ng said. Second, the
government believes that the current public debate on the
issue is forcing people to realize for themselves that a day
off is necessary, and that encouraging this process will
ultimately be more effective than passing a
difficult-to-enforce law.

HERBOLD