Ruminations

The following day, the Manpower Ministry hit back, claiming that the NTU academics had erred and that, in the period under consideration, 9 in 10 jobs created went to Singaporeans! The economists were taken to task in a way that only the Singaporean Government can, and the academics have subsequently retracted their claims and apologised. Interestingly, the story doesn't seem to want to go away, with a headline in today's paper reporting on various appeals for more data on foreign workers. Acting Manpower Minister, Ng Eng Hen, announced at the weekend that it was 'sensitive data' and that 'information on specific sectors or nationalities were being held back for reasons of national interest'. Even more interesting from my point of view is that Associate Professor Tan Khee Giap and Professor Chen Kang are no slouches and there has yet to be a detailed report as to exactly why their findings were so wrong. The NTU group also included the widely respected Professor Lim Chong Yah, probably one of the most pre-eminent economists in Singapore. Curiously, Professor Lim seems to have escaped the criticism levelled at profs Tan and Chen.