A little knowledge, it is said, is a dangerous thing. To prove this right, we have as example Ms.Grace Fu, who will probably be standing in Yuhua.
Ms.Fu has said that shifting out of manufacturing into services will result in a loss of service jobs! We did not make this up, it was published by the PAP's pliant propagandist, The Straits Times, here .
Would not focusing on the service sector result in more jobs in the service sector? Not, apparently, if you are a PAP administrator.
Ms.Fu feels that she is qualified to make such statements because she sat on an Economic Strategies Committee that looked into other countries. We had thought that she would have published a paper on it, to make so broad and sweeping a statement. Ms.Fu appears to be suffering from that unique delusion common to PAP functionaries, that Singaporeans will swallow whatever they say, no matter how ridicoulous!
The US has for long now started to move from manufacturing to services and it has certainly helped their service sector. During the Great Depression, we remind Ms.Fu, the US economy was predominantly manufacturing based.
It is the knowledge worker who is Singapore's future, not the assembly line worker. In fact, these are jobs that are increasing too fast and by too many, the number of foreign workers in the country. The PAP is trying to cover up for it's failure of foresight in not developing the services sector by coming up with such fallacious arguments.
Ms.Fu advances the outdated argument that R&D and manufacturing are tied together like twins and both must situated in the same place. She would have been more correct, 20 or 30 years ago. The world is now borderless and it is common to have R&D in one country, manufacturing in another and distribution all over the world.
The SDP has put forward a most reasonable proposal in suggesting a shift to the services sector. The PAP should, if they retain power, pay attention to it, instead of behaving like stubborn ostriches.
No comments:
Post a Comment