Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has moved to address public discontent over rising prices and an influx of foreigners after his ruling party suffered its smallest electoral win since independence in 1965. Measures announced yesterday to tighten the inflow of foreigners follow similar steps taken in the past two years which have increased the cost of hiring overseas workers at hotels, offices, factories and construction sites.
Singapore, ranked by the World Bank as the easiest place to do business, has cut taxes in recent years to spur investment, prompting companies to hire hundreds of thousands of people from overseas. Foreigners and permanent residents make up more than a third of the nation’s 5.2 million-strong population and opposition parties have said that the large numbers of overseas laborers have depressed local wages. Full story
