May 12, 2021
SINGAPORE (CNA) – Authorities are “very mindful” of the labour crunch that companies in the construction, marine shipyard and process sectors are facing, and will continue to review if additional support measures are needed, said Second Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng yesterday.
These sectors, which are heavily reliant on migrant workers, have borne the brunt of COVID-19 restrictions, including a recent ban on long-term pass holders and short-term visitors from India where the outbreak has worsened.
Speaking in Parliament, Dr Tan said the number of work permit holders in the construction, marine shipyard and process sectors fell by nearly 60,000, or 16 per cent, last year.
The Straits Times
PM Lee, ministers denounce alleged racist attack against woman
Mrs Hindocha Nita Vishnubhai was brisk walking on her usual route from Choa Chu Kang MRT station to Choa Chu Kang Stadium when she was assaulted by a man on May 7, 2021.PHOTOS: HINDOCHA NITA VISHNUBHAI
PublishedMay 10, 2021, 11:07 pm SGT
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Singapore had pursued a “risk minimisation” rather than the “risk elimination” approach Australia has pursued. In turn, the south-east Asian nation has had more flexibility to open borders.
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Singapore: Singaporeâs so-called âCruises to Nowhereâ have been a big hit since being given the green light last November, with more than 120,000 passengers.
âTheyâve made something that sounds tacky actually quite fun and enjoyable,â said Arv Sreedhar, a Singapore-based Australian investment banker who took one of the cruises over Easter with his wife and their two-year-old daughter.
Cruises to Nowhere have been popular in Singapore during the pandemic.
Still, visitor arrival numbers in Singapore - like elsewhere- have dropped off a cliff, plunging by 85 per cent in 2020.
Yet the pilot program with the cruises and other initiatives - such as a short-stay airport hotel for business travellers that has meeting rooms with air-tight glass panels - have demonstrated a response to the pandemic that marries forensic internal control measures with flexibility about its international borders.