THE simmering discontent that some locals have against foreigners was addressed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

In his May Day rally speech, he set the record straight: Foreigners do not take jobs away from locals, The Straits Times reported.

'I hope Singaporeans will look at the contributions of foreign workers objectively - they are not here to steal our jobs, but to help us enlarge the economic pie,' he explained yesterday.

Foreigners make up 30 per cent of Singapore's workforce, a figure that has remained unchanged for years. But there has been a surge in their numbers as more are coming here to fill the new jobs created.

Mr Lee's remarks come at a time when the issue has gained greater attention with media reports on coffeeshops hiring more foreign workers.

The tension between locals and foreigners - that of beer ladies - was also raised by former labour chief Lim Boon Heng last month.

The Minister in the Prime Minister's Office said if foreign beer ladies attracted more customers, the coffeeshops will have more business. This would indirectly help locals keep their jobs.

Yesterday, Mr Lee noted that some people disagreed with Mr Lim's answer.

'I also think it may not be a good thing to have more pretty beer ladies who encourage people to drink more,' he said to laughter from the 5,000 unionists, employers and government leaders gathered at Downtown East.

Still, Mr Lee acknowledged that Mr Lim had a serious point, and went on to list the value of foreigners.

One, foreign workers are hardworking and willing to work long hours. By hiring them, coffeeshops can open late or even round the clock.

Two, with the help of foreign workers, the airport, seaport, factories, offices, hotels, restaurants and retail outlets here can offer better service and business hours.

Three, if smaller business, especially the neighbourhood shops, can hire some foreign workers on top of locals, they can reduce business costs and stay afloat.

But Mr Lee also assured Singaporeans that the Government was controlling the inflow of foreign workers with levies and limits set on the number employers can hire.

Labour chief Lim Swee Say also weighed in on the issue, saying that foreigners were an 'easy target' for Singaporeans to blame when things go wrong. But they are not the problem, he noted, adding: 'Let us be very clear. Foreign workers... are our friends, they are our partners because they are here working together with us... that makes us the number one workforce in the world.'

From foreigners, Mr Lee turned his attention on another group of workers - low wage workers.

There are about 350,000 of them, earning less than $1,200 a month.

Noting that unionists were seized by this issue, Mr Lee recognised that it was not an easy problem to solve.

But the Government has put in place measures such as the Workfare Income Supplement and training programmes to ensure low wage workers could reskill for higher paying jobs.

'We don't go for wayang, grandstanding, issuing statements but not accountable for results,' said Mr Lee, in an oblique reference to some opposition parties.

Still, he urged people to look at the low wage worker issue in the right context - majority of Singaporeans are doing well and household incomes have risen across the board.

The unemployment rate for residents is 'very low' at 2.9 per cent and employment rate is at record high.

'More Singaporeans are employed than ever before, despite all the foreign workers here,' he noted.

Union leader Gary Harris agreed.

He said: 'We must be fair to foreign workers as they have helped Singapore get to where we are now.'

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