'But those who are running companies, are involved in business say, relax so that businesses can grow.'

It is a tension that will not go away for many years to come, he said during the debate on his ministry's budget.

So, the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) job is to 'maintain a tightly-tuned balance to make sure our economy grows'.

'And I think as our result showed us last year, that we've sort of got the balance right,' he said, in likely reference to recent reports that showed that while six in 10 of the new jobs went to foreigners, Singaporeans got the majority of 'professionals, managers, executives and technicians' jobs.

But he added: 'It will be never a point where members of the House will say, well done. We'll always have to live with that tension.'

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.