Debated in Parliament on 12 Nov 2013.
Ms Janice Koh asked the Acting Minister for Manpower with the tightened inflow of foreign workers (a) whether the Ministry monitors its impact on the size and diversity of the talent pool available for our nascent arts and creative industries; (b) whether policies, including the fixed monthly salary requirements, can be refined to take into account the modest pay scales of skilled arts professionals and the freelance nature of work in these sectors; and (c) whether a special work pass of up to one year can be considered for foreign arts students who have graduated from local tertiary institutions.
Since 2010, the Government has introduced policies to restructure our economy to be more productivity-driven and manpower-lean, including tightening of foreign workforce controls.
We recognise that the Singapore arts scene is still relatively young and that artistic maturity and excellence require time to nurture. We are also aware that pay scales may not be comparable to those in other industries despite the nature of the work and that freelancing is not uncommon. This is also true to varying extents in other industries. However, fixed monthly salary is one of the key criteria used to determine a foreigner's eligibility for a work pass, taken as a proxy of a foreigner's quality and economic contribution to Singapore. This is a basic requirement for EP/S Pass application and is applied consistently across the board. To allow variable payments to be counted in monthly salary for Work Pass eligibility would undermine this intent, as some foreign employees may end up not earning that monthly salary, for example, due to poor sales in the case of commissions. They would then not have fulfilled the minimum salary criteria to be eligible for their Work Pass and its accompanying privileges.
Nevertheless, we do consider some flexibility for specific arts professionals on a case-by-case basis, when there is support given by the National Arts Council.
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