Leong Mun Wai responds to Tan See Leng's Cantonese quip, says he is voicing concerns from the public

Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai has responded to Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, who used a Cantonese quote from a movie to describe their interactions in Parliament.

In a Facebook video on Mar. 8, Leong said in Cantonese that he had been asked about Tan's remark by members of the public.

You can watch the translated version here.

@mothershipsg Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai has responded to Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng. On Mar. 7 in parliament, Tan replied to Leong's persistent employment data-related questions by quoting Andy Lau from the movie "Blood Brothers". Leong had raised the issue of underemployment, and urged the government to provide "conclusive evidence and statistics". "I’ve done my best repeatedly to explain to him over and over again, but he still refuses to listen," Tan said. #sgnews #tiktoksg #fyp #singapore ♬ original sound - Mothership

He said he had to ask the question again because Tan had not answered his question. Leong clarified that the reason for his persistent employment data-related questions was due to concerns raised by Singaporeans about employment and job loss.

Leong also claimed that the numbers provided by the minister conflate Singaporeans and Permanent Residents and that the minister refused to answer him when he asked for employment data that separated such demographics.

He concluded his video by asserting that his approach has always been to voice the concerns of the people, to seek policy solution and added, "Justice is in the hearts of the people".

What was the exchange in Parliament about?

Leong: Immigration skews the resident employment, unemployment, and PME ratio statistics

In his cut during the MOM's Committee of Supply Debate, Leong raised the issue of underemployment, and urged the government to provide "conclusive evidence and statistics."

Leong said that individual statistics have their limitations, and must be applied carefully to draw conclusions.

He gave the example of a senior banker, having been laid off and is now working as a Grab driver, to demonstrate underemployment. Another would be a worker who is working only one hour a week, but not considered unemployed.

This is how the low unemployment rate "can be misleading", Leong said. He called on the government to track skill-related underemployment, for instance, by tracking how many Singaporeans have been involuntarily employed as part-time or contract workers.

Leong then talked about how immigration "skews the resident employment, unemployment, and PME ratio statistics."

He pointed out that most labour market statistics in Singapore are reported at the resident level, and the resident classification includes Singaporeans and PRs.

"These statistics can therefore be distorted when the residency status of workers changes from work pass holders to PRs," Leong said.

He added that he had been repeatedly asking for such a breakdown in Parliament for the past four years, and noted that in May 2024, he had been told by the minister such a line of questioning is "not productive" and undermines social cohesion in Singapore.

Leong: I am not being xenophobic or nativist

In addition, Tan had also said that MOM does not collect data on the net change in resident employment by worker's prior residency status in its labour market surveys.

Leong then asserted:

"However, without tracking the resident labour force based on the worker’s prior residency status, I wonder how the Minister can conclude that there is no significant underemployment in Singapore and that I am looking for a smoking gun."

The NCMP then stressed that he was not xenophobic or nativist and that he respected the contributions of new citizens, PRs and foreign workers to Singapore.

He added, "By being more transparent with the data, the government can actually calm anti-foreigner sentiments and assure Singaporeans that immigration does not harm their economic interests. It will help the government get more buy-in for its immigration policies."

Tan: I've done my best to explain to Leong repeatedly but he still refuses to listen

In response to Leong's point about underemployment, Tan pointed out that he had talked about underemployment the previous day in parliament, saying that the statistics on time-related underemployment was very low.

His point about time-related underemployment mentioned on Mar. 6:

"The underemployment Mr Leong describes is referred to as skill-related underemployment, when an individual believes their job does not fully utilise their skills. However, there is no internationally accepted way to measure this. We are working with the International Labour Organisation to develop such measurements, but this international process will take time.

Tan said the government can objectively measure time-related underemployment, a well-defined, internationally-accepted measure. These are people working part-time, but are willing and able to engage in additional work.

"Singapore’s resident time-related underemployment rate is low and stable, averaging 3.1 per cent over the past decade, and at a low of 2.3 per cent in 2024. This is lower than many other developed economies, like the UK and Finland," Tan said.

Tan: Majority of PMET increase in 10-year span is due to local-born Singapore citizens.

When talking about Leong's point on foreign-born and local-born Singapore citizens. Tan said that the majority of the increase in PMETs within a 10-year span was due to local-born Singapore citizens, more than 63 per cent.

He then said that "we should not keep harping on an us vs them mentality, because Singapore is a largely immigrant nation". Tan spoke about how he and Leong both had fathers who were not local-born, but both of them want to do their best to serve their country.

Later, when summing up the debate between Leong and himself, Tan stood up to quote Andy Lau from the movie "Blood Brothers".

Tan said, in Cantonese:

"I say but you don't listen, you listen but you don't understand, you understand but you don't do, you do but do it wrongly, you do it wrongly but don't admit, you admit but don't change, you change but you are not convinced, then what do you want me to do?'

@mothershipsg Manpower minister Tan See Leng used a Cantonese movie quote to describe his interactions with NCMP Leong Mun Wai in Parliament #singapore #sgnews #tiktoksg #fypsg #parliament ♬ original sound - Mothership

The minister then added in English, "I've done my best repeatedly to explain to him over and over again, but he still refuses to listen".

He then concluded his summary with this:

"Now I want to reassure while we may not be able to guarantee the same outcomes for all Singaporeans...we will certainly do our level best that Singaporeans at every stage of their lives, at every stage of their careers, will have the same opportunities to upskill, to train and to upgrade."

Left image via MDDI/YouTube, right image via Leong Mun Wai/Facebook