Quick tidbits

Taken from the Economist's country briefing.

Idle thoughts
Singapore is full of foreign workers, the bulk of whom are low-paid cleaners, hefters and builders. The city-state is also home to growing numbers of its own long-term jobless—mostly older, less-educated citizens who can’t find a slot that fits their skills.
The situation has sparked alarm at the National Trades Union Congress, which has close ties to the long-ruling People’s Action Party. A series of senior officials, including Lim Boon Heng, the head of the union congress, have spoken up saying they want the rules tweaked so the authorities stand a better chance of defeating structural unemployment. “I think we can do something about it. Otherwise, [Singaporeans] will remain unemployed, and somebody will have to look after them,” Mr Lim said. Another union official even suggested that the state could give its jobless citizens a share of its clean-up duties, paying them a few hundred dollars a month.

Rebel yell
It’s not something that you’d expect from a People’s Action Party stalwart, but Khaw Boon Wan, the health minister, wants the city-state’s straight-laced youth to be a bit more of a rabble. Singapore is famed for its nanny-ish rules, and young people here are not known for kicking up a fuss. That has Mr Khaw worried.
“I would prefer your generation to be rebellious,” Mr Khaw told a group of students, according to a local paper. “If you are just conforming to the social norms, then you are merely following our footpath, which may not be relevant to you.” The official line is that to continue to prosper, Singapore needs innovative mavericks. So government ministers have started to sow a bit of rebellion. But it is unclear whether Singapore’s obedient youth will do as they’re told.