Breakdown of Foreign Domestic Worker Numbers by Nationality
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the rationale for the Ministry of Manpower’s decision to withhold a breakdown of foreign domestic worker numbers by nationality, as queried by Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong. Minister of State Sam Tan Chin Siong stated that disclosing such detailed data is not in the national interest as it could create sensitivities within Singapore and among countries of origin. He noted that Singapore’s population and foreign worker profile differ from countries like Australia, making similar data transparency practices inappropriate for the local context. Minister of State Sam Tan Chin Siong emphasized that maintaining confidentiality protects Singaporean households and prevents potential social or diplomatic friction. Consequently, the Ministry maintains its position that withholding specific nationality statistics is necessary to safeguard the broader interests of the nation.
Transcript
19 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Manpower what is the rationale for the Ministry's reluctance to provide a breakdown of the number of foreign domestic workers in Singapore by nationality.
The Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mdm Speaker, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not provide a breakdown of the number of foreign workers, including foreign domestic workers, by nationality as it is not in Singapore's interest to do so. Disclosing such detailed data may create sensitivities among certain groups of people here and also in the countries of origin.
Mdm Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Minister of State for the answer. Just a quick clarification. In countries, such as Australia, they publish data on a quarterly basis on the numbers of work visa holders, broken down by countries of origin and, with respect, I do not see how sensitive this can be. Perhaps, the Minister of State can clarify this further and would the Ministry reconsider this position?
Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong: I thank the Member for the interest in this topic. I remember at the last Sitting, the Member also asked the same question. With regard to the population's statistics in Australia, I remember the Deputy Prime Minister, in one of his Committee of Supply speeches, had addressed that. I would not want to delve into the details. But suffice to say that Australia and Singapore are quite different in terms of population size and also in terms of the domestic workers and the foreign workers. In Australia, you hardly see any foreign domestic workers.
Coming back to addressing the Member's question, why we do not disclose this piece of data is because of the sensitivity involved. Because of the sensitivity, I would rather not go into the details of why the data cannot be disclosed. But I hope the Member would understand that this is done for the national interest and also for the interest of protecting the Singaporean households.