Andy Lau line in Singapore parliament sparks debate over minister’s ‘frustration’
The country’s manpower minister had used a Hong Kong film anecdote to rebuff an opposition member pressing for employment figures
A colourful, Cantonese rebuke of an opposition member by a Singapore minister in parliament has sparked debate on the rare use of dialects in public discourse in the city state, with critics also seizing on the remarks to paint authorities as high-handed.
Some political observers, however, say the comments by Manpower Minister Tan See Leng merely reflect the ruling party’s frustration with detractors who will not accept any explanation offered.
Tan on Friday surprisingly quoted Hong Kong actor Andy Lau Tak-wah in the 2004 crime flick Blood Brothers as he rebuffed Progress Singapore Party’s Leong Mun Wai, who had asked for more details on employment data.
During the debate on the manpower ministry’s budget, Leong sought details on the number of residents with professional, managerial, executive or technical (PMET) jobs who were displaced by foreign workers attaining permanent residency.
Leong and his party had repeatedly brought up in parliament the issue of PMET jobs being taken up by people of foreign origins in Singapore.
After Tan disclosed that Singapore citizens made up 63 per cent of the growth in the number of residents with PMET jobs from 2014 to 2024, he urged Leong to avoid harping on an us-versus-them mentality over foreign workers.
