Singapore Core Or Singaporean Core?

 

If you're stuck at whether Chan Chun Sing said 'Singapore Core' or 'Singaporean Core', and are debating whether the word is 'Singapore' or 'Singaporean', then you have completely missed what he said.

FOR THE RECORD, Chan Chun Sing said 'Singapore Core'. In fact if you had listened to his speech, he used the phrase 'Singapore Core' 7 times.

BUT IF he had used the phrase 'Singaporean core' instead of 'Singapore core', it wouldn't have made any difference to his speech.

 

WHAT HE DID NOT SAY

Chan Chun Sing did not say that this CORE includes foreigners.

If you thought that he said this core includes foreigners, it's because you have been misled by headlines, which we all know from experience can be terribly atrocious, like THIS ONE from TODAY:

Singaporean core does not mean S’poreans only, says Chun Sing

 

LESSON FOR US?

Read beyond the headlines.

 

WHAT CHAN CHUN SING DID SAY

He said that a Singapore core does not mean an all-Singaporean workforce.

He said that the Singapore core cannot be defined as an 'exclusive and inward-looking perspective'. He was speaking of an ATTITUDE.

 

WHAT WE UNDERSTAND FROM HIS SPEECH

He cautioned against the 'Singaporeans only' attitude in developing a Singapore core. We cannot develop a strong Singapore core by insisting on an all-Singaporean WORKFORCE. We strengthen and empower our Singapore core by learning from the best in the world. To do that, we cannot adopt an 'exclusive and inward-looking perspective' that seeks to exclude foreign talents. How can we learn from the best if we exclude them?

We learn from the best either by including them in our workforce or by going out to the outside world and learn from them and then bring home that valuable experience.

So did Chan Chun Sing say that the Singapore core includes foreigners? The answer is NO.

You can substitute the phrase 'Singapore core' in all that is written above with 'Singaporean core' and the meaning of the text is still the same.