ST Editor-at-Large Han Fook Kwang, also a Senior Fellow at the RSIS, wrote in a commentary that before Covid-19, it seemed so obvious that migrant workers from poor countries in the region doing work that Singaporeans were not prepared to do was a cheap and easy way to grow the economy. It should now be clear to everyone that the migrant worker solution to Singapore’s workforce needs is neither cheap nor easy. Singaporeans’ angst with the country’s immigration policy has to do with their own insecurities about their livelihood, including jobs, standard of living and retirement security. The more secure they feel, the more open they will be to foreigners. This more socialist Singapore is on welfare, the more capitalist it can be in opening its doors.