"We wanted workers... but we got people instead." The Swiss novelist Max Frisch, writing on Germany's post-war immigration-fuelled economic boom, captured the essence of the migration question. Countries value migration, which provides manpower and skills in short supply domestically. What countries may not value is that migrant workers are also people. Their integration, or lack thereof, into the labour force and society rarises questions about competition, discrimination, and national identity.
This talk will explore migration to Singapore in comparative perspective, discuss potential effects on the labour market and society, and questions for future study.
* Webinar is conducted in English, with Chinese subtitles
“我们想要工人……但我们却招了‘人’。” 瑞士小說家马克斯·弗里施（Max Frisch）撰写关于战后德国推动的经济繁荣，抓住了移民问题的实质。各国重视移民，因为移民在国内提供短缺的人力和技能。但国家可能不重视的是外来劳动力也是人。他们能否融入劳动力和社会，引发了有关竞争，歧视和民族认同的问题。
该讲座将从比较的角度出发探讨移民到新加坡的问题，探讨对劳动力市场和社会的潜在影响，以及可供未来研究的问题。
*英语讲座，有提供华文字幕
Date: 22 October 2020 (Thursday)
Time: 7.30pm to 9.00pm (Live Q&A Session starts at 8.30pm)
Venue: Zoom (Details will be emailed to you nearer the date)
Registration closed
Associate Professor Walter Edgar Theseira （特斯拉博士）
Dr Theseira is an Associate Professor of Economics at the School of Business, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). He has a Ph.D. in Applied Economics and Managerial Science from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and his areas of expertise are in applied microeconomics, behavioural, and experimental economics. Assoc. Prof. Theseira's policy research work includes studying the licensed money-lending market in Singapore with the Ministry of Law, vehicle quota auctions with the Land Transport Authority, and the Singapore Retirement and Health Survey. He has served as a research consultant/advisor with the Economist Service of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of National Development, the Ministry of Social and Family Development, and with the Civil Service College. He has also served as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) for the 13th Parliament of Singapore, Second Session.
特斯拉博士是新跃社科大学商学院经济学副教授。他拥有宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院应用经济学与管理科学博士学位，研究领域是应用微观经济学，行为经济学和实验经济学。他的政策研究包括与新加坡律政部的新加坡特许借贷市场调查、与新加坡陆路交通管理局的车辆配额拍卖，以及新加坡退休与健康调查。他曾担任新加坡贸工部的经济学家服务部门、新加坡国家发展部、新加坡社会及家庭发展部、和新加坡公共服务学院的研究顾问。他也曾担任新加坡第十三届国会官委议员。