Asia Pacific's Adelaide Ng reports.

Singapore is grappling with unprecedented levels of unemployment.

The jobless rate is now 4.8 per cent and there are fears it could exceed 5.5 per cent if there's a long war in Iraq.

Although the situation is not as bad as some of its neighbours are experiencing, it's a shock to the system for many Singaporeans.

It's the first time they've grappled with the realities of retrenchment, or had to settle for second best in the workplace.

Ho Geok Choo, a Member of Parliament and President of the Singapore Human Resources Institute, says Singaporeans have never known an unemployment rate so high.

"This is a time where many people are really worried about what the future holds.

"And the only hope they have is that, once the Iraq war is over, things will turn out to be better."

Growing resentment

One consequence of the worsening economic climate is growing resentment about high-end jobs being given to foreign workers.

The Singapore government has long preached the value of hiring foreigners to help Singapore compete in the global economy.

There are some one million foreign workers in the country - one in four Singapore residents - holding jobs at various levels from maids and construction workers to professionals and executives.

The policy has never been challenged before. But now, resentment is being directed at foreign professionals and CEOs.

The sentiment was highlighted in one of Singapore's most popular recent movies, I Not Stupid.

It portrayed Singapore society's tendency to shun children in lower- grade classes.

But it also took a swipe at foreign talent in Singapore.

Talented foreigners welcome

Jack Neo, the movie's director, says Singaporeans welcome people from overseas, who come and help build the nation.

"But make sure the foreign talent is really talented," he says.

"If they're not talented, why come to Singapore? Because we have our own problems."

The director believes it's something everyone can understand.

"They'll say, yes, correct.

"If you think that you are good, then you come to my country. If you are no good, then why are you coming to my country?

"It's as simple as that."

Structural unemployment

But MP Ho Geok Choo thinks the resentment is misplaced.

She says the problem is not one of NO jobs, but rather of the WRONG jobs.

"Unfortunately in Singapore we have a situation where we have the jobs available, but we don't always have people skilled enough to be able to take on these jobs.

"So there is actually structural unemployment in Singapore.

"And the only way that this work can be done is for us to bring in foreign talent with the necessary skills," she says.

"Now it's unfortunate that many Singaporeans are shunning jobs at the lower end because these jobs do not pay well.

"But the government is trying to resolve the issue by introducing a policy which requires foreign workers coming to join the construction industry to be multi-skilled.

"That way, jobs in the construction industry will command higher pay and therefore attract more Singaporeans," says Ms Ho.

Difficult message

In the end, is the price of hiring foreign talent justified?

The government thinks so.

Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew recently told Singaporeans that if they got rid of the one million foreign workers, they'd be out of a job.

It's not an easy message to sell but, Ms Ho says, sell it they must.

"There is always this perception that you are not giving Singaporeans a chance.

"But, in reality, if we actually show them which are the vacancies that are still available, for example in the retail sector, in the hospitality sector, you just can't find Singaporeans doing these jobs.

"And if the foreigners are not going to come in, very soon you're going to find hotels closing down, restaurants and shopping centres closing down, even hospitals closing down.

"They're going to move out of Singapore and it's not going to be a great situation for Singaporeans," she says.

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