Pope marvels at Singapore's skyscrapers and asks that the lowest migrant workers not be forgotten

SINGAPORE (AP) — Pope Francis on Thursday praised Singapore’s economic strength as a testament to human ingenuity but urged the city-state to look after the weakest, too, especially foreign workers, as he opened the final leg of his tour through some of Asia’s poorest countries in one of the world’s richest.

Francis marveled at Singapore's modern skyscrapers “that seem to rise from the sea” in both his opening speech to the city-state's leaders and again in the afternoon, when he celebrated Mass before an estimated 50,000 people at Singapore's national stadium.

“The most beautiful building, the most precious treasure, the most profitable investment in God’s eyes, is ourselves,” he said.

Singapore celebrated Francis' arrival by unveiling a new hybrid orchid named for him, the "Dendrobium His Holiness Pope Francis." Presented during an official welcome ceremony, the orchid “exudes a serene and pure beauty” of ivory white petals with a pink tinge at the center, according to the National Parks Board.

Francis arrived in Singapore from East Timor and began his official program Thursday by meeting with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong before addressing government authorities and the diplomatic corps at the National University of Singapore.

There, Francis praised the government's commitment to sustainable development and providing public housing and quality education and health care to its people. But he urged authorities to look out for the poorest and beware of rewarding excellence at all costs, a reference to Singapore’s highly competitive work and educational culture.

“I would like to highlight the risk entailed in focusing solely on pragmatism or placing merit above all things, namely the unintended consequence of justifying the exclusion of those on the margins from benefiting from progress,” he said.

In a common appeal from history’s first Latin American pope, Francis called especially for dignified pay and conditions for migrant workers, who have helped build Singapore into one of the world’s most advanced financial powerhouses.

“These workers contribute a great deal to society and should be guaranteed a fair wage,” Francis said.

Singapore has no minimum wage policy for locals or foreigners.

Singapore was the last stop of Francis’ 11-day tour that is the longest and farthest of his papacy after earlier stops in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor. The economic disparities were obvious upon arrival Wednesday as Francis landed in Singapore’s high-tech airport aboard the lone aircraft belonging to Aero Dili, the national carrier of East Timor, where around 42% of its people live below the poverty line.

Singapore has long touted as a success story its transformation from a colonial port lacking natural resources into a financial and trade power in just a few decades since independence from Malaysia in 1965. The former British colony enjoys one of the highest living standards in the world, and is known for its safety and low crime rate. But it is also one of the most expensive cities to live in and its competitive work environment makes for a stressful, overworked people.

Francis' praise for the country's astonishing economic growth was significant, given he has long been known to bristle at the excesses of capitalism. According to the International Monetary Fund, Singapore’s gross domestic product per capita of $133,740 was the fourth highest in the world, above the U.S. and other developed countries.

Foreigners account for over a third of Singapore’s workforce. According to official data, the foreign workforce of 1.5 million includes 286,000 domestic workers and 441,000 people in construction, shipping and maintenance jobs, helping to support Singapore’s trade-reliant economy. Many are migrant workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other poorer Asian countries.

Human Rights Watch said in a report last year that foreign migrant workers face labor rights abuses and exploitation through exorbitant debts owed to recruitment agents, non-payment of wages, restrictions on movement, confiscation of passports, and sometimes physical and sexual violence. It said domestic workers are excluded from many key labor protections, such as limits on daily work hours, sick leave and annual leave.

Francis is visiting Singapore to encourage its Catholics, who make up about 3.5% of the population of just under 6 million, while highlighting Singapore’s tradition of interfaith coexistence. According to a 2020 census, Buddhists make up about 31% of the population, Christians 19% and Muslims 15%, while about a fifth of the population claimed no religious belief whatsoever.

In his remarks to the pope, President Shanmugaratnam highlighted Singapore’s commitment to environmental sustainability and interfaith harmony, saying both were the result of hard work and dedication over decades.

“We are a multiracial, multireligious, and multicultural society,” he said. “For us, solidarity and harmony have therefore been at the core, and will remain core features in our national development.”

He praised Francis’ consistent call to care for God’s creation, saying Singapore too had made sustainability a priority ever since independence nearly six decades ago. Singapore’s greening plan through 2030 envisages greater reliance on solar energy, waste reduction and imposition of carbon taxes to transition to a low-carbon economy.

“As a small city-state, we have sought to balance development with environmental responsibility,” he said.

Francis said Singapore's environmental policies were a model for the rest of the world, calling it “a shining example of what humanity can achieve by working together in harmony, with a sense of responsibility and a spirit of inclusiveness and fraternity.”

In the afternoon, Francis celebrated Mass before an estimated 50,000 people at the country’s national stadium, attended also by church leaders from two Asian regions where the Holy See has delicate relations: the archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Stephen Chow, and the archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar, Cardinal Charles Bo.

Scores of children were allowed to approach Francis' popemobile to receive a coveted papal rosary, and one lucky couple scored a papal autograph on the Vatican parchment they had made commemorating their wedding.

And in the streets of Singapore, dozens of people came out to greet him even just to cheer as his motorcade passed by.

“We just wanted to make sure that we caught his attention, and that we really communicated our love and warm welcome to him here in Singapore," said Lissy Puno, who made posters and bracelets to commemorate the visit.

Francis will visit a center for the elderly Friday and preside over an interfaith youth event before returning to Rome.

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Ng contributed from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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