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The walkout has highlighted a difficult balancing act as Singapore’s falling birth rate forces it to rely on foreign labour to keep its decades-long economic miracle, envied round the world, on track. The influx of migrant workers from China and Bangladesh has caused friction as “heartlander” Singaporeans have complained about crowded public transport and competition for housing.

Stephen Schwartz, chief economist-Asia at BBVA Research in Hong Kong, said he doesn’t see declining exports as a systematic problem at this stage because there’s enough demand on the domestic front. In the future, he said, it’s going to be very important for China to move to higher-valued added manufacturing and to increase productivity in order to offset higher wages. Although it’s a very slow process, he added, China’s ability to catch up quickly and do things quickly is always underestimated.