After two horrible years for the food and beverage sector, we are now confronted with rising costs on multiple fronts from ingredients and now labour (Will higher cost of foreigners spur hiring of more locals?, Feb 26).

As a Singaporean restaurateur who graduated as part of the first cohort of polytechnic hospitality students here, I have always supported local hires.

I work closely with local schools to build a talent pipeline into my company and to build up the Singaporean style of hospitality - polished but never snooty - in the long run.

Unfortunately, not many Singaporeans have a calling to work in F&B, judging by the retention rate of hospitality graduates from local tertiary institutions.

Making it more expensive to hire foreigners will not solve the upstream problem of Singaporeans shunning this industry. If anything, it will increase costs and lower profitability.

Restaurants play an often-overlooked role in ensuring that Singapore remains attractive to the best and the wealthy that the Government wants to attract to set up base here.

Without a vibrant and world-class F&B scene for the citizens of the world to wine and dine to complement Singapore's stable and safe business environment, Singapore will eventually lose out to places like Dubai or Hong Kong.

To ensure the authenticity of the experience, restaurants sometimes must hire foreigners to fit particular roles. How can the new points-based scoring system to assess Employment Pass (EP) applications take into account such constraints and biases?

The more I have to pay foreign head chefs to meet the EP criteria, the less I have left to pay those, including Singaporeans, in other roles.

We are always ready to turn to Singaporeans, but if my fellow citizens do not want to come to us, why are the hoops getting harder for us to jump through?

Raymond Lim Siong Heng