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By Tessa Wong
The Straits Times
Wednesday, Feb 06, 2013
SINGAPORE - Her husband and son are Singaporeans so Madam Hyunh Thanh Loan would like to be a citizen too.
The 28-year-old Vietnamese, who has been living in Singapore on a long-term visit pass since she married a Singaporean salesman three years ago, is now thinking of applying for citizenship.
Said the housewife: "Now my life is here with my husband and baby. It will be good if I can become a Singaporean also."
Madam Loan is the face of a growing statistic in Singapore.
Today, some four in 10 marriages are between Singaporeans and non-citizens. This is in contrast to a decade ago, when only two in 10 marriages had such pairings.
Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu said immigration policies would "take into consideration this group as potential Singapore citizens".
But she added that the Government would neither encourage nor discourage Singaporeans from marrying foreigners.
She was taking questions on the proposed immigration policy outlined in the Population White Paper released last week, which projected the population growing to 6.9 million by 2030, of which 55 per cent would be citizens.
The paper proposed taking in 15,000 to 25,000 new citizens and 30,000 permanent residents a year.
In 2011, nearly three-quarters of the 8,949 marriages between citizens and non-citizens were between a Singaporean man and a woman from another part of Asia.
Many foreign wives want to become citizens as they have Singaporean children and want to sink their roots here.
The problem, said counsellors and researchers, is that not many of them belong to the category of highly skilled, educated immigrants that the Government hopes to attract.
National Population and Talent Division figures show that these women tend to be aged below 40 and have only secondary school or post-secondary qualifications.
Less than a quarter have university degrees.
Mr Jeremy Khoo, executive director of the Catholic Church's Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, said many of the foreign wives his group has helped have problems getting permanent residency, let alone citizenship.
"It is quite tough for them, there isn't a sense of stability and security as they have to keep renewing their visit passes," he added.
Some feel that the Government could be more flexible and grant these women citizenship or at least permanent residency.
This would mean that they could qualify for medical and housing subsidies, said Ms Azmeen Moiz, a lawyer and volunteer with Aware who is working on a research paper on foreign wives.
Said migration expert Leong Chan Hoong of the Institute of Policy Studies: "They may not contribute much economically. But they do so socially, by raising and taking care of their children who are Singaporeans."
He added that such foreigners tend to be seen as more assimilated into society.
He conducted a study last year which asked Singaporeans what factors are important in viewing an immigrant as a fellow Singaporean.
Two factors that scored highly were if the foreigners have children who are Singapore citizens, and if their sons do national service.
Still, there is concern over sham marriages, which have been increasing.
There were 12 such cases in the first half of last year, compared to four or five annually in the five years before that.
But advocates pointed out that more safeguards have been put in place, with an amendment to the Immigration Act passed last year that makes it illegal for anyone to engage or assist in a sham marriage.
Convicted offenders face a fine of up to $10,000, or a jail term of up to 10 years, or both.
To weed out such cases, advocates said the Government could give citizenship only to those who have Singaporean children and who have lived in the country for a number of years.
Said Ms Moiz: "It is the right thing to do. These foreign wives have a vested interest in making Singapore their permanent home, as they are birthing a new generation of Singaporean kids."
[email protected]
The Straits Times
Wednesday, Feb 06, 2013
SINGAPORE - Her husband and son are Singaporeans so Madam Hyunh Thanh Loan would like to be a citizen too.
The 28-year-old Vietnamese, who has been living in Singapore on a long-term visit pass since she married a Singaporean salesman three years ago, is now thinking of applying for citizenship.
Said the housewife: "Now my life is here with my husband and baby. It will be good if I can become a Singaporean also."
Madam Loan is the face of a growing statistic in Singapore.
Today, some four in 10 marriages are between Singaporeans and non-citizens. This is in contrast to a decade ago, when only two in 10 marriages had such pairings.
Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu said immigration policies would "take into consideration this group as potential Singapore citizens".
But she added that the Government would neither encourage nor discourage Singaporeans from marrying foreigners.
She was taking questions on the proposed immigration policy outlined in the Population White Paper released last week, which projected the population growing to 6.9 million by 2030, of which 55 per cent would be citizens.
The paper proposed taking in 15,000 to 25,000 new citizens and 30,000 permanent residents a year.
In 2011, nearly three-quarters of the 8,949 marriages between citizens and non-citizens were between a Singaporean man and a woman from another part of Asia.
Many foreign wives want to become citizens as they have Singaporean children and want to sink their roots here.
The problem, said counsellors and researchers, is that not many of them belong to the category of highly skilled, educated immigrants that the Government hopes to attract.
National Population and Talent Division figures show that these women tend to be aged below 40 and have only secondary school or post-secondary qualifications.
Less than a quarter have university degrees.
Mr Jeremy Khoo, executive director of the Catholic Church's Archdiocesan Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, said many of the foreign wives his group has helped have problems getting permanent residency, let alone citizenship.
"It is quite tough for them, there isn't a sense of stability and security as they have to keep renewing their visit passes," he added.
Some feel that the Government could be more flexible and grant these women citizenship or at least permanent residency.
This would mean that they could qualify for medical and housing subsidies, said Ms Azmeen Moiz, a lawyer and volunteer with Aware who is working on a research paper on foreign wives.
Said migration expert Leong Chan Hoong of the Institute of Policy Studies: "They may not contribute much economically. But they do so socially, by raising and taking care of their children who are Singaporeans."
He added that such foreigners tend to be seen as more assimilated into society.
He conducted a study last year which asked Singaporeans what factors are important in viewing an immigrant as a fellow Singaporean.
Two factors that scored highly were if the foreigners have children who are Singapore citizens, and if their sons do national service.
Still, there is concern over sham marriages, which have been increasing.
There were 12 such cases in the first half of last year, compared to four or five annually in the five years before that.
But advocates pointed out that more safeguards have been put in place, with an amendment to the Immigration Act passed last year that makes it illegal for anyone to engage or assist in a sham marriage.
Convicted offenders face a fine of up to $10,000, or a jail term of up to 10 years, or both.
To weed out such cases, advocates said the Government could give citizenship only to those who have Singaporean children and who have lived in the country for a number of years.
Said Ms Moiz: "It is the right thing to do. These foreign wives have a vested interest in making Singapore their permanent home, as they are birthing a new generation of Singaporean kids."
[email protected]
