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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Sep 17, 2009
SLOWER IMMIGRATION
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Spur intake of citizens
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IN YESTERDAY'S report, 'PM signals a slower intake of immigrants', Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong disclosed that there will be sharper differentiation in the way the Government treats citizens and permanent residents (PRs).
Is this a hint that the Government would like to see more PRs taking up citizenship?
Offering more foreigners the chance to become PRs enlarges the pool of potential new citizens in the future. However, if most PRs are unwilling to take up citizenship, we risk becoming a nation of PRs and foreigners within 50 years.
Assume the population reaches 6.5 million by 2060. By then, the 3.1 million citizens now will likely decline to two million.
Who will comprise the remaining 4.5 million?
It is crucial that we naturalise at least 1.35 million new citizens so Singaporeans account for at least 51 per cent of the total population.
We have about 500,000 PRs now. Every year, PRs increase in larger numbers than new citizens. In 2007, there were 63,627 new PRs but only 17,334 new citizens; last year, there were 79,167 new PRs and 20,513 new citizens.
In this two-horse race between new citizens and new PRs, this trend must be reversed if we aim to have at least 1.35 million new citizens by 2060. The sooner it happens, the better for our future generations.
When the 51 per cent majority is under threat, future generations may have to reduce economic growth, lower the criteria for citizenship or accept immigrants from non-traditional sources, which may all create other problems.
PRs should know that their descendants share a common and intertwined destiny with the descendants of citizens here. A low citizenry ratio will weaken and destabilise Singapore.
It is in the long-term interest of our mutual descendants to speed up the naturalisation process now.
To avoid putting future generations in a tight spot, let us bite the bullet and shoulder a heavier responsibility of absorbing more new citizens and tackle the problems that come with it now.
If the current generation cannot solve these problems, what chance has the future generation of Singaporeans when the number of native-born citizens declines year after year?
Ng Ya Ken
SLOWER IMMIGRATION
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Spur intake of citizens
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IN YESTERDAY'S report, 'PM signals a slower intake of immigrants', Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong disclosed that there will be sharper differentiation in the way the Government treats citizens and permanent residents (PRs).
Is this a hint that the Government would like to see more PRs taking up citizenship?
Offering more foreigners the chance to become PRs enlarges the pool of potential new citizens in the future. However, if most PRs are unwilling to take up citizenship, we risk becoming a nation of PRs and foreigners within 50 years.
Assume the population reaches 6.5 million by 2060. By then, the 3.1 million citizens now will likely decline to two million.
Who will comprise the remaining 4.5 million?
It is crucial that we naturalise at least 1.35 million new citizens so Singaporeans account for at least 51 per cent of the total population.
We have about 500,000 PRs now. Every year, PRs increase in larger numbers than new citizens. In 2007, there were 63,627 new PRs but only 17,334 new citizens; last year, there were 79,167 new PRs and 20,513 new citizens.
In this two-horse race between new citizens and new PRs, this trend must be reversed if we aim to have at least 1.35 million new citizens by 2060. The sooner it happens, the better for our future generations.
When the 51 per cent majority is under threat, future generations may have to reduce economic growth, lower the criteria for citizenship or accept immigrants from non-traditional sources, which may all create other problems.
PRs should know that their descendants share a common and intertwined destiny with the descendants of citizens here. A low citizenry ratio will weaken and destabilise Singapore.
It is in the long-term interest of our mutual descendants to speed up the naturalisation process now.
To avoid putting future generations in a tight spot, let us bite the bullet and shoulder a heavier responsibility of absorbing more new citizens and tackle the problems that come with it now.
If the current generation cannot solve these problems, what chance has the future generation of Singaporeans when the number of native-born citizens declines year after year?
Ng Ya Ken
