- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 33,627
- Points
- 0
[h=2]Stemming the Singapore PR tide[/h]
July 14th, 2012 |
Author: Contributions
Ruling PAP races against time to curb the flow of foreigners swarming into the city state.
AFTER years of being greeted with a welcome mat, the foreign permanent resident (PR) is encountering less official warmth and more restrictions.
In a shift of strategy, the government has announced measures to control the foreign inflow, alienating a large portion of the population.
The move comes at a time when the economy – globally and at home – is heading for a decline that may threaten jobs and businesses.
The slower growth may not be temporary. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently said it might be around for the next 10 years.
“For Singapore, slow growth will mean fewer new investments. Good jobs will be scarcer and unemployment higher,” he said.
If what he said is borne out, the future demand for foreign workers – both professionals and the unskilled – would be likely to fall or cause an exodus, as what happened in the last recession.
Singapore’s immigration strategy, which often determines the pace of its history, appears to be changing course – at least for now.
For years, foreigners had been welcomed and two million of them – including 530,000 PRs – flocked in over the past 20 years.
The doors have not been shut, but the government last week tightened rules that allowed foreign workers to bring in their families. It was aimed at attracting talent to settle here.
Tens of thousands, including the untalented, have packed their parents, in-laws and other relatives into this already overcrowded city.
From Sept 1, they must earn at least S$4,000 (RM10,035, currently $2,800 or RM7,026) a month to sponsor their spouses and children to stay here.
Some workers also will no longer be able to bring their parents and in-laws on long-term visit passes.
With foreigners reaching 37% of the 5.2-million population, squeezed Singaporeans have vehemently protested over threatened jobs and living standards.
The large foreign presence has also resulted in more conflicts with locals.
The biggest impact is on PRs, who had for many years been given a pretty free rein in Singapore under its open-door policy – one of the freest among developed cities.
Lee explained: “We have to make sure that we’re not overwhelmed by foreigners. Their arrivals must be at a pace that Singaporeans can accept and get used to.”
He gave no quota.
Families who are already here would not be affected but foreign workers who switch jobs after Sept 1 will be subject to the new rules.
In addition, new laws will be enacted to make sham marriages (to obtain immigration papers) a criminal offence.
A code of conduct will apply to PRs and those whose activities are “prejudicial to public order” will have their status cancelled.
A day after the announcement, the authorities imposed restrictions on PRs subletting their subsidised public flats for more than one year from the current three.
This is to prevent PRs from buying resale public apartments for investment.
There had been several recent indications that a squeeze was forthcoming.
These included increasing school fees for PR children from next year. The Education Ministry also pledged to give “absolute priority” to locals in primary schools.
Youths who give up their PR status before they reach 18 to escape national service (some 30% have done so) would also face punishment.
In April, the government disallowed wealthy foreigners from “buying” PR status by parking S$10mil (RM25mil) here.
According to Business Times, the ban followed public complaints that the influx of immigrants was having an impact on asset prices.
The move to control foreign workers is likely to reverberate through several countries whose citizens hope to work or settle here.
In fact, the cut-back has already started. Last year, the PR population fell from 541,000 to 532,000 – the first decline in years.
The announcement caught foreigners here by surprise, with some privately expressing concern about their future here.
Some 79% of Singaporeans surveyed said they were against the scale of their presence, a weighty factor in a one-man-one-vote political system. The next general election is in 2016.
“We are not sure what additional measures may be in store in the next few years,” said an IT worker from India.
“Why is the government making life tougher for us since we are also paying taxes?” another PR reportedly asked his office colleague.
In a longer online reaction, another foreign worker wrote: “Do you think the Singapore economy can be sustained if not for PRs?”
He considered this a government move to force PRs – “most of whom remain loyal to their own countries” – to take up Singaporean citizenship.
For Singapore’s large middle class, the biggest impact to their lives has been the “cheaper-paid” foreign professionals, executives and technicians. They affect local jobs and undermine salaries.
During the past decade, an average of 36,000 foreigners a year had been made PRs. The brakes were applied last year, resulting in a decline of 1.7% or 29,265 to 532,000 PRs.
The government move is largely welcomed by Singaporeans as a good start to resolve the country’s biggest dilemma.
Some critics say it is a case of too little too late because the harm of having two million foreigners has already sunk in too deeply.
“If it continues to linger, it could pose a threat to the People’s Action Party (PAP) continuing rule here,” said a blogger.
“Freezing the number is the first step. The next must be to roll back many of the untalented, cheap wor­kers among the two million.”
.
Seah Chiang Nee
Chiang Nee has been a journalist for 40 years. He is a true-blooded Singaporean, born, bred and says that he hopes to die in Singapore. He worked as a Reuters corespondent between 1960-70, based in Singapore but with various assignments in Southeast Asia, including a total of about 40 months in (then South) Vietnam between 1966-1970. In 1970, he left to work for Singapore Herald, first as Malaysia Bureau Chief and later as News Editor before it was forced to close after a run-in with the Singapore Government. He then left Singapore to work for The Asian, the world’s first regional weekly newspaper, based in Bangkok to cover Thailand and Indochina for two years between 1972-73. Other jobs: News Editor of Hong Kong Standard (1973-74), Foreign Editor of Straits Times with reporting assignments to Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and The United States (1974-82) and Editor of Singapore Monitor (1982-85). Since 1986, he has been a columnist for the Malaysia’s The Star newspaper. Article first appeared in his blog, http://www.littlespeck.com.
.
Ruling PAP races against time to curb the flow of foreigners swarming into the city state.
AFTER years of being greeted with a welcome mat, the foreign permanent resident (PR) is encountering less official warmth and more restrictions.
In a shift of strategy, the government has announced measures to control the foreign inflow, alienating a large portion of the population.
The move comes at a time when the economy – globally and at home – is heading for a decline that may threaten jobs and businesses.
The slower growth may not be temporary. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently said it might be around for the next 10 years.
“For Singapore, slow growth will mean fewer new investments. Good jobs will be scarcer and unemployment higher,” he said.
If what he said is borne out, the future demand for foreign workers – both professionals and the unskilled – would be likely to fall or cause an exodus, as what happened in the last recession.
Singapore’s immigration strategy, which often determines the pace of its history, appears to be changing course – at least for now.
For years, foreigners had been welcomed and two million of them – including 530,000 PRs – flocked in over the past 20 years.
The doors have not been shut, but the government last week tightened rules that allowed foreign workers to bring in their families. It was aimed at attracting talent to settle here.
Tens of thousands, including the untalented, have packed their parents, in-laws and other relatives into this already overcrowded city.
From Sept 1, they must earn at least S$4,000 (RM10,035, currently $2,800 or RM7,026) a month to sponsor their spouses and children to stay here.
Some workers also will no longer be able to bring their parents and in-laws on long-term visit passes.
With foreigners reaching 37% of the 5.2-million population, squeezed Singaporeans have vehemently protested over threatened jobs and living standards.
The large foreign presence has also resulted in more conflicts with locals.
The biggest impact is on PRs, who had for many years been given a pretty free rein in Singapore under its open-door policy – one of the freest among developed cities.
Lee explained: “We have to make sure that we’re not overwhelmed by foreigners. Their arrivals must be at a pace that Singaporeans can accept and get used to.”
He gave no quota.
Families who are already here would not be affected but foreign workers who switch jobs after Sept 1 will be subject to the new rules.
In addition, new laws will be enacted to make sham marriages (to obtain immigration papers) a criminal offence.
A code of conduct will apply to PRs and those whose activities are “prejudicial to public order” will have their status cancelled.
A day after the announcement, the authorities imposed restrictions on PRs subletting their subsidised public flats for more than one year from the current three.
This is to prevent PRs from buying resale public apartments for investment.
There had been several recent indications that a squeeze was forthcoming.
These included increasing school fees for PR children from next year. The Education Ministry also pledged to give “absolute priority” to locals in primary schools.
Youths who give up their PR status before they reach 18 to escape national service (some 30% have done so) would also face punishment.
In April, the government disallowed wealthy foreigners from “buying” PR status by parking S$10mil (RM25mil) here.
According to Business Times, the ban followed public complaints that the influx of immigrants was having an impact on asset prices.
The move to control foreign workers is likely to reverberate through several countries whose citizens hope to work or settle here.
In fact, the cut-back has already started. Last year, the PR population fell from 541,000 to 532,000 – the first decline in years.
The announcement caught foreigners here by surprise, with some privately expressing concern about their future here.
Some 79% of Singaporeans surveyed said they were against the scale of their presence, a weighty factor in a one-man-one-vote political system. The next general election is in 2016.
“We are not sure what additional measures may be in store in the next few years,” said an IT worker from India.
“Why is the government making life tougher for us since we are also paying taxes?” another PR reportedly asked his office colleague.
In a longer online reaction, another foreign worker wrote: “Do you think the Singapore economy can be sustained if not for PRs?”
He considered this a government move to force PRs – “most of whom remain loyal to their own countries” – to take up Singaporean citizenship.
For Singapore’s large middle class, the biggest impact to their lives has been the “cheaper-paid” foreign professionals, executives and technicians. They affect local jobs and undermine salaries.
During the past decade, an average of 36,000 foreigners a year had been made PRs. The brakes were applied last year, resulting in a decline of 1.7% or 29,265 to 532,000 PRs.
The government move is largely welcomed by Singaporeans as a good start to resolve the country’s biggest dilemma.
Some critics say it is a case of too little too late because the harm of having two million foreigners has already sunk in too deeply.
“If it continues to linger, it could pose a threat to the People’s Action Party (PAP) continuing rule here,” said a blogger.
“Freezing the number is the first step. The next must be to roll back many of the untalented, cheap wor­kers among the two million.”
.
Seah Chiang Nee
Chiang Nee has been a journalist for 40 years. He is a true-blooded Singaporean, born, bred and says that he hopes to die in Singapore. He worked as a Reuters corespondent between 1960-70, based in Singapore but with various assignments in Southeast Asia, including a total of about 40 months in (then South) Vietnam between 1966-1970. In 1970, he left to work for Singapore Herald, first as Malaysia Bureau Chief and later as News Editor before it was forced to close after a run-in with the Singapore Government. He then left Singapore to work for The Asian, the world’s first regional weekly newspaper, based in Bangkok to cover Thailand and Indochina for two years between 1972-73. Other jobs: News Editor of Hong Kong Standard (1973-74), Foreign Editor of Straits Times with reporting assignments to Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and The United States (1974-82) and Editor of Singapore Monitor (1982-85). Since 1986, he has been a columnist for the Malaysia’s The Star newspaper. Article first appeared in his blog, http://www.littlespeck.com.
.
