Andrew Loh
Remember that time in the 70s and 80s when our mainstream media, playing lapdog to the government, exhorted all Singaporeans to not have too many babies, that “Two Is Enough”? It is testament to the effectiveness of the campaign that Singaporeans can still remember the details of that policy – some 40 years on.
Déjà vu.
This time, however, instead of babies, our mainstream media is playing lapdog to a new social engineering effort by the government in allowing the flood of foreigners onto our shores. At the last count, there are 1.68 million foreign nationals here in our tiny island. The local media has been exhorting (as it did decades ago with the “Stop At Two” campaign), in big bold headlines, for Singaporeans to be “grateful” for what we have, and to “embrace foreigners” , to be kind and “welcome” them and how we must understand that foreigners are “vital” to us!
Well, of course we know foreigners are important to our economy. What we want to know, as Pritam Singh so eloquently articulated in an earlier article on TOC, is this:
It is precisely… the very prospects of economic decline and the necessary pre-emptive measures to meet this alleged challenge, which compounds the discomfort among Singaporeans. For some, the FT policy underwrites a population surge on a very small island to a population figure Singaporeans have little clarity about…. a relationship based on transparency and openness with the public vis-à-vis the FT policy must represent the central pillar of the government’s efforts rather than one that sees the intermittent release of government data providing selective details on the FT policy, with no interest in revealing the guidelines that has and will shape that very policy.
What we also want to know are answers to some questions posed by Leong Sze Hian in this article.
What it feels right now is that the government, as it did in the 70s and 80s, is trying to jam an unclear policy down the throats of Singaporeans.
It is also sadly unfortunate that an unthinking media is again lapping it all up, without so much as a squeak of a question about what the government is doing. Singaporeans are left helpless with regards to clarity on such a divisive policy. The danger here is that such blatant promotion of the policy, which Singaporeans are unclear about, by the media may give rise to even more anxiety and unhappiness than there already are.
These are some bold headlines we’ve seen in the Straits Times in the past few weeks alone:
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Tsk tsk….ST strikes again….but nowadays, people get skeptical about what is written on ST, as it is like to boy who cries wolves 2 much
or are they feeling a negative impact from their FT policy, and is really trying to cover up the fire they have created…
More foreigners means locals have less pay. Also means higher flat prices.
Locals have to suffer when the gov wants to play god.
I just want a price I can afford to live, a reasonably secure job with a pay enough to feed my family.
I just want my future kids to be able to attend a school near our house.
More and more foreigners has made my dream more distant than ever.
To add insult to injury, I am told I need to be grateful to these foreigners…knn
“More foreigners means locals have less pay.”
Zero-sum logic. Take away all the bangala and get our own people to do the lowly skilled jobs. See what happens then.
singaporeans are happier than their counterparts in neighbouring countries. according to the headlines of monday’s news.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1000531/1/.html
only thing is that,
it was based on a 2006 survey.
The gov is very scared of publishing stats to show pathetic salaries locals are making.
In 2005:GNP per capita of $27 842
In 2006: GNP per capita of $27,370
This means we locals earn average of about $2,200 a month
Yet gov stats show the average pay of everyone in SG to be about $4,500 monthly.
The foreigners consist a third of our population but they can raise the average so much. This can only mean that while they are earning their fill, locals are struggling…very hard.
4) OriginalResonance
It is not Zero-sum logic.
Many of the foreigners can survive on low pay. $1,800 for an engineer even. Because it is a lot when they convert the money back home to China or India.
Locals can survive on this pay?
Who will companies want to employ? The cheaper or you?
Is time to find out the relationship of TH invested companies and who is on the board in these TH invested companies.
You will be surprised that all are FamiLee related.
1.68 million of foreign talents? All foreign talents? Wow…
err…. why our economy is still “down” with 1.68m of foreign talents… hmmm…. So many talents and …
Is there a minister incharge for the influx of foreigners? George Yeo? Gan Kim Yong? or Mah Bow Tan? Is there? Can anyone help me on this?
The CPF scheme is making singaporean workers disadvantaged from a cost perspective, in my view. Or is this commonsense?
It is one thing to say we need FT , new citizens , PRs.
It is another totally different thing to say we need so many FTs.
The key thing is the Number of FTs that has come in and continuing to come in as we speak, even in this crisis.
I hope people can see the difference.
To me, this is purely a commonsense thing, a natural reflex from a citizen, nothing political. Hey, I cannot be bothered with it.
Ministers should walk the their talk.
Prove to us how “important” foreigners/PRs to S’pore. Build a large foreign workers’ dormitory near their multi-million dollar bangalows.
Otherwise STOP the preaching.
for $40 conservancy to clear the rubbish daily and mm lee says we should be grateful??
$40 each unit per blk and one blk has about 120units so total conservancy charges per block is $4760
100 block they earn $476,000
and one cleaner sweep and clear small trash of up to 3block to 4 block per cleaner earning with a gross $800. and a trash lorry came to clear the big container trash few days ones with pay out ranging from $100 to$300 per block. so the balance would be $3660 per block. the total sum goes to town counsil just for 100 block is $366,000 for the month. one year is about $4392000.
so should we be grateful to mm lee for the cheap conservancy? take a look again. this might not be the real calculation but somewhere we believed it is there. so just by conservancy mm lee can sit back and rocking his chair at home while how much more has he squeeze us singaporeans and keep saying we should be grateful and we should not depend on goverment as he has little money to hand out to us. so mm lee is depending on us so he can upgrate to electric power rocking chair for his whole familee and relations. while we as a stupid singaporeans keep reading his news which he publish in st that he wrote while rocking his chair happily
More foreigners = Increase Labour Supply = Decrease in wages = Less pay for Singaporeans
More foreigners = Increase in demand for Housing = Increase in prices & rentals of Housing = More expensive housing for Singaporeans
More foreigners = Increase in demand for food & transportation, healthcare = Increase in prices of food & transportation, healthcare = More inflation for Singaporeans
More foreigners = Increase in demand for education = More competition for Singaporean children to get a place in schools
Can anyone remind me again what is the benefit of having more foreigners here?
15) Economics 101
They generate more profit for the Familee and Singapore Inc….but not for us…
Dear readers, pls read ST with a pinch of salt. Nobody in Singapore is convinced increase in FT results in jobs being saved and salary increase. We will suffer the consequences in 20years when social friction takes it’s toll in an overcrowded city. Just like it’s failed stop at 2 policy, the FT policy has to stop now. There are many cities with population less than 1 million and they still thrive and create jobs for their people. Do not support this policy. It is destined to fail.
But you know what i like? the writer praising our dear LKY for his “visionary leadership”…when someone starts an article like this, we know whether to take it with a huge pinch of salt…
come on, like singapore is here thanks to just one man…what about the forefathers that fought together with him? the write has forgotten that…and singapore is build on the blood and sweat of its people….now the people may have to give even bones and flesh to build up singapore further
one more item…they are cheaper then singaporeans…
Thus, translation: more money for the gov’t. Why?
Strange…why do the gov’t need so much money when the people are always told to suvive on less or tighten their belts…but the gov’t can still spend on steath frigates, submarines, apaches attack helicopters [long bow type], F-15 strike fighters, investing so much money overseas, spending so much money to bring in foreign talent….yeah i know it is is to keep singapore ahead or to protect singapore…but the money spent or lost [depending how one look at it is a postive or negative view] is unbelievable…
and to top it off…we singaporeans must still pay & pay more if necessary be it taxes or ERP or whatever to the gov’t yet , and we are also told bluntly to spend less, survive with whatever limited resources we have within our means, tighten our belts, give more & all, must take care of our parents with the limited means we have [those who are not financially well-off cos must pay mortage of flats, must pay for kids education etc etc], must sacrific more, donate to charities more..etc..etc…but will the gov’t consider or re-think things/policies throughfully by doing the same sacrifices wherever feasible as we are currently doing in our difficult positions for singapore too?
Eventually, many of these FTs will be made citizens and they will be so grateful to the PAP gahmen that they will vote PAP. Long live FTs. They will surely keep the PAP in power!
And yes, I shall “embrace foreigners” – those at Geylang, Joo Chiat, Orchard Towers, Tanjong Pagar… Hmmmm, so many to choose from, which shall I embrace first?
Do you even understand what “zero sum” logic means? Your statement has nothing to do with zero sum logic.
~~~~~~~~~~~
4) OriginalResonance on August 26th, 2009 1.35 am
“More foreigners means locals have less pay.”
Zero-sum logic. Take away all the bangala and get our own people to do the lowly skilled jobs. See what happens then.
How many of you have seen Banglah workers cleaning your estate while at the same time see Singaporeans rummaging through garbage bins for tin cans and cardboards?
I do not, for one moment, believe that if the cleaning job is offered to the Singaporean tin-can collector he would refuse such a job – even if the pay is lower than the Banglah worker.
Who is bluffing who?
My observations. Foreigners either stay or leave.
1. Foreigners that stay.
1a. From 3rd world countries, staying as PR. Easier to switch between jobs without having to apply for WP/EP. No need to serve NS. Keep own citizenship, continue to send $ home for their eventual investment and retirement.
1b. (Minority from 3rd world countries) apply for citizenship. Get the benefits of citizenship, but as 1st generation citizens, still do not need to serve NS. Secretly retain their original citizenship and passport (even China Chinese one). Some have their children registered as their homeland’s citizen too. When they have invested a handsome sum back home, they leave Singapore for home with their children. E.g. India Indians and their children are still welcome home as Indian citizens even when they have other citizenship. This group generally view Singapore government as the suckers.
1c. Foreign brides married to Singaporean men. These stay as long as their husband can provide them the “good life” and give them $ to buy the “good life” for their extended family back home. When the Singaporean men cannot provide, there are cases where these brides go missing-in-action. Since they already have their Singaporean citizenship, they are not afraid of being repatriated. They hang out at places to find their next source of $$$. Refer to 21 Pimps And Prostitutes on August 26th, 2009 12.23 pm.
1d. From 1st world countries, stay only as PR. These are the courted talents. They have their retirement assured by their own countries’ government. They come here on high expatriate pay (real “talent”), and thus Singapore is a playground for them. That is, until they lose their jobs in these uncertain economic times. But hey, they still get to return home for unemployment benefits. As a rule of thumb, this category of PRs will not apply for citizenship.
1e. Unskilled or semi-skilled workers staying as WP holders. Many of these are in the construction or environmental cleaning industries. These are trapped here because they paid high agency fees to get a job in Singapore. They are stuck until they have paid up their loans for their trip here. Obvious modern day slavery and human trafficking, but the Singapore Ministry of Manpower closes its eyes to it. Their existence means that the MOM can always claim that Singaporeans are just too fussy and demand high pay for jobs which foreigners can do at a cheaper cost.
2. Foreigners that leave.
2a. Stay as WP/PR/citizens temporary using Singapore as stepping stone for better shores. This group come to Singapore with a specific purpose in mind. Get the Singapore PR or citizenship, using their Singapore experience to emigrate to 1st world countries. Many do this because their own homeland has too many emigration applications and/or the emigration applications from their homeland are more stringently checked. This category includes Filipinos, Burmese, India Indians, China Chinese, and Malaysian Chinese. Many of them are in either the IT or nursing professions. Those in IT displaces the locals in those fields with cheaper pay, even if they are actually under-skilled. Those in nursing often face communication problems with patients/relatives due to cultural/language differences. Those in housing rental do well by focusing on serving/baiting members of their own community. Those in private banking are also recruited to serve the super-rich of their own community.
2b. China Chinese professionals for the “English” exposure. In the late 90′s and early 2000′s, China Chinese professionals who come here to add the MNC or English exposure to their resume. This will expedite their climb up the corporate ladder when they return home. I respect this group, because of their professional work attitude and contributions to the team. However with the major Chinese cities open to many MNCs investments nowadays, this is a dwindling group and they can get the same or better exposure in these major Chinese cities.
2c. Hong Kongers who came and left. Hong Kongers who came in the early to mid 90′s, get the Singapore red passport as a backup. Many have since returned to Hong Kong or emigrated to other 1st world countries using the Singapore passport.
The above are generalizations. There are exceptions who genuinely wish to be a part of Singapore for themselves and their children. But I have personally met so few of those, that they make up 3% or less. What good is it to be a Singaporean? Well, you can use the Sinapore passport to get out of this country before its dominant political party runs it to Hades.
In the lead article, Andrew described the msm as “LAP DOG”.
More like mouthpiece of the gahmen lah.
SHOULD THERE BE A WAR TOMORROW, WHO WOULD BE CALLED UP TO DEFEND SINGAPORE ?
The FT ? The expats ?The pappies ?
NO! It will again be the responsibilities of the 90% of common people who hold a pink IC but not owning foreign assets or dual citizenship, they would have to fight to uphold a system that have enslaved them for 50 years.
Yeah, S’pore’s FT policy means employing a lot of Mainland China people as Tibs bus drivers even if they cannot speak and understand English, let alone help give directions to commuters in need of help.
Can ask anyone who has experienced first hand the frustration when dealing with these FT bus drivers.
On the other hand, a lot of employment opportunities & job adverts tell you need to either be bilingual or can speak Mandarin; like as if in a company there will not be other Mandarin speaking colleagues to help out should you suddenly encounter a client or customer who cannot even understand & speak simple English (in this day & age).
Anyone disagree, S’pore’s FT policy means bringing in Mainland China people for the sleaze industry and lately as bus drivers. Of course, Bangla workers are also welcomed to be squeezed and exploited as manual workers.
So, bring them on…
u are missing the picture if u think singaporeans are mainly losing to ft on s-pass taking $1800.
even more jobs are lost to those on ep, who draw $2.5k above and has no quota at all! that how u have dept filled totally with ft! i’m sure u’ve also heard of how ft replaced singaporeans with their own countrymen.
they are not cheap compared to singaporeans!!
pse realise that not only are we not protected, we are being discriminised in our own country.
21) Pimps And Prostitutes on August 26th, 2009 12.23 pm
And yes, I shall “embrace foreigners” – those at Geylang, Joo Chiat, Orchard Towers, Tanjong Pagar… Hmmmm, so many to choose from, which shall I embrace first?
that is what our father LKY have given singaporeans to have a better life.
release your stress there while the gahmen squeeze you on the other side.
hahahaha
23) gemami on August 26th, 2009 1.38 pm
How many of you have seen Banglah workers cleaning your estate while at the same time see Singaporeans rummaging through garbage bins for tin cans and cardboards?
I do not, for one moment, believe that if the cleaning job is offered to the Singaporean tin-can collector he would refuse such a job – even if the pay is lower than the Banglah worker.
Who is bluffing who?
you hit that!! your are 100% right!!
1a. From 3rd world countries, staying as PR. Easier to switch between jobs without having to apply for WP/EP. No need to serve NS. Keep own citizenship, continue to send $ home for their eventual investment and retirement.
once the foreign had work hard here and send home all their sing dollars back to their country for retirement and leave singapore after what they have gain…………….to call themselve retired and relax their old age.
then singaporeans can sit and su#k their di@k and li#k their own puus#y. and work hard and harder no retirement and old age relax
all the banks and so on offer retirement are all bullsh#tting us
FT earns $1800 a month as a lorry driver to pick up and send workers on site and back to domitory and to count the man before and after pick up.
you call that cheap??
singaporean will go for that kiind of jobs
what kind of sh#t is LKY talking?
singaporeans refuse this kind of jobs??
singaporeans this is not to put fire on you.
if war will happen fight for your rights.
fight with your brains as MM LEE is screwing up you singaporeans brains!
the best thing to note is that its precisely many Singaporean bosses who are hiring foreigners and many also abuse the banglas and enjoying cost savings and more profit.
singaporeans acting on singaporeans.
merit of crazy.
the end.
Hi all. Alright now 1st of all I am no fan of the ruling party that appears to rule from another planet considering how out of touch they are with the people. I find this article and many comments above true rather enlightening however folks, please be fair in some areas. My wife is a foreigner (PR), we met while she was an accounting student here almost 7 years ago. She decided to settle down here only after we decided to get married. Please note that it is not marry a Singaporean to stay but rather stay BECAUSE married to a Singaporean. Many people forget examples like that when making snide remarks with off-color references to gold diggers and scarlet ladies (which by the way can only trive due to the considerable demand of the local male populace). My wife who is the proud mother to our full blood, born and bred Singaporean daugther has never had to work for ‘cheaper’ pay in order to get jobs, only her qualifications and abilities which always command market rates and above. Neither does she have to stay in Singapore in order to have a better life. She stays because this is her new family’s home. Why did I marry a foreigner? Am I an old uncle without much of a choice? Did I buy a bride? Nope. I am in my early 20s and my wife will not hesitate to break the neck of anyone suggeting to buy her.So why? No reason other than meeting the right person and falling in love. So while we patriots fret and grumble and hope to eventually improve the situation that tyrants have placed our beloved homeland under, please spare a thought and be careful not to generalize lest we prove ourselve truely too small minded and ignorant to have complete liberty.
From a Friend, Fellow Citizen and True Patriot.
Another thing Gentlemen, should there be a War I don’t care who will or will not fight to defend Singapore. I know I will. Singapore does not = PAP. No matter how badly ruled we are, I will never ever consider allowing my Home to be soiled by any aggressor and will Not give an inch of the land on which I grew up and on which my family lives to the armies of an Invader.
just wondering what you would all think if australians, for eg, were saying the same thing about singaporean students and immigrants there??? even if we accept there is an argument for the govt to ensure a level playing field btw singaporeans and FTs, surely we must also accept there are singaporeans who go abroad for their own reasons and respect those too???
38) wondering
If you are using australia as an example….they have min. wage law that makes the game fair…while in SGP, our dear FT can be hired at a rediculous rate, tilting the balance in their favour…cabish? see the link?
perhaps, if you want to quote example…make use of a country where singaporeans is at an advantage vis-a-vis the locals
“38) Yamamoto on August 26th, 2009 8.01 pm 38) wondering
If you are using australia as an example….they have min. wage law that makes the game fair…”
No need to compare when its the People who accepted as in not demanding change.
’37) True Patriot Down South on August 26th, 2009 5.47 pm
Another thing Gentlemen, should there be a War I don’t care who will or will not fight to defend Singapore. I know I will. Singapore does not = PAP. No matter how badly ruled we are, I will never ever consider allowing my Home to be soiled by any aggressor and will Not give an inch of the land on which I grew up and on which my family lives to the armies of an Invader.’
Dear all, should there be a war, where/who would you point the gun at if you are called up and are issued a rifle with live bullets?
LKY and his papies! the rifle will be point straight to their head with no mercy!
before the every elections.
did he voice up and say once we vote PAP they will increase the living standard and increase the taxes and gst and about our salary they will not be able to do anything and we have to tighten our belt and survive it and sacrifice being a singaporeans. they will also increase the inflow of foreign talents and some of their family to be singapore citizens and take up new job and challenge and we as a singaporeans must offer them part of our land.
will he mention all this before election?
but instead he gave out goodies and rebates make us voted and then go collect your goodies and the goodies lasted you the day you take it.
trust me the goodies doesn’t last you even a week!
all this while has been the same thing this mm lee and his PAP been doing.
yet if this election you singaporeans still voted for PAP then i would say singaporeans are just giving their future of their beloved ones to grave and singaporeans soon will not exist and this PAP can never be defeated anymore
this is the last chance we are standing in and the last platform we are standing in.
your choice. fight for your country of surrender it to foreigns and PAP
singaporeans married to a foreigner is a total different issue here. atleast there is a mix and understand and it will be equally brought in with singaporeans need.
but what we are talking about now is the foreigns and their familys mainly china are the inflow into singapore almost cover more then half of our land. will that be equal? that would out number the amount of singaporeans today and the breed will not be coming from any of our blood but mainly their own country and china and other foreigns who step in here to work stay and breed so while we sinagporeans with hard work and limited income will we even be thinking of breeding? but rather how to avoid breeding as our income is so low that we had to struggle to meet ends meet and how is it possible to even have child after child? so lky mention that singaporeans doesn’t want to breed? ok i bring in foreign to breed. you see his game? he knows singaporeans very well and what he need to do to keep you singaporeans down the limit rather givign you singaporeans chance to out your head up.
coz he knows well if he do that he and his papaies will be gone those days. but now he had make a mistake in his game after all this years.
37) wondering on August 26th, 2009 6.53 pm
just wondering what you would all think if australians, for eg, were saying the same thing about singaporean students and immigrants there??? even if we accept there is an argument for the govt to ensure a level playing field btw singaporeans and FTs, surely we must also accept there are singaporeans who go abroad for their own reasons and respect those too???
we think you must be wondering too much.lol you are still young dude to go into this debate. go home and prepare for your next day school. study hard.
I wonder if someone prints this out and slots into the mailboxes of HDB flats, is that legal?
As legal as the unwanted mailers stuffed underneath the door of my flat?
Do something! You might have only one last legal chance to vote.
This Bernie Utchenik fellow (aka Botak Jones) probably only gave up his US citizenship after the US govt increased the tax burden for overseas citizens in 2007 (or 2008?). But hats off to these old yankee oil rigger types – making a heck of a lot more money and being revered in Asia, whereas they’d be half drunk and yelling at kids from their porches back home!
The influx of immigrants is decided by MM and executed by Wong Kan Seng. MM Lee Kuan Yew wants the immigrants to maintain the “racial balance” in Singapore. Hence, eight out of ten must be of Chinese origin and the policy has nothing to do with talent or meritocracy.
Recently, someone sent me a T-shirt (email only) that says…
I DON’T NEED SEX.
The government f**ks me everyday!
Singaporeans should be augmented by foreigners and not only that
I strongly feel that existing singaporeans should be CHANGED by these new blood.
Reasons:
1. As sad as I feel when i say this, I have to say that I am convinced that existing singaporeans HAVE PROVEN THEY CANNOT CHANGE the status quo.
Half a century should be enough proof? Correct me if wrong.
2. Look at the pathetic status of the opposition.
How have the progressed?
What is the calibre we see?
any meat?
WP is the best of the opposition so far based purely on the past results.
But this does not mean if they win , they can deliver.
When so many supporters turned up for their rally, did LTK able to capitalise? The result have spoken for itself. Any GRC won? ZERO. As in ZILCH. Any progress?
3. While existing citizens lament the influx, it is not entirely a bad thing.
I have given up. I see that it would take decades for this new immigrants to make a change as well. But then, they are what is left to attempt at change when the existing ones have proven inability to achieve the kind of change desired by many.
The stronger GENES naturally will replace the weaker genes. Civilizations can go extinct . In this case, new immigrants, like 3 million of them in the near future, will be able to replace if not augment the made-in-singapore GENE POOL.
May I leave with parting words :
Real is Fake ,
Fake is Real,
Color is Emptiness,
Emptiness is Color.
Real Real Fake Fake,
Fake Fake Real Real,
vista is hasta las vista !
To (40) PAP SUPPORTER on the issue of “should there be a war, where/who would you point the gun at if you are called up and are issued a rifle with live bullets?” I dare say a majority of us would point our rifles at the enemies and not our fellow Singaporeans. We are oppositions to PAP, not opposition to our Nation. We are patriots, and that’s why we debate on what’s best for the country, not kowtow and be pussy-whipped by PAP into a Yes! man. Are you?
It burns me to have someone accusing opposing ideas as unpatriotic or question the patriotism of another who supports the opposition. Who gives you the right to question, just because you’re a PAP lapdog?
49) JC on August 27th, 2009 3.06 am
yes you are right. why should we point to foreign when the goverment and his PAP ih the one that cause all this. we musn’t fall in their hand again and their goodies for coming election.
singaporeans please…please…..think for your future
if this is what singaporean addicted to being squeeze then vote again to them and they will enjoy squeezing you even more and soon you singaporeans will be no differents then a slave of japanese war time