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In forking out $10 million to ‘promote integration between immigrants and citizens in the community, schools and workplace’, the government discovers that adopting foreign nationals does not only produce social friction, but can become quite expensive as well.
Together we can (pay you to) move mountains
Coming soon after a concession by PM Lee Hsien Loong to have a ‘sustained, calibrated inflow of immigrants’ during a speech at NTU, the government goes back to a familiar route: throw an impressive figure, because in Singapore money will move mountains.
The highfalutin-sounding Community Integration Fund will disburse $10 million to subsidse ‘groups keen on holding events but which lack the resources to do so’. Thus far though, little has been said about the conditions – would a Chinese clan association be sponsored for holding a dinner for new Chinese citizens? How about a mosque holding a religious seminar between Muslim immigrants and locals qualify? The very lack of detail testifies not to a government undertaking ameliorative actions to reduce the social frictions of its own doing, but one trying to pay its way out of the responsibility.
For a government predisposed to jealously guarding its power, it is uncharacteristic to allow ‘organisations (to hold) projects – cultural gatherings, seminars, social outings and the like – to help immigrants and Singaporeans mingle and get to know each other’. It is not like the all-powerful, ever-competent government to allow trivial non-state ‘groups’ to pick up the slack, particularly on an issue of such sensitive socio-political importance, unless the government itself is devoid of a real substantive solution beyond funding marquee events that are limited to being headline-worthy and glossy photograph-material.
‘Civil society group facilitates cultural exchange programme between immigrants and citizens, with help from the state’ may well be the celebratory praises sung by a hypothetical Straits Times headline in the near future. And why should it not – self-congratulatory pats are in order for that brilliant win-win-win dynamics: civil society benefits, the government benefits and the nation benefits!
But alas, it remains that while a democratic government cooperating with civil society to achieve national goals is being magnanimous and enlightened, a soft authoritarian and paternalistic government deferring to civil society is one that is just lacking in ideas. The government, as power-sensitive as they come, will only cede authority when they realise that the responsibility is beyond their million-dollar capacity to resolve.
The grassroots teaches politics
The pinnacle of the integration masterplan: the Naturalisation and Integration Journey, effectively a condensed National Education lesson for immigrants vying for a pink IC and red passport.
Essentially an ‘updated orientation programme for new citizens’, it will introduce ‘key historical landmarks and institutions, and … grassroots communities here’. The inclusion of ‘grassroots communities’ as though it was an integral and representative segment of the population would certainly raise eyebrows. The nominally apolitical grassroots leaders and members often double up as the rah-rah boys of certain political inclinations, and it would be hard to imagine that they would refrain from passing their infectious enthusiasm to the coterie of new citizens.
A legitimate claim could be advanced that this form of political education is valuable in engendering civic and responsible citizens. The argument has such compelling beauty that we are forced to concede that political education for new citizen is not only fair but necessary, except for the niggling quibble that political education sponsored by the grassroots amounts to no less political indoctrination.
For all the bluster that political education is fair, political indoctrination is hardly so. Going through the grassroots is to naturalise the new citizens to the government, not the country.
Communication & Magnanimity
The requirement for ‘newcomers to attend basic English courses to improve their command of the language in order to better communicate with Singaporeans’ is laudable. Indeed so, except it becomes shocking to realise that basic English competency was not a prerequisite for immigrants seeking to work, particularly in the service industry, in a nation that is plugged into the international economy through the lingua franca of trade: English.
But as always, better belated than never.
Perhaps, improved communication will cajole Singaporeans to have ‘an open heart and mind, and an attitude of helping and accepting each other’, as the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan advised.
But this magnanimity will be hard to muster, considering the obligations of citizenship. Being a Singaporean for natural-born citizens, regardless of talent, would entail the discharge of obligations and sacrifice in the name of duty and country. However, immigrant ‘talents’ are inducted with pride, pomp and circumstances, even if they have a halting command of English – no sacrifice needed, no dues of citizenship to pay!
This is particularly so when naturalised citizens and immigrants enjoy the security and peace procured by the two years’ worth of active service and subsequent ten of reservist duties, all solely borne by natural-born citizens.
The disparity is aggravated when considering that in the last five years ending in June 2008, the population grew from 4.1 million to 4.8 million. From 2003 to 2008, permanent residents swelled by about 30% to become 478000 strong. Meanwhile, the number of immigrants stands at 1.2 million in June 2008, courtesy of an influx of 449000 immigrants during that period. In contrast, the non-resident population only increased by a mere 700 from 1998 to 2003. (See Population in Brief: 2009 published by the National Population Secretariat)
Given that first-generation PRs and naturalised citizens are not subjected to National Service, there is another worrying implication on defence considerations. It is paradoxical to discover that our burgeoning population does not enhance our security capacity, but instead becomes a liability as we are compelled to draw upon a narrowing strength of natural-born soldiers to defend an escalating number of non-residents whose only loyalty to Singapore is economic.
Earning citizenship
For Singaporeans, particularly the males, the benefits of citizenships are not attained cheaply – there are dues to be paid. For any rapport to be established between natural-born and naturalised citizens, it is worthwhile to remember this.
Instead of assiduously laying out the carpet for naturalised citizens, the balance should be restored by encouraging the citizen-aspirants to labour for that red passport. Forget interaction sessions organised by civil society, forget government-sponsored Naturalisation and Integration Journeys – have these new citizens work out their own community projects to interact with the local communities instead. Ask them to form groups and establish their own outreach projects, whether to youths, the elderly or the disadvantaged. The government already finances community initiatives managed by youths, so it is hardly groundbreaking to require new citizens to undertake such a venture.
It may seem a little taxing and onerous for citizen-aspirants, but citizenship was never an easy thing for natural-born Singaporeans themselves. The exercise in civic consciousness has the added impact of leaving an indelible impact – more lasting than seminars or integration journeys or grassroots interaction could muster – with the critical constituents themselves: ordinary Singaporeans who are again being marginalised into pawns; on whom the onus of integration has been vested as though the social dissonance between locals and newcomers is their fault.
The new orphans of Singapore
Even then, it remains a very sanguine hope that Dr Vivian’s call will be answered. It is easy for him to adopt a non-zero sum attitude towards immigrants, since the government economic policy does share a non-zero sum relationship with the influx of immigrant labour. The reality for the individual citizen is starker: it is purely a zero-sum game between him and the immigrant for the coveted job.
In the rush to pad the labour strength to pursue its policy of growth at all cost, the government has effectively made orphans out of natural-born Singaporeans while they adopt the foreign-born ‘talented’ ones. There is a need for an honest reappraisal of the Singaporean economic growth model that addresses the sustainability and viability of being inundated by foreign cheap labour. The real danger is the turning of this discontent into full xenophobia, and the government owes it to itself and Singapore to mitigate the resentment of these new orphans.
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why isnt there a $10million fund for autistic children or for children with other special needs or learning disabilities? if only humans who contribute to Singapore’s growth matter, then why not liquidate the rest? this is one major area where pragmatism fails….
We all remember that whenever certain policies failed, the solution is to put in more money to solve it. The more they spend on such failures, the more Singaporeans have to fund it.. End of the day, it makes everyone unhappy and we want such unhappiness to be shown at the ballot box.
[i]the solution is to put in more money to solve it.[/i]
indeed well proven
shortlegg minister marboroughtan spent $400million$ renamin marina bay
marina bay…………..
it’s ridiculous that $10 million is set aside for new citizens and PRs to get to know each other when the government can “afford” only $500,000 for hospice care subsidies for Singaporeans.
The integration process is not going to be as simple as we thought, and S$10m cannot ‘buy’ the integration. Having lived in China for several years, I was unable to integrate into the local society even though I could write and speak fluent Mandarin. Singapore will probably pay ‘a high price’ for the integration to take place as our social fabric has been somewhat torn apart . On S$10m, we could have deployed the money elsewhere….
4) SgDino on September 22nd, 2009 3.23 pm
it’s ridiculous that $10 million is set aside for new citizens and PRs to get to know each other when the government can “afford” only $500,000 for hospice care subsidies for Singaporeans.
Not forgetting the S$6M spent on the most recent Singapore Day 2009 in London to woo overseas Singaporeans to return instead of addressing the real problem that is driving Singaporeans out of this country.
Kelvin, u mentione that with the proposed $10 million to integrate local n foreigners, it is not going to be easy. It is true to some extent. The mininster in charge of the national intergration council, it is going to take two sides to take initiative to make integration come true. The population landscape has changed with more n more foreign professional coming in to work or live, it seemed that housing also become a problem.
will4, not only housing but transport, security and environment are all affected. Is it just about integration? I don’t buy it. This is the govt’s ploy to buy foreigners’ hearts, nothing more. They know they cannot safely count on Sporeans for votes anymore.
I think the very action of them spending money to “integrate” everyone is going to have the OPPOSITE effect.
Singaporeans are just going to be more entrenched or even more extreme in their beliefs regarding the FT.
Good luck buying your way out of the mistake. I hope Singaporeans will wake up and vote your way out of the parliament.
To all the writers, with regards to the housing matter esp affordability, I noticed that a lot of locals are complaining about it. There some instances in which some of the locals chose to buy property across the causeway in order to lessen the cost of living. With overcrowding being a problem, I think it is a matter of time before JB become a plcae for local to live or retire in.
10 million bucks just for integration for PRs’ & new citizens??
What about the aged senior citizens pushing carts in Spore struggling to make ends meet? There are lots of these old folks every where in the heartlands….
What about the poor,jobless,retrenched middle class families who can’t afford to have 3 meals a day, a roof over their heads,clothes to wear,a job that provides a reasonable source of income?
What about the children who have no money to attend school,no fees to pay fo poly,uni or JC?Even with bursaries(mostly its snapped by foreigners & PRs’),scholarships to be given to the top 20% cohort?(Then again,its dominated by the foreign legion?!!)
What about providing these funds for local entrepreneurs to start their own business?
PAP,if you have any idea on how to splurge the 10 million fund extravaganza,let me show you how its done!
This is all about showing off…showing off to our neighbor asian countries that the singapore gahment is rich and can afford to throw $$$ around…show off so that singaporeans can be a target for robbers when we crossed the border…
In response to 1)singapoor : It is sad indeed that the disadvantage singaporeans are being overlook…It cost a bomb for therapy for special needs children…Though there are subsidies for therapy in kk hospital…the wait is ridiculous long for a kid with learning disabilities…even schools like pathlight is out of reach for middle income cos the fees are high.
a quick check would have revealed that details have been released (scroll down to see the application form)
http://app.mcys.gov.sg/web/comm_promote_socialintegration.asp
but i do agree that there are too many foreigners in Singapore. We don’t need such a big population to be sustainable.
hello caterham7,
thanks for the link. although checking through the application form, there’s only generic pronouncements – ‘provide opportunities for new immigrants, foreigners and locals to interact and communicate with each other, and improve their understanding of each other’s culture, values and norms.’
although fairly, there is a disqualifying criteria that bars people from ‘proselytis(ing) a particular faith when carrying out the project.’ no mention of ethnic-based disqualifying criteria though.
thanks for bringing this to my notice, though – i did miss it.
We are your servants and stop telling us what is best for us, when it is not. This government will be paid back ten folds at the polls.
Corrections.
We are *NOT* your servants and stop telling us what is best for us, when it is not. This government will be paid back ten folds at the polls.
Wasting money! Applied for jobs at various ministries and statutory boards but no job given. I have been unemployed for almost 5mths. Can you do some simple maths?? If you lost an income of say $3500 per mth, 5mths this amounts to $17500. No money, no food, yet the govt does nothing to help me, but they can forked out 10million dollars to help the foreigners integrate into our society. I am really going mad. What can I do? Juz do nothing lor, just sleep at home and be “first class” citizen, i.e, yi deng gong ming = deng si….
By the way, what some employers say about singaporeans being fussy, choosy about work is not true. This is definitely not the case. I am willing to work, even if you tell me that i need to work non-office working hours… I need money to pay bills. How long can one survives on zero income or rather, negative income to be more exact?? Bank account is going to dry up soon, isnt it??
“Earning citizenship”
This information comes from a very reliable source, an ex-Singaporean I know now working at management level in the immigration ministry of a Western country, and who was transferred in March to a department where she comes more directly into contact with newcomers to that country.
What she told me is that in the six months that she has been at this new department, the only ‘Singapore citizens’ she has encountered in her work so far were all born in China.
This is the explanation:
1. The three largest source countries for immigration to all Western countries are China, India and the Phillipines; this has basically remained unchanged for many years now. As such, there are incredibly long lineups in the “application for immigration” queues in the embassies of every Western country in Beijing, New Delhi and Manila. It would take many, many years to process applications for emigration to those countries.
2. Singapore offers a shortcut, and this is already known by word of mouth among people from those countries who plan to migrate to the West. By sharp contrast, the lineups for immigration to the West in Singapore are short – applications for immigration to those countries by Singaporeans and ‘Singaporeans’ (ie. the new citizens) are quick by comparison.
3. Thus if the people from China, India, and the Phillipines actually have their sights for immigration on other (Western), they can actually cut short the process for themselves by first obtaining PR or SC because they apply as SCs and PRs and their applications are processed as if they are Singaporeans/PRs by those countries’ embassies in Singapore.
Yet, do I blame those foreigners for doing this? Not in the least; they are actually acting very rationally. And the PAP government already knows all of this; being the gamblers that they are they just want to play lottery with immigration policy.
In the meantime, Singapore citizenship has been greatly cheapened by the fascist PAP government because it is being offerred to all and sundry on lelong.
When Dr Lily Neo tried to get the govt to give the few thousand poorest of the poor here a little more each month so that they can have 3 meals a day instead of 2, Dr V Bala’s response is, “How much do you want? 3 meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?” Here he is happily giving $10 m for foreigners to party and picnic here, $10 m of our blood, sweat and toil money! Money which SHOULD be spent helping the thousands of old aunties and uncles still toiling in hard labour in the twilight of their lives while those who can’t work anymore have to resort to collecting cardboard and tin cans to sell for food. Our leeches have lost their minds, heart and souls and are not fit to govern this land. They need to be booted out now. Every minute they are allowed here to lord it over us is every minute more for them to enrich themselves while destroying Singaporeans and Singapore in the process.
New citizens refuse to serve National Service and they get S$10M. Old Citizens like us should learn from these New Citizens in how to make the PAP Govt kotow to us.
Excellent article by Khairulanwar Zaini which neatly summarises the concerns of “natural-born” S’poreans. However, the writer forgot to point out a very big bugbear of S’poreans……which is primary 1 places. Currently, PRs enjoy the same priority as S’poreans for Primary 1 Admission…..which is plain stupid
A thinking foreigner will be very wary of this…
Why is this govt paying 10 mil and begging foreigners to stay? If singapore is so good, the foreigners will be begging and paying to stay.
Can TOC make use of this $10mil fund to organise a free reach-out buffet for our new Citizens? Tell them they can dismantle the bridge to Spore Citizenship in the next GE since they have already crossed it so that they will not suffer the same fate like us old Citizens?
The government welcomes these immigrants with open arms as long as they serve their purpose in keeping wages depressed (lets not even talk about minimum wages). Another likey reason is to buy the loyalty of the new citizens,given the fact that they come from places where the standard of living was much worse and with little opportunity to succeed.
But I believe the euphoria will end in the long term. Lets not forget that these people are not like us “moolly cuddled” Singaporeans. These are people who have struggled to survive. Their instinct for survival and with it the desire to fight for their rights is inborn. We have seen some minor incidents like the protest by the study mamas, the workers cheated by the remittance agent, the cheated workers (for us anything more than 4 person is an illegal gathering) . Include the the violent crimes like murder over money and promotion, the setting of illegal massage outlets and the thousands of sex workers will all eventually culminate into a huge social problem. Naturally, those who started as low wage workers will want to have a better life once they become PR or citizens. The cost of having a family will put more pressure on them. Eventually these people will react should they feel that they have not got a fair deal or start losing their jobs.
Eventually they will form groups, clans, even secret societies and perhaps even political parties to voice their discontent. If they are as hardworking, talented and brilliant as our government claims, then such action will be the natural progression. I am waiting for the day we get our first China born immigrant MP or Minister and if they are denied this with a similar excuse (for indians) that we are not ready for a Immigrant PM, then I suppose these people will take it lying down. By then it will be too late to send them back home.
typo error, it should be
then I suppose these people will not take it lying down
In fact, before they announce this $10 million fund, the RCs block representatives already got the go-ahead to claim from the fund to hold floor parties at their block two weeks ago. You can see how a dominant one party parliament works, before approval already can make the claim. Pure arrogant.
I am a ‘neutral reader’ but the info in this article gives me a sick feeling, not the comments. One word for the ministers: IDIOTS!
the current of PAPpy “leaders” (they dun lead, they just follow instructions carefulLEE) are executing based on a weird pros and cons yardstick.
1) build casinos. oh, gambling and getting loans from loansharks are BAD. let’s dump some money in “education” and advertisements to cover it. you know, say we are dumping money and doing something to mitigate the BAD, and suddenly it becomes good and acceptable.
2) import immigrants. oh, cheap citizenship/PR bad. let’s dump some money, again, in education to mitigate. suddenly it becomes good again.
it’s the “standard” solution in pointing the deer to be the horse, and sima zhao’s intentions? very well-known by now.
these people are traitors, and we should charge and treat them as such.
when i was an immigrant worker in britain..i neve have any goodies from the british government..they tell me you are here to lived amon the brits..you are them, they are you..what special privileges you want? you have a 9″ d i ck perhaps?..yes yes you also pay the same 30% weekly taxes just liked the brits..
you cannot communicate in english? go nightclass..its FREE or dirt cheap..just a few sterlin pounds per month nia!
~period~
You never read newspaper yesterday? All carry big big headlines that GIC makes profit. Anyway, these $ also won’t be given to Singaporeans.
As for the foreigners, they may be happy now but who knows about their 2nd generation. They may end up discontent like Singaporeans one day.