TR EMERITUS

OPINION The PAP has always defended its much maligned immigration policies on the grounds that Singapore needs to compete with other countries for talents in an increasing globalized world. Immigrant nations such as United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada are often quoted as examples for Singapore to emulate. The common argument is that these countries have grown and prospered largely as a result of maintaining an open-door policy to immigrants and that Singapore will lose out if it does not follow suit. There is a clear difference between growing one's population via immigration and replacing one's native population by importation which the PAP seems unable or unwilling to understand. Let us compare the PAP's immigration policy with that of the United States and Australia. Though the United States and Australia have been accepting immigrants from Europe, Asia and elsewhere over the years, they have not lost their core national characteristic: they are mainly white protestant societies with English as their lingua franca. Furthermore, foreigners constitute only 12 percent of United States' population and 25 pecent of Australia's according to their census last year. Foreigners now constitute 36 percent of Singapore's population. The exact percentage of citizens born overseas remains a mystery. It will not be a surprise if more than 40 percent of the people living in Singapore now are born overseas. With such a significant proportion of foreigners in Singapore, it is inevitable that Singaporeans are finding themselves strangers in their own countries which is exacerbated by the island's small size. United States and Australia both have large landmass to accommodate immigrants from all over the world as they are sufficient localities for them to congregate without disturbing the racial composition on a national scale. For example, Melbourne itself has suburbs for the Vietnamese, Malaysians and Koreans, but the rest of the city remains largely white. While the United States is cosmopolitan in major cities like New York and Los Angeles, it retains its defining national traits in the mid-western and central states such as Utah, Colorado and Nevada. This is not possible in Singapore simply because we are too small and when too many people are crammed together in a constrained space, the demographic changes will become none the more obvious. As English is a common language used by the three major races in Singapore, common sense dictates that the immigrants should have some basic command of the language in order to interact with native Singaporeans. In fact, prospective migrants have to pass an international English test such as IELTS before they can work in Australia and New Zealand. Over the years, Singapore has accepted many China immigrants who cannot speak the English language at all. How can we hope to integrate them into the rest of society? Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said in a NUS ministerial forum last week that there are so many foreigners in Singapore lately "simply that there are many more people who want to live and work here." (Straits Times, 6 April 2010) He cannot be more wrong. First class world talents are not flocking to take up Singapore citizenship. It is Singapore who is giving out its citizenships like toilet papers to undeserving foreigners who cannot make it in their own countries. In a Gallup poll done in July last year among college students in China, their top three emigration destinations are United States, South Korea and France. Singapore is not even featured in the top three despite the cosy ties it enjoys with China. What we are getting are economic migrants from China and not their top brains which is hardly surprising. Top-notch global talents move for various reasons such as a higher quality of life, better career opportunities and political liberties. Economic considerations are of less importance. Singapore is definitely not an ideal place for immigrants to settle in judging from its dismal ranking of 70th on the quality of life scale conducted yearly by respected Irish magazine Living International. The Economist Unit ranked Singapore as the 53th best place in the world to live in, way behind Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In the 1990s, Singapore has seen an influx of immigrants from Taiwan and Hong Kong especially before the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, but the flow of migrants has dried up from these two places now, prompting the PAP to turn its sight to China instead. Based on anecdotal evidence, the Taiwanese, Hong Kongers as well as mainland Chinese from the affluent cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou preferred to emigrate to Australia, Canada and New Zealand rather than Singapore. There are hardly any China nationals from Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai in Singapore compared to the large number of non-English speaking immigrants from the poorer inland provinces like Henan, Hubei, Liaoning and Shanxi. Australia and New Zealand have strict labor laws which restrict the inflow of foreign migrant workers to only sectors where there is a chronic shortage of native workers. Due to Singapore's inability to attract first world talents to its shores, the PAP has no choice but to open the floodgates to second class and even third class foreigners who are struggling to make a living back home. These foreigners are allowed to come to Singapore on work, S, E and EPEC passes to find work after which they are invited to take up Singapore PR and eventually citizenship. The ridiculous part is there is no minimal period of residency required unlike in other developed countries. Foreigners are able to obtain Singapore PRs in as short a period as two months and citizenship within a year. The Home Affairs Ministry admitted that two out of every three PR applicants are successful some of whom are construction workers, masseurs, cleaners and even freelance prostitutes. Does the PAP consider these new immigrants as "talents" too? To put it bluntly, the PAP has no immigration policy to speak of. It is basically taking the easy way out by opening the floodgates to foreigners without any proper screening or control. Singaporeans are already feeling the negative repercussions of the PAP's recklessness: they have to compete with foreigners for jobs, the place is becoming more congested and certain parts of Singapore resemble more like China and India. A recent Wall Street Journal editorial revealed that the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living and led to an overall decline in the standard of living. The Labor Report 2009 released by the Manpower Ministry shows that the real earnings of Singaporeans has decreased by as much as 8.2 percent last year even as inflation rate continues to increase. No governments in any democratic states in the world will survive such a disastrous, ill-conceived and misguided policy to increase population by mass relocating and importing foreigners from elsewhere at the expense of the natives. Only in a one-party totalitarian state like Singapore can the ruling party afford to cling on to power and still earns millions of dollars in salaries in spite of the damage it has done. In fact, PAP ministers are expected to receive a hefty 8.8 percent pay hike this year when the rest of Singapore is suffering from their economic mismanagement of the nation. What has the PAP ministers done to deserve a pay rise? On the contrary, they should have their pay cut by 90 percent for their abject failure to uplift the lives of ordinary Singaporeans!  It is high time that Singaporeans exercise their rights as citizens of Singapore by voting the pro-foreigner PAP or FAP (Foreigner Action Party) out of office. We are voting for a government to take care of our interests first and NOT the foreigners!   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans.   TR UBS Series: >> Part 1: Singapore has lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among Asian Tigers >> Part 2: Moving towards a Russian standard of living >> Part 3: Why Singaporeans are paupers in a first world economy   Related articles: >> Astroturfing by Straits Times to promote integration between Singaporeans and Indian expats >> The fallacy of using lax immigration policies to solve low fertility issues >> PAP mass-recruiting Taiwanese PMETs to compete with Singaporeans >> Halimah Yacob: Not true that employers hiring foreigners over Singaporeans >> Conversation with a PRC prostitute given Singapore PR by the PAP >> Teo Chee Hean: PAP’s immigration policy has always been “strict” >> How the PAP allows foreigners into Singapore to compete with locals for jobs >> Why Singaporeans ‘fear’ of new immigrants is absolutely rational >> SM Goh reassures immigrants that they are still welcomed in Singapore >> Singaporean working in China lashed out at grouses of Singapore PRs >> Eight reasons why foreign workers will be preferred over local ones >> Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial by PAP leaders >> Halimah Yacob refutes UBS study findings >> Halimah Yacob: Productivity drive will be derailed if foreign worker challenge not addressed  >> Exposing the six major flaws in the PAP’s immigration policies >> Wong Kan Seng promises to tighten immigration policies >> SM Goh: Foreign workers numbers may still rise >> Malaysian car mechanic applying for Singapore citizenship >> PAP launches Singapore Citizenship Journey to help new citizens integrate >> Compulsory for new citizens to attend “sharing sessions” with grassroots leaders >> Wong Kan Seng urged Singaporeans to be more tolerant of foreign workers >> Tharman: Foreign workers increase income of low-income families >> Sylvia Lim: Pace and influx of foreigners over last few years is wrong >> Amy Khor urges Singaporeans to welcome foreigners >> PAP MP wants more money to be spent to make new citizens feel welcomed in Singapore >> Shanmugam: Foreigners generate jobs for Singaporeans >> Vivian happy there are 4,500 new citizens serving as grassroots leaders >> Cosmetic changes made to immigration policy >> SM Goh: New immigrants needed to make up population shortfall >> PAP ministers hailed contributions of foreigners >> SM Goh expressed support for Zhang Yuanyuan >> State media: citizens have more rights over PRs >> Zhang Yuanyuan got her Singapore PR in only 2 months >> Official reply from government on the Zhang Yuanyuan fiasco >> Singapore PRC PR proclaimed loyalty to China publicly >> PRC resident hung China flag to celebrate its National Day >> PRC student in Singapore wants more scholarships for foreigners >> PRC prostitutes solicit for customers on Singapore’s cyberspace >> ERA: 40 per cent of resale flats buyers are PRs  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Singaporeans in their 30s and 40s will remember the series of "Save Water" campaigns launched by PUB in ther 1980s to educate Singapore students on the importance of water as a precious natural resource in Singapore. In the 1970s, water rationing exercises were a common occurrence to instill a sense of responsibility among Singaporeans on the usage of water. Being a small island with no natural resources, Singapore has to import a significant portion of its water from Malaysia. It appears that the hardships of yesterday have long been forgotten by the present batch of PAP leaders as they bend over to please the foreigners they have been bringing in to replace native Singaporeans. Coming right after the footsteps of Bukit Batok grassroots organizations which sparked a controversy lately by organizing a "Water Festival" to celebrate the New Year of the Thai, Burmese and Cambodian community in Singapore, Clementi Community Club will be organizing a "Thingyan Water Festival" specifically for the Burmese on 17 April 2010: As indicated clearly in the red box above, "free water splashing" will be included as part of the celebrations. While the Burmese community is most welcomed to organize and celebrate their cultural events in Singapore, grassroots organizations should not be wasting precious taxpayers' monies to hold such events for them. PAP MP Grace Fu remarked to a netizen's queries that the "Water Festival" was held to show foreigners how much Singaporeans "respect" them. Shouldn't it be the other way round? In other countries, immigrants are expected to integrate into local society. Over here, Singaporeans are expected to welcome and embrace the newcomers with open arms to the extent of celebrating their festivals for them! Do we see the governments of other countries organizing Singapore festivals for Singaporeans living overseas? A netizen Kojakbt has since written to several government agencies including the Attorney-General Chambers and the Singapore Police Force questioning the legality of organizing such an event. Under the Public Utilities Act (CAP 261) 50(b), any person who wastes water “shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $1,000 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.” According to an unverified rumor circulating in cyberspace, a similar “Water Festival” held in the 1980s by a group of Thai workers in the Boon Lay area was stopped by the police for wasting water under the Public Utilities Act. Both the AGC and Singapore Police had refused to comment on the matter and “directed” Kojakbt to PUB instead. A staff from PUB’s Water Supply Department has replied saying that “water splashing activity” like the “Water Festival” is similar to activities such as charity car wash events which do not require approval from PUB. Clementi CC's exhortation to the Burmese in Singapore to splash our water freely seems to contradict what was said by the Minister for Water and Environment Resources Dr Yaacob Ibrahim lately: “Singaporeans’ response to the dry spell last month was to use even more water. This is certainly not desirable should Singapore experience a prolonged dry spell. It is therefore timely to remind ourselves of the need to use water wisely,” he added. [Source: Channel News Asia, 21 March 2010] Are we using water wisely in this instance? Unlike Burma, Singapore has no fresh water resources such as lakes and rivers to speak of. It matters little for the pro-foreigner PAP or rather FAP (Foreigner Action Party) that it is selling out the interests of Singapore so long the foreigners are made to feel happy, welcomed and respected in Singapore.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so as well.   Related articles: >> PUB: Water Festival is similar to charity car wash events >> Unhappy Singaporean writes into ST Forum to complain about “Water Festival” >> Netizen’s queries on “Water Festival” stone-walled by Singapore Police >> PAP MP Grace Fu: organizing “Water Festival” is a way of telling foreigners we respect them >> Netizens protest against “Water Festival” organized by Bukit Batok grassroots organizations >> Singaporean unhappy at grassroots organizations hosting Water Festival for foreigners  Read More →

We all know what Globalization is. And its main characteristics beingthe flow of resources particularly human resources and monetary funds from one country to another. Governments around the world love it, so does our PAP. All theseyears, the PAP thrive on Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and foreign talents coming in to Singapore. As we all know by now, some of these foreign talents eventually become Singapore citizens. However, there are some problems that are running deep like still water- deep into the ground. Like intelligent viruses, these problems will one day emerge to harm the body once they have gained enough momentum and strength in numbers. The day will come when the PAP is weak, not from reasons they know, but rather from reasons they are least expecting, that is when these foreign talents, FDIs and new citizens will jump right up to harm our nation. There are two main reasons why I believe this will happen: 1) Terrorism and economic sabotage Some of these foreign talents are agents sent in to Singapore merely for one purpose- to destroy our way of life and our society. And why? Because some rouge states and radical groups are jealous or are displeased about Singapore supporting US and other western nations' foreign policies. Since the PAP welcomes foreign talents and FDIs, we play right into their hands. Look at how much money we lost in our GIC investments abroad and our Lehman Brothers episode. Our dependency on energy such as natural gas and fossil fuel is also highly dependent on geopolitcal stability. 2) Inner core values All these foreign talents were brought up from different backgrounds. They don't share the same inner core values. Many of them are well-educated. Unlike our forefathers who came from India, China and elsewhere on boats that could sink easily, these foreign talents come on SIA, BA and UA flights. Our forefathers came here because they wanted to make a better livelihood and some were running away fro oppression and annihilation unlike the foreign talents these days who  are merely coming here to make a six-figure salary and to buy a condo and an SUV. The moment the PAP offends them or if they are not happy with certain policies, they would either use their powerful backups like university alumni chapters to pressurize the PAP to give way to them OR they will relocate to another city since they are well-educated, financially well-off and are thus highly mobile. Let this letter be a forewarning to the PAP. Let the PAP understand that it is not worth investing in resources for such foreign talents as they will not be loyal to our country. It is better to put their hopes in our own people and cherish our very own people- our very own Singaporeans! Thank you. Kerith Ravine  Read More →