Government encourages more Singapore PRs to take up
citizenship
By Imelda Saad | Posted: 06
September 2010 2323 hrs 
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Government is moving to encourage
more Permanent Residents in the country to take up
citizenship.
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said some PRs will be approached to
become citizens and if they don't do so, their status will not be
renewed.
Immigration was one of many issues tackled during a dialogue
session with over 200 residents from Marine Parade to gather
feedback on the Prime Minister's National Day Rally.
SM Goh did not give details on getting PRs to take up
citizenship.
"Moving forward, we are going to approach some of them to take up
Singapore citizenship, if they don't then their PR will not be
renewed. That's a better way.
"We now have quite a few PRs, 500,000 in Singapore, so hopefully
maybe 50,000 can be selected to become Singapore citizens, the rest
can be PRs, contributing to Singapore's economy," he said.
SM Goh was responding to a suggestion from a participant who said
Employment Pass holders should take up citizenship which he
believed will discourage foreign talents from working in
Singapore.
Besides, SM Goh pointed out that Employment Pass holders serve as
buffers where their numbers can be reduced during a downturn.
Another radical suggestion put forward was to bar foreigners from
buying private property but SM Goh noted developers would just
build more high-rise private apartments to counter it.
"At the moment, our policy will be, condominium, private sector.
They want to buy, let them buy because they actually bring in money
for Singapore. They may not actually stay there but they bring in
money.
"They buy from locals, locals are happy to get the money but it's
not actually adding to space. In fact, that's actually ideal. They
buy here, they don't drive cars, they don't live here, we just get
their money! They're buying air!" laughed SM Goh.
Separately, SM Goh revealed it will cost S$1 billion to upgrade the
train signalling system to increase capacity and reduce the waiting
time for commuters.
He said problems can be resolved rationally but noted that for
every solution, there are consequences.
Citing overcrowding in trains, SM Goh said the problem is expected
and can be addressed.
In this case, resources have to be put in place to upgrade the
system.
The cost may not be passed down to commuters directly, but SM Goh
pointed out that it has to be defrayed.
Similarly, there are consequences with measures introduced in the
property sector.
SM Goh acknowledged the situation has resulted in many unhappy
Singaporeans, and he sought to put things in perspective.
"Those who missed out, those who can't buy this, who can't upgrade
and so on, so we are really feeling the unhappiness, question is
was the policy good?
"Unhappiness, those who are happier, in total there's net
happiness, there's no such thing called total happiness, don't
believe in it. It's whether we create net happiness in all this,"
said SM Goh.
He added it is "very difficult to satisfy everybody" and in
politics, trying to make everybody happy is "impossible".
They key, said SM Goh is to "make the most number of people happy,
the most number of times".
Another idea worth considering in managing transport woes is to
have a "zero vehicular traffic growth".
"Let the COE take care of the number for cars on the road so when
the number of cars cannot grow when the COE is so high then the
roads will be freer so it's a combination of high COEs and low
ERP.
"But we have opted in the last 10 years or so to give Singaporeans
the 4 wheels so we have opted for 3 per cent growth in vehicle
population and therefore use ERP to tweak it because one can argue
that's fairer." he said.
The question is to decide which is the best way forward, said the
Senior Minister.
He also answered questions on why the S$9,000 award to recognise
the contributions of NSmen is not extended to all who have served
the country.
SM Goh said authorities can consider giving older Singaporeans a
token for their contributions.
"I think the old days, the financial sacrifices were much more
because you were paid just a nominal sum but there were other
benefits. If you were born earlier, maybe you bought your HDB flat
cheaper! So you cannot argue.
"Your point is whether we can recognise in some way, token well I
think we take note so that in future, they can remember the older
ones, just a token, maybe past 55, help them with their medical top
ups, I think that's possible. It's a suggestion we will take
note."
SM Goh was relaxed and candid in his answers. At several points, he
threw questions back, seeking a consensus on issues.
His message - that Singapore's problems can be resolved rationally,
no matter how complex, with a good dose of the Singapore Spirit. -
CNA/fa
++++++++++++++++++++
Know the article above is kind of old news but what
motivated this piece of news to be posted here is because I just
got to know from a foreigner that many other foreigners she knows
of including herself and husband are angry and affected by what Goh
Chok Tong said - threat not to renew their PR
status.
Haha, backfired though following after this there are words
to pacify these foreigners.
