Are you seeing this Government? We agree plus understand their
roles here but we are just unhappy. How to Balance the need and our
Happiness?
While most Singaporeans understand the need for
the government to bring in foreigners to boost the economy, many
have concerns about their long-term impact, says a new survey.
According to a poll of over 2,000 citizens aged between 21 and
64 conducted last year by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS),
two out of three respondents felt that national unity would be
compromised by the presence of foreigners, regardless whether they
were here to settle down or were transient workers.
The survey involved face-to-face interviews conducted between
February and May last year. This National Orientations of Singapore
(NOS) survey has been done roughly every five years since 1993.
Over 60 per cent of respondents felt “the policy to attract more
foreign talent will weaken Singaporeans’ feelings as ‘one nation,
one people’”, a significant increase from the 38 per cent of
respondents who felt the same way in 1998, when the survey question
was last posed.
Most of those concerned about the influx of
foreigners were low-income earners making less than S$2,000 a
month, and those living in one-, two- or three-room flats.
Despite this, when asked if the government was right to increase
the number of foreign workers to support the Singapore economy, two
out of three respondents said “yes”.
Sociologist Tan Ern Ser, one of the study’s authors, told The
Straits Times the contradiction was a result of Singaporeans making
a distinction between how they are affected as individuals and a
collective.
“As citizens and employees, we may have a somewhat negative
orientation towards having an influx of foreigners, but as
investors and consumers, we may be more welcoming of them,” said
the associate professor at the National University of
Singapore.
“I reckon Singaporeans would resolve this contradiction by
taking the stand that we understand the need for bringing in
foreigners, but they must not be allowed to threaten my job, my
space, my comfort zone, my sense of security and the Singaporean
way of life. Should these threats remain, we would expect some
degree of tension to prevail,” he adds.
Singaporeans want more say in policy-making
In addition, the IPS poll also reveals that Singaporeans want to
have more say and involvement in policy-making compared to 12 years
ago.
But when it came to actually making their views on public policy
issues known to the government, just 8 per cent actually did
so.
The survey found over 85 per cent of respondents agreed or
strongly agreed that “voting gave citizens the most meaningful way
in which to tell the Government how the country should be run.”
This was an increase from 72 per cent in 1998.
Political observer Eugene Tan of Singapore Management University
(SMU), told the same paper that the trend pointed to an active
citizenry and suggested that Singaporeans increasingly expect to be
consulted on major policy matters.
“It means that the ‘we know more than thou’ approach in
policymaking is out of sync with (their) aspirations. Singaporeans
want to be ‘talked with’ and not ‘talked to’ by the government,” Mr
Tan said.
National loyalty ‘at healthy level’
The findings on political participation aside, the survey also
found that the level of national loyalty and pride inched up and
was at a “healthy and stable” level.
But the sense of loyalty and pride was considerable weaker among
the more educated, higher-income groups, the young and the
politically alienated.
The study’s authors — IPS senior research fellow Gillian Koh was
the other — suggested that this was because those who were more
highly educated and better off were more likely to be widely
travelled, and so more exposed to the cultures of other
countries.
With increasing concerns about foreign workers, national
loyalty and a growing number of Singaporeans wanting a greater say
in the political process, the IPS survey results are providing an
interesting backdrop for the upcoming General
Elections.