http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/03/04/sylvia-lim-the-pace-and-scale-of-the-influx-of-foreigners-in-the-last-few-years-was-wrong/
Sylvia Lim: the pace and scale of the influx of foreigners in
the last few years was wrong
Written by Our Correspondent
Workers’ Party MP Sylvia Lim became the latest MP to speak out
against the PAP’s liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies
yesterday after fellow colleague Low Thia Kiang and PAP MP Inderjit
Singh.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Ms Lim reminded the PAP that
the ultimate aim of growth “is to improve the welfare of all
citizens.”
Quoting from an article by economist Manu Bhaskaran, she drove
home the point that Singaporeans did not benefit much from the
rising GDP as “profits took an extraordinarily high 46 per cent of
GDP, almost half of which went to foreign-owned companies.”
The quality of life for many had also fallen in the last five
years due to escalating business costs, influx of foreigners and
sky-rocketing prices of properties.
“While I agree that we need foreigners to augment our
population and talent pool, the pace and scale of the influx in the
last few years was wrong,” she added.
When Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong assumed his position in
2003, he announced an ambitious plan to increase Singapore’s
population to 6.5 million people by 2030.
All of sudden, the floodgates were flung open without warning
and Singapore became swarmed by foreigners from all over the world,
especially China and India.
Foreigners now make up 36 per cent of Singapore’s population, up
from 14 per cent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 per cent who are
citizens, an increasing number are born overseas. Because too many
foreigners are let in within too short a period of time, we are now
experiencing headache on how to integrate all of them.
Ms Lim also warned that the rising income gap between the rich
and the poor could reduce social mobility:
“We should not dismiss increasing inequality as
inevitable…..If inequalities in Singapore continue at such levels,
we should seriously question whether our policies of promoting
equality of opportunity are really working,” she said.
Her speech drew a sharp rebuttal from PAP MP Halimah Yacob who
shot back:
“The greatest dignity that we can give anyone is the dignity
of having a job.”
Ms Yacob failed to realize the fact it is pretty pointless to
have a job which does not ensure one a decent standard of living.
The duty of a government is not simply to provide jobs but
to improve the welfare and quality of life of its people.
Her stance echoed that of PAP’s octogenarian leader Lee Kuan Yew
who said during a Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum last year
that the widening income gap is of little significance so long the
government continues to “create jobs for Singaporeans.”
In a later interview with the National Geographic magazine, he
added that it is a “good idea” for Singapore to welcome many
Chinese immigrants as they are more “hard-driving” and
“hard-striving” than locals.
Though PAP leaders have tried to sing a different tune lately to
assure Singaporeans that the inflow of foreigners will slow down to
placate them, it is highly unlikely that they will make wholesale
changes to their policies so long they remain in power.
New citizens are crucial to shore up their flagging support base
in order for the PAP to retain its political hegemony. As Senior
Minister Goh Chok Tong admitted, there will be no “U-turns” on the
PAP’s pro-foreigner policies and the number of foreigners may
actually increase in the next few years.
At the rate the PAP continues to mass import foreigners into
Singapore, it is only a matter of time before native Singaporeans
are relegated to being second class minorities in their own
countries with the males having to serve two years of National
Service to protect the new citizens, PRs and foreigners.