November 24, 2009 by Our Correspondent
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Written by Our Correspondent
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Mr Wong Kan
Seng said in Parliament yesterday that an average of
46,300 people are granted Singaporean permanent resident (PR)
status every year for the past eight years.
From 2000 to 2008, an average of 74,500 applications for
permanent residency were submitted by foreigners each year. Of
these, an average of 46,300 applications were successful which
translates to two successful applications out of every three.
MM Lee said earlier that all applications are carefully vetted
so that “highly qualified” foreigners will become PRs.
However, some of the new PRs include beauticians, language
teachers, clinic assistants and administrative personnel who are
not quite considered “qualified” as exemplified by the case of
Chinese national Zhang Yuanyuan who got her PR in only 2 months
while working as a Chinese teacher in a private school.
In his reply to Mr Chiam See Tong’s question about the number of
PR applications received, granted and PR statuses renounced, Mr
Wong said that PR applications have been increasing steadily in
recent years.
At the same time, about 2,200 PRs renounce their status each
year.
He did not reveal the reasons behind these PRs leaving Singapore
and whether they have made any profits from the sale of their
properties if any.
Mr Wong also reassured Singaporeans that the inflow of
immigrants will be “managed” to ensure that Singaporeans benefit in
the long term.
“We’ll manage the inflow of immigrants, taking into account
how quickly our society can absorb and integrate these new
immigrants without diluting our national identity or weakening our
social cohesion. Such a sustained and calibrated inflow of
immigrants would ensure that Singaporeans benefit from immigration
in the long term,” he said.
As of June this year, there were 1.253 million non-residents,
but only 533,000 PRs. In total, foreigners now make up 36 per cent
of Singapore’s population, up from 14 per cent in 1990.
The new immigrants tend to mix among themselves and there are
signs that ethnic enclaves are emerging in Singapore
in estates like Geylang and Jalan Besar.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan added that it was government policy to
ensure there were no ethnic ghettoes in Singapore.
Immigration has become a hot topic in Singapore with many senior
leaders speaking out on it over the last few weeks.
An online furore over Chinese national and Singapore PR Zhang
Yuanyuan proclaiming her loyalty to China on TV was even reported
in The Economist. (read article
here)
Despite concerns on the ground at the direction and viability of
Singapore’s liberal immigration policy to import foreigners en
masse to make up for the population shortfall here, the ruling
party is adamant that there will be no wholesale changes to it.
A $10-million Community Integration Fund was unveiled two months
ago to make the newcomers feel “welcomed” in Singapore at the
expense of local taxpayers.
The ruling party is also busy courting the new citizens and PRs
to join grassroots organizations like RCs and CCCs.
According to a shocking revelation by Dr Vivian, there were
about 4,500 new citizens serving in grassroots organizations.
With elections around the corner, the ruling party is posturing
to safeguard the interests of Singaporeans in order to placate
rising frustration and tension among the voters.
Citizens enjoy few additional benefits than PRs other than
slightly higher subsidies in public housing and healthcare.
While all Singapore males have to serve two years of mandatory
National Service followed by another 13 years or so of reservist,
new citizens and PRs do not have to do so.
The relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore has forced
some Singaporeans to seek work opportunities overseas leading to a
brain drain for the island state.
About 180,000 Singaporeans are studying, living or working
overseas with 1,000 renouncing their citizenships every year.
Despite the desperate attempts of the ruling party to attract
qualified immigrants to relocate to Singapore, few are biting the
bait due to the few social welfare benefits afforded by the
government and the repressive political climate here.
A Gallup poll in July this year revealed that the top three
immigration destinations for Chinese college students are U.S.A,
France and South Korea. Singapore is not even featured in the top
five. (read article
here)
The majority of Chinese nationals in Singapore hail from the
poorer inland provinces like Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Guangxi,
Sichuan, Liaoning and Shanxi with few from the rich coastal cities
like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Wuxi.