Interesting analysis... anyone care to comment?
In a nutshell.. in the bid to a globalized city, SGP has been
exporting citizens (with links to homeland) and importing
foreigners. In a bid to boost the population.
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw06/060226st.htm
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Article:
Star, Malaysia
February 26, 2006
Insight Down South By Seah Chiang Nee
THE newly released registration of voters, in advance of the coming
general election, has revealed the significant extent of
Singapores demographic shift.
It shows the number of new registered voters in the past five years
has increased by a paltry 45,000 or just 9000 a year despite a
rising population.
The new voters are people who had reached 21 years old as well as
foreigners who got citizenship during the period.
This is surprisingly low considering Singapores birthrate two
decades ago when this cohort of voters was born was around 45,000
to 50,000 a year.
By extension all else being equal the increase in new voters
should have been around 220,000 (subtracting deaths) not just
45,000 over the past five years, so where are the missing
Singaporeans?
At the peak, the number of new voters rose from 1.192 million in
the 1976 election to 1.424 million in 1980, a four-year increase of
231,900. This was a rise of 58,000 a year six times more than at
present.
Since then, the statistics had been mixed, some years better than
others, but generally the trend had been downward.
The current rise of 9000 new voters a year is about the lowest in
modern history.
Since 1998, the number of new voters had been growing by less than
10,000 a year, a pale comparison of the past pre-global years. The
table (official statistics) shows the general decline between
elections since 1968, when independent Singapore held its first
election.
This figure is not new but it merely reflects a trend that dates
back about 10 years, especially since Asias financial crisis in
1997.
It also means the growth in new voters has been dropping even as
the population is rising.
The reasons? Broadly speaking, it is due to more Singaporeans
migrating or moving overseas to work, study or do business, some
bringing along their families. With the exception of some 800
people, they are non-voters. (Voting is compulsory, and anyone who
doesnt do so has to re-register by proving they were out of the
country. The lower figure could also include some people who have
failed to re-register.)
At the same time, some 30,000 foreigners are taking up PR
permanent residency a year, inflating the population but who are
not eligible to vote.
The real reason, however, lies in economic globalisation and
Chinas opening up. They eliminate jobs in some countries, while
creating new opportunities in others.
This has resulted in a great trans-national movement of business
and talent worldwide as skilled workers move freely in search of
opportunities. It has affected Singapore more because of its small
size.
The exact number of Singaporeans who are living abroad is not
known, but various official sources have put it at between 100,000
and 150,000.
A head count is hard to do. The future intention of many overseas
Singaporeans remains uncertain.
An increasing number of better-educated citizens take up PR, but
not citizenship, in their host countries. This indicates they still
keep one foot at home for a possible return.
Those who emigrated in the past decade generally found Singapore
too small or restrictive and have opted for a more relaxed
lifestyle in larger countries like Australia, the United States,
Canada and Britain.
Some may decide to settle down in their new homes, while others
will eventually return when opportunities improve.
Numbering thousands every year, the exodus has long caused
heartache to Singaporean leaders who have worked for decades
building up the republic from a Third to a First World state.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew once shed tears over the exodus of
professionals, and Goh Chok Tong, the Senior Minister, called the
emigrants quitters.
The current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also emotionally
recalled the tough qualities of older Singaporeans, who stood in
the heavy rains to celebrate National Day in 1968.
Since then, however, the leadership has accepted the inevitable. As
more tertiary-trained youths leave to work abroad, it encourages
them to explore opportunities overseas but maintain their links
with home. Singapore is likened to a capital without a country, so
the current strategy is to regard the world as its hinterland. It
has been investing in strategic businesses throughout the region,
requiring more citizens to work overseas.
As a result, the country is undergoing vast demographic changes, as
shown by the declining number of new voters.
Its own birth rates are in sharp decline. Last year only 37,600
babies were born, one of the worlds lowest. The future lies in
inward immigration.
This has been stepped up drastically in the past decade, steadily
pushing up the population. In fact, the influx of foreign PRs has
outweighed the outflow of citizens by several times.
They are believed to be more than the number of babies born, which
would lead to a long-term dilution of the local content of the
population.
The population rose from 4.24 million in 2004 to 4.35 million last
year, an increase of about 111,000, some 80% of which were said to
be foreign immigrants. Only some 30% of PRs eventually take up
citizenship.
The blueprint is for a population of six to seven million by 2020.
Many locals are angry about losing jobs to foreigners but officials
say the end result will be a more vibrant global city.
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