Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower and Economic Development Board
rolled out the red carpet to arrivals from overseas when
Singapore’s GDP was dipping. Today the welcome is nowhere near as
warm.
By Jack Chong, edited by Francesca Ross
“I will no longer return to a cold, empty room after a
long day, but to my family.” systems engineer Ms
Wong Kit Yeng, declared from a 2009 glossy brochure that
encouraged overseas Singaporeans to return home. In the wake of the
global financial crisis, their country needed them.
Singapore has always been lauded as the economic miracle of Asia
but the 2007 stock market crash saw the country’s GDP
contract 2%
in 2009. Something needed to be done. The Singaporean
government established
the Contact Singapore (CS) Alliance to attract both
Singaporeans living abroad, and foreigners to take up residence in
Singapore and drive growth. The strategy had two parts; one under
the Economic Development Board (EDB), and the other under the
Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
The alliance provided overseas businesses with access to
entrepreneurial networks and consultancy services for expansion
into Singapore. It also administered the Global Investor Programme
(GIP) which granted wealthy foreigners the right to stay in the
island-nation permanently if they made significant
investments.
The idea was to put Singapore at the heart of
Asia
Singapore had adopted this open-to-the-world, growth-at-all costs
economic policy to revitalise its flailing post-crash economy. It
was also hoped this would balance out the impact of a stubbornly
low birth rate. The alliance’s investor programme brought foreign
money into areas that would grow the economy, such as digital
technologies.
These fresh ideas from foreign talent would create an
entrepreneurial environment and grow the “disruptive” approach
needed for a knowledge economy, the government thought. The results
were excellent. The city-state enjoyed an
estimated 11%
compounded annual growth rate (CAGR)between
2008 and 2010.
Foreign direct investment and foreign talent flooded into
Singapore
Contact Singapore was a
success. Lim Hng Kiang, the
Minister for Trade and Industry, said, “Over the past three
years, the GIP has attracted close to 1,000 investors who have
invested over US$ 1.5 billion … Close to
100 have
invested directly in businesses … creating some 1,500
jobs.”
Many highly-qualified global expats were drawn to Singapore’s
new economic
opportunities.
The annual increase in foreign workers (excluding foreign domestic
workers) was 67,000.
This outpaced the 51,000 for local employment between 2010 and
2012.
Overseas Singaporeans were, in theory, keen to return
home
A Robert Walters survey showed an
overwhelming 82% of
Overseas Singaporeans were interested in returning home in 2015.
This was even as the number of Overseas
Singaporeans increased
by 10%, hitting 200,000 in 2016.
Representatives for Contact Singapore fuelled this by collaborating
with the Overseas Singaporean Unit. They gave keynote speeches, and
made appearances at overseas recruitment events to encourage
overseas Singaporeans to return home. Citizens living outside the
country were reminded that their international experience made the
increasingly valuable to their homeland.
The problem was that this group saw returning home as a form of
insurance in case they fail overseas, rather than a goal in itself.
Opportunities back home, although appealing, needed to be
significantly better than those being offered overseas to bring
people back. Expat
works saw no such problem and were happy to take jobs in
Singaporean businesses.
The floodgates were opened without due consideration for local
sensibilities
Contact Singapore’s work helped bring in foreign talent and
investment but they were not always welcome. Locals felt their
standard of living had diminished thanks to these newcomers.
Crowded public transport and rising housing prices created much
unhappiness.
Among a wave of public discontent, the ruling People’s Action Party
(PAP) lost the Aljunied GRC in the watershed 2011 General
Elections. The government subsequently tightened its manpower
policies to cut the number of people arriving.
Foreigners did not integrate well and online chatter created
unrest
The problem was that the alliance made no efforts to integrate
foreigners into the local culture. New arrivals lived separately
from the locals and benefitted from handsome expat packages.
Regular cultural assimilation programs would have helped soften
their image and break down barriers.
The internet was
another thorn in the side of successful integration. Online
discussion ran wild with speculation about companies preferring
foreign talent over local workers, while the government continually
defended their pro-foreigner growth policies. No one appeared to be
batting for the local team.
The government eventually established the Jobs
Bank to enforce fair hiring practices. Companies flouting
the Ministry
of Manpower (MOM) Fair Consideration Framework were placed
on a watch list and had their employment pass applications
revoked.
Residency programmes were tweaked to ensure a more sustainable
commitment
The way people qualified for permanent residency also changed. For
example, any money spent on buying
a home in Singapore was no longer counted as part of the
millions of dollars in investment required. Individuals also found
renewing their permanent residency was more difficult; their
business needed to spend
at last a million Singaporean dollars in the country each
year and have at least five local employees.
This indicated a shift away from a cut-and-run business mentality
which treated employees as disposable to instead building
businesses that were sustainable long-term. More commitment from
foreigners would entrench them in Singapore and keep the economy
working smoothly.
Foreign workers were often employed by the regional head offices
for multinational corporations; mostly dealing with sales and
marketing functions. This situation will need to change for
research and training opportunities to be a success. Innovation
cannot take root unless a country can scale new
technologies.
It is now more difficult to gain permanent residency
status
Permanent residency applications now take up to a year to process.
This is three times as long as previously. The number of successful
applications has also dropped. The average figure between 2010 and
2015 was around 29,000, this is almost half of the 58,000
new PRs between 2004 and 2008.
Local workers needed more support
The boom in expats could have been handled better. Unemployment
benefits could tide over displaced professionals, managers,
executives and technicians who felt they had missed out thanks to
foreign arrivals. Foreign firms should also be encouraged to
promote local workers. Corporate tax relief could be given to
companies when they appoint Singaporeans to senior
roles.
Today, the Ministry of Manpower element of Contact Singapore is no
more. The growth
of digital platforms made
its services obsolete. Foreigners could source housing directly
through online platforms and international recruitment firms were
bringing a steady flow of global talent into the country. An email
to subscribers on 21 February announced that the project was
officially discontinued; although the brand will continue under the
ambit of the Economic Development Board.
Contact Singapore, as an alliance, was eventually a victim of its
own success. The flood of successful and patriotic people it
brought to the country both achieved its objectives and sowed the
seeds for its demise. The project is dead but the spirit of
supporting the homeland remains strong.