An irate reader tipped us off about a discriminatory job
advertisement against Singapore citizens in a local online job
portal, Jobstreet, claiming he was told that the position on offer
is reserved only for PRs after he called up to make inquiries about
it.
He later realized that he had missed out the small print in the
ad – requirement: Singapore PR holder:
He retorted angrily:
“I told them I am a local graduate with 5 years of
experience in the retail industry, I can cook and I do not mind
working night shifts during the weekend, but still the girl told me
that they are looking only for PRs!!! Why did I serve 2 and a half
years of National Service for???”
PAP leaders have been claiming for years that foreign workers
(including PRs) are needed to take up jobs shunned by
Singaporeans.
The post of a retail operations manager can be easily filled by
a Singapore citizen. Pantry Magic will probably encounter few
difficulties recruiting a Singapore, why is it looking specifically
for a foreigner?
According to recent figures from the Manpower Ministry, the
unemployment rate of Singapore residents is only 3 per cent last
year. However its figures does not give a complete picture of the
reality on the ground as “residents” include both citizens and
PRs.
Furthermore, it also left out citizens on contract jobs or who
have given up searching for a job altogether.
Though companies need to fill a quota for Singapore workers
first before they can employ a foreign worker, it can be easily
circumvented by getting earlier arrivals to apply for PRs which are
usually granted within a year.
The media reported last year of a China national and Singapore
PR Zhang Yuanyuan who obtained her PR within 2 months of
application.
Two out of three PR applicants are successful. The PAP is so
desperate for immigrants that it is giving out Singapore PRs and
citizenships like toilet papers to construction workers, cleaners,
masseurs and even prostitutes who cannot speak a single word of
English.
Due to the PAP’s pro-foreigner policy, foreign workers now make
up a third of Singapore’s labor force. If PRs are included, the
figure could approach 50 per cent.
In the past, foreign workers are only employed in sectors with a
shortage of local workers, but they are not ubiquitous
everywhere.
One need only pay a visit to the Singapore Post and POSB Bank in
Toa Payoh Central to realize that half its counter staff are
Filipinos and Malaysians.
Foreigners are preferred to Singaporeans by employers due to
their relatively lower cost and willingness to work for long hours
under grueling conditions, especially PRs who are exempted from the
foreign worker levy.
A recent Wall Street Journal editorial reported that the
relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore in the last few
years has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased
the cost of living especially that of public housing, decreased
labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standard of
living.
Singapore’s income gap between the rich and the poor has widened
considerably during the same period. Foreign workers helped to
reduce labor costs and boost GDP figures artificially. A certain
percentage of PAP ministers’ multi-million salary package is pegged
to annual GDP growth.
While many countries like Australia and Britain are protecting
their local workforce from competition with foreign workers, the
PAP said it is unable to “shield” Singaporeans from it.
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said lately that there will be no
“turnaround” in the PAP’s lax labor policies and the number of
foreign workers may actually increase in the next few years.
At the rate the PAP is mass importing foreigners who now make up
36 per cent of Singapore’s population into Singapore, it is only a
matter of time before we are relegated to become a minority in our
own country.
Such advertisements as above are commonly found in Singapore’s
online job portals which are flooded with employers looking for
foreigners.
Singaporeans may stand a better chance getting a job by giving
up their citizenships first and returning as a PR or expatriate and
it can be guaranteed that the PAP will roll out the red carpet to
welcome them.