SINGAPORE: Just how valuable is an overseas Singaporean to the
country?
That was the crux of the sentiment during the question-and-answer
session at the Overseas Singapore Club Forum.
It was a quiet start to the forum as 60 Singaporeans living
overseas re-acquainted themselves with the latest developments in
the country.
But the feedback came fast after that.
Chief among the issues raised was how overseas Singaporeans could
remain connected if simple connection issues could not be
resolved.
Many spoke of difficulties registering with embassies and remaining
updated by government agencies.
Lee Ying Zheng said: "It's a common practice among government
agencies that once we don't live in Singapore, they don't want to
communicate with us overseas. They say I cannot mail you letters
overseas is this (due to) postage reason or something? I don't
know. So we are being cut off from communication with agencies. I
consider this strange. Do you consider me a citizen or not? I'm not
sure. (But when) it comes to income tax, you know how to go after
me."
Ho Geok Choo, Chairperson and Speaker, Overseas Singapore Club
Forum, said: "As far as the embassies are concerned, it's probably
a matter of prioritising what has got to be done first, given their
limited resources. I am not speaking on their behalf but this is my
quick response and certainly your feedback is very good for
us."
A man who left Singapore for the US made an impassioned plea for
help for SMEs.
Charlie Giang said: "At the age of 35, I packed my bags with
$20,000 in my bank account and brought it to the US. I just went
with one Singaporean trait and that was to 'cheong' which means
to go after something. I left this country because opportunities
were slim."
Other concerns were about integrating Singapore students who could
not afford international schools back into the system.
And there was laughter too, underlying the issues.
Mr Lee recounted an incident when he asked his Singapore embassy on
their plan for an evacuation drill in the event of a crisis.
He said: "When I got a response from the embassy, they said,
'Sorry, it's a secret'. I said, 'What? Evacuation plan is a
secret?' They said, 'Yes, we are not supposed to tell you'. I said,
'What kind of evacuation plan is this?'."
The forum is a biennial event and this is the seventh in the
series.
Oi you all.. come back. Dun forget to pay income tax ok!
