SINGAPOREANS think the Government should bring in foreigners
when the economy needs them, but they have concerns about the
impact of the workers.
In a survey of 2,016 citizens last year by the Institute of
Policy Studies (IPS), two out of three respondents said they felt
that national unity would be compromised by the presence of
foreigners, whether they are here to settle down or are transient
workers.
More than 60 per cent of respondents agreed that 'the policy to
attract more foreign talent will weaken Singaporeans' feeling as
one nation, one people'.
This is significantly higher than the 38 per cent of respondents
who felt this way in 1998, when the survey question was last
posed.
In the survey last year, those most concerned about the impact
of foreigners tended to be low-income earners who made less than
$2,000 a month, and those living in one-, two- or three-room
flats.
Those least concerned about the influx of foreigners were those
in the middle- to upper-income brackets, earning $8,000 and above a
month and living in private housing.
-- ST