http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20090915/tap-139-pm-lee-says-singapore-greater-ef-231650b.html
SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
spoke at length on Tuesday evening, to some 1,500 students at the
Nanyang Technological University on Singapore’s immigration policy
and also gave the assurance that the interest of citizens will
always come first.
He said that the country will make greater efforts at fostering
integration of new arrivals and that the National Integration
Council will announce its initiatives soon.
"This is not a one problem you can solve one off, just answer an
exam paper and settled. But it is a continuing issue with no final
solution, where you have to manage it, decide, adjust your policy
from time to time and as circumstances changed, adapt it in order
to keep on going forward. And it’s a problem where what we do
doesn’t just depend on the government or the government’s decisions
but on how open our society is and how well Singaporeans adjust to
and integrate new arrivals. And that depends on you, as your enter
the workforce, work, settle your families and become the next
generation of Singaporeans, what kind of Singapore you want," said
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
He said that while Singaporeans understand the need for
immigrants and foreign workers, they still have some concerns given
the large inflow in the last few years.
When the Singapore economy was booming the country admitted many
foreigners — more than 100,000 per year in recent years. Mr Lee,
however, said the country will not continue to admit people at this
pace as the nation cannot expect to continue booming as in the last
few years.
So over the long term while Singapore needs to continue bringing
in immigrants, it will be mindful of how quickly its society can
absorb and integrate new arrivals.
"In the midst of all these discussions about Singaporeans and
non—Singaporeans, I should emphasise one point— that in Singapore,
the interests of citizens have to always come first. Not a short
term interest but a long term interest. It is to safeguard the long
term interest of Singaporeans, we must have a sustained, calibrated
inflow of immigrants. We will make this differentiation sharper
over time to reflect the responsibilities and privileges of
citizenship. But we cannot make it so onerous for PRs and
non—residents that nobody wants to come," Mr Lee said.
Furthermore, he mentioned that Singapore’s critical constraint
isn’t with physical space but with its people — that with more good
people, the country can generate new and creative ideas to expand
the space and create more opportunities.
At the start of his speech, Mr Lee also had a word on the
Singapore economy for his audience.
He said the third quarter economic forecast didn’t look bad.
But he cautioned that the nation must be psychologically
prepared for a slow pickup and even surprises like a W—shaped
recovery.
