I post something about foreign wifes ...
Then at 5.55pm ...... CNA got such news .
"Promoting
marriage & parenthood" central to keeping S'porean
core
SINGAPORE: Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
Grace Fu has rebutted the notion that bringing in more foreigners
would dilute the Singaporean identity.
That was one area of concern raised by several MPs, including the
opposition Workers' Party, during the parliamentary debate on the
Population White Paper and Land Use Plan.
Ms Fu said promoting marriage and parenthood is central to
maintaining a strong Singaporean core and that allowing immigration
does not mean the government takes its marriage and parenthood
objectives less seriously.
Over the two days of debate, several MPs have questioned what it
means to have a Singaporean core with more foreigners in the
midst.
Addressing this issue, Ms Fu said encouraging marriage and
parenthood remains top priority.
She pointed to the recently enhanced Marriage and Parenthood
package aimed at supporting parents in balancing work and family
life, supporting shared parental responsibility and defraying the
cost of raising children.
While the government is "hopeful" and "ambitiously" looking forward
to improving the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to between 1.4 and 1.5
from the current 1.29, authorities are also realistic about how
quickly birth rates can improve, said Ms Fu.
"In the meantime, we continue to have to address the shortfall of
births, and our approach has been to supplement our citizen
population with a calibrated pace of immigration," she said.
"Allowing immigration does not mean that we do not take our
marriage and parenthood objectives seriously."
"Members have spoken on the risks of taking in too many immigrants
too quickly. It takes time and effort for our immigrants to
understand and adapt to our norms. If the texture of society
changes too quickly, we will experience a sense of displacement and
an erosion of our national identity. We understand the concerns of
Singaporeans of feeling displaced in their country," added Ms
Fu.
She framed Singapore's population as three concentric
circles.
The outermost ring comprises non-resident workers - transient
workers whose numbers can be reduced when the economic situation
requires it.
The second ring consists of permanent residents (PRs), many of whom
have worked or studied in Singapore for many years and some even
served National Service, said Ms Fu.
At the core are the citizens.
"All our policies are designed to ensure that citizens get the
lion's share of any privileges and benefits, in recognition that
this is their home. We have relentlessly improved our healthcare,
education, marriage and parenthood, and other benefits given to
Singaporeans only," said Ms Fu.
Ms Fu noted that new citizens would have made the commitment to
sink their roots in Singapore.
"So, to become a Singapore citizen, they would have spent a few
years as PRs and before that a few years in Singapore. When
assessing their situation, we consider a holistic set of criteria.
We evaluate not just their economic contributions but also their
ability to integrate and sink roots into our society as well," she
said.
But integration efforts are a critical complement to the
immigration policy and efforts in this area are being stepped up,
for example, through schools and the workplace, as well as looking
into new touch points such as through sports and the arts.
Ms Fu also addressed several Malay MPs' concerns over the impact of
immigration on Singapore's racial balance.
She said: "The proportion of Malays in the citizen population has
been stable over the years, from 14.9% in 2000 to 15.1% in 2010.
Malays constitute the second largest ethnic group after the
Chinese, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It
is our policy to maintain the ethnic balance in the citizen
population as far as possible."
Wrapping up, Ms Fu said: "In our deliberations on what is the best
way forward for Singapore, Singaporeans were at the heart of our
considerations, and a strong Singaporean core was our objective.
What does this mean?
"In my view, a strong Singaporean core is one where Singaporeans
have a sense of well-being and belonging in a place where we can
all call 'home'. Well-being comes both from the tangibles - having
fulfilling jobs and a good quality living environment - as well as
the intangibles - strong supportive families, values that connect
us and a collective hope for a brighter future."
The White Paper is designed to give future generation of
Singaporeans the most options for a better life, said Ms Fu.
