Singapore to control inflow of foreigners
Source: Agencies |
August 9, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
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SINGAPORE'S prime minister sought yesterday to ease concerns that the city-state is allowing in too many foreign workers who will undermine national unity.
The surge of foreigners living in Singapore has become a hot topic in the lead-up to the next general election, which the government must call by February 2012. Many of the newcomers are from China, India and other Asian countries.
"We will control the inflow, to ensure that it is not too fast and not too large," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said during a speech. "And we will make clear that citizens come first."
About 150,000 foreign workers have entered Singapore per year since 2007, and they now make up about a third of the island's 3 million work force and about a fourth of the total population of 5 million, up from 10 percent in 1990.
Local media have reported growing complaints by Singaporeans about poor quality costumer service at restaurants and retail stores, crowded subways and occasional violent crimes by foreigners. Many foreign workers may not speak fluent English, which is the most commonly spoken of Singapore's four official languages.
"It's no secret that a record influx of foreigners in recent years has led to discontent among Singaporeans, who feel crowded out of their own country," wrote Straits Times reporter Radha Basu in a recent editorial. "New immigrants are being blamed for a host of ills, from the squeeze in trains to the tussle for jobs."
Lee reiterated that foreign workers were necessary for economic growth, which the government expects to be as much as 15 percent this year. Lee said last month the government would allow more than 100,000 foreigners into Singapore this year to help keep the economy from "overheating" and inflation in check.
Singapore's decades-long boom, which has made it one of the world's wealthiest countries, has been fueled in part by foreign laborers who are willing to do jobs in areas such as construction and hospitality for lower wages than locals.
"We cannot do without a proportion of foreign workers," Lee said yesterday. "With new arrivals living and working harmoniously with those born here, we will keep Singapore dynamic, cosmopolitan, and successful."
Singapore is seeking to diversify its economy away from manufacturing toward tourism, and foreign workers play a key role in building and staffing projects such as the casino resorts opened this year by Las Vegas Sands and Malaysia's Genting, which have helped attract record visitors.
The surge of foreigners living in Singapore has become a hot topic in the lead-up to the next general election, which the government must call by February 2012. Many of the newcomers are from China, India and other Asian countries.
"We will control the inflow, to ensure that it is not too fast and not too large," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said during a speech. "And we will make clear that citizens come first."
About 150,000 foreign workers have entered Singapore per year since 2007, and they now make up about a third of the island's 3 million work force and about a fourth of the total population of 5 million, up from 10 percent in 1990.
Local media have reported growing complaints by Singaporeans about poor quality costumer service at restaurants and retail stores, crowded subways and occasional violent crimes by foreigners. Many foreign workers may not speak fluent English, which is the most commonly spoken of Singapore's four official languages.
"It's no secret that a record influx of foreigners in recent years has led to discontent among Singaporeans, who feel crowded out of their own country," wrote Straits Times reporter Radha Basu in a recent editorial. "New immigrants are being blamed for a host of ills, from the squeeze in trains to the tussle for jobs."
Lee reiterated that foreign workers were necessary for economic growth, which the government expects to be as much as 15 percent this year. Lee said last month the government would allow more than 100,000 foreigners into Singapore this year to help keep the economy from "overheating" and inflation in check.
Singapore's decades-long boom, which has made it one of the world's wealthiest countries, has been fueled in part by foreign laborers who are willing to do jobs in areas such as construction and hospitality for lower wages than locals.
"We cannot do without a proportion of foreign workers," Lee said yesterday. "With new arrivals living and working harmoniously with those born here, we will keep Singapore dynamic, cosmopolitan, and successful."
Singapore is seeking to diversify its economy away from manufacturing toward tourism, and foreign workers play a key role in building and staffing projects such as the casino resorts opened this year by Las Vegas Sands and Malaysia's Genting, which have helped attract record visitors.
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