Foreigners 40% Locals 60% True or not?
-
Originally posted by angel7030:
Not really, it is still very much a man working world out there, men still top the high management position, we gals still have to get marry, go for maternity leaves and care for children. Ns should not be an accuse for falling behind in term of position and earning power, it should be taken as a chance to be leader, protect the country and learn to be a true red and white gentleman of Singapore.As far as I noticed since moving in from taiwan, the typical downturn of Sg men is that when they fail on something, they tend to blame on this and that, and especially the govt will get the most blame, but they fail to blame themselves for the failure. Such blaming culture should be omitted from Sg men mentality. In taiwan, one man action is one man responsible, blaming the society and govt are only accuses
Is not Sg men mentality, it is all men mentality to blame. Women blame too you know. You of course will support PAP because of their immigration policies. If you imagine all the PRC and India people go to Taiwan and steal you jobs and lower the salary rate, how will you feel?
Sometimes I wonder, protect the country from what? Straits Malacca Pirates? Nobody wants to invade Sg. We have no resources but except for chio bu here who are in same par with Ipoh chio bu.
-
Originally posted by *=Optimus=*:
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- After luring investor Jim Rogers, actor Jet Li, Filipino maids and Bangladeshi construction workers with one of Asia’s most open immigration policies, Singapore is becoming a little less welcoming to foreigners.
Singapore almost doubled the rate it grants citizenship and permanent residence in the past five years to counter a falling birth rate, and let firms bring in thousands to work at hotels, shipyards and restaurants. The move saw foreigners make up one in every three people. The government plans to slow the inflow to avoid being “overwhelmed,” and unveiled higher levies for overseas laborers, cooks and janitors in its Feb. 22 budget.
The effort is part of a shift in economic policies designed to ease discontent in the aftermath of the deepest recession since independence in 1965 and to shore up public support before elections that must be held by February 2012. The danger is that the changes may make Singapore more expensive for companies to operate in and less attractive to investors.
“The economy generates more jobs than can be filled by locals and it wasn’t that long ago the government was arguing vehemently that we need foreign talent to ensure strong and sustainable growth,” said Song Seng-Wun, an economist at CIMB- GK Securities Pte in Singapore. “They’re trying to soothe Singaporeans’ anxiety that the whole island is swamped with foreigners. It’s politics.”
Election Timing
The government’s shift, which includes higher school and medical fees for non-citizens, has spurred speculation that an election may be called as early as this year. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Feb. 17 directed the Elections Department to update electoral rolls with eligible voters and for the process to be completed by March 31. A day later, a government gazette published the boundaries of new and existing polling districts.
Lee’s People’s Action Party was co-founded in 1954 by his father, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and it has been in power since 1959. Its politicians currently hold 82 of 84 elected seats in parliament. Prime Minister Lee in a speech on Jan. 25 noted a speculation “fever” of early elections, while adding that it’s not imminent.
Support for long-serving governments in Asia has diminished in recent years. At the last Singapore election in 2006, Lee’s party won about 67 percent of ballots, 8 percentage points lower than the previous vote. In neighboring Malaysia, voters reduced the ruling coalition’s majority to a record low in 2008. Japan in August saw the ouster of the Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled the nation for almost all the postwar period.
Hit to Economy
Singapore’s economy contracted 2 percent last year as the global slump reduced demand for goods, hurting the island’s exports. The trade ministry last week said it expects an expansion as much as 6.5 percent in 2010.
Policy makers in Singapore say productivity is a cornerstone of their economic blueprint for the next decade, aiming to reduce the island’s dependence on exports. The government has blamed some industries’ use of cheaper, low- skilled foreign labor as a reason for low productivity in the past 10 years.
“We’re not against foreign workers,” Lim Swee Say, a government minister and secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress, said at a Feb. 1 media briefing. “But just like drinking wine, wine is good but too much wine is bad. Foreign workers are good but too many foreign workers growing at too fast a rate is no good for the economy because it dilutes our focus on productivity.”
Birth Rate
Immigration had been a key component of Singapore’s population and economic strategy, given the failure of other incentives offered since 1987 to arrest a birth-rate decline -- such as tax breaks, subsidies and cash bonuses. Singapore, which has one-quarter the land area of Rhode Island, has no natural resources and the government relies on the skills of its populace to drive growth.
The government insists it’s still welcoming foreign talent, suggesting it will aim to reduce the inflow of lower-skilled workers rather than bankers, scientists and athletes. The laborers who build office towers and ships and serve at the city’s restaurants and hotels are mostly not allowed to apply to be permanent residents or citizens.
The influx of foreigners, both skilled and unskilled, has boosted sales for property developers such as CapitaLand Ltd., transportation providers including SMRT Corp. and telephone companies such as Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. It’s also helped consumption, given the birth rate has been below the level needed to replace the population since the 1970s.
Citizenship, Residence
About 20,513 people became Singapore citizens in 2008, and another 79,167 were given permanent residence. The tally is three times more than the 32,423 babies born to citizens that year. Of the 4.99 million population, about 1.8 million are non- citizens.
Disgruntled Singaporeans say the immigration policy means more competition with newcomers for jobs, public housing and places in choice in schools for their children. In the past few months, the government has lowered healthcare subsidies for permanent residents, increased public school fees for non- citizens, and tweaked a balloting system to give Singaporean children twice the chance of getting into the educational institution of their choice.
To address the flood of workers brought in by companies such as SembCorp Marine Ltd., the world’s second-biggest oil-rig maker, and casino operator Genting Singapore Plc, the government now plans to increase levies on foreign labor.
Levies on Workers
Singapore will raise the monthly charge for foreign workers in manufacturing and services industries by an average S$100 ($71) over the next three years, while construction companies will see a larger increase because there is more room for productivity improvements, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said Feb. 22. The first increase from July will see a rise of as much as S$30 a month per worker, he said.
An employer currently pays the government between S$50 and S$470 monthly per foreign worker. Professionals and executives who earn more than S$2,500 fall under a separate category that doesn’t require a levy.
The government’s latest move may cost SembCorp Marine, which estimates it has as many as 20,000 foreign workers and sub-contractors, an additional S$600,000 a month, said Ong Poh Kwee, the company’s deputy president.
“It will add on to the cost of operations,” Ong said. “This is the catalyst to driving productivity and adds to the urgency” of becoming more efficient.
The levy increase will slow economic growth and raise business costs, said Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore.
‘Hollowing-Out’
“The new policy on foreign workers may place a disproportionate burden on certain sectors, posing risks to their profitability in the next few years,” Liew said. “The most obvious victim is the construction sector, followed by low- end manufacturing and labor-intensive services industries like hotels and restaurants.”
Higher costs may also accelerate the “hollowing-out” of some manufacturing industries, which may move to cheaper locations in the region, he said. For consumers, Singapore will likely become a more expensive place for hotel stays and restaurant meals, he said.
Singapore cannot slow down the intake of foreigners too much because it will hurt growth even as locals complain of competition in schools or congestion in trains, buses and public areas, Lee Kuan Yew, now known as Minister Mentor, said at a community event Feb. 18.
In an interview with National Geographic last year, he called the country’s recent migrants “hungry” and “determined to succeed” compared with locals who are “less hard driving and hard-striving.”
“We tell them, look, they have to work harder or they’ll become stupid,” the elder Lee said of Singaporeans. “It’s just they don’t see the point of it. Why race when you can canter and save your energy and do other things? A regular inflow of migrants without too huge a deluge will keep” a society “on its toes,” he said.
Nice and unbiased article.. best if you have the source too....
-
Originally posted by angel7030:
Dun, please dun ban NS, I love uniform guys.
Not saying or asking govt to ban ns, but at least make an effort to reduce the services of 2 yrs to 1 yr. -
Originally posted by likeyou:
Not saying or asking govt to ban ns, but at least make an effort to reduce the services of 2 yrs to 1 yr.
Yo dude, actually the service is only one year, the other one year is mend of the waiting, sitting and standby time, which the SAF, i believe is very good at delaying and waiting. So, the actually training is only 1 year, you need to give them the allowance for those waiting and getting ready time. And bear in mind, i believe the army takes one year to prepare for the NDP -
Originally posted by angel7030:
Yo dude, actually the service is only one year, the other one year is mend of the waiting, sitting and standby time, which the SAF, i believe is very good at delaying and waiting. So, the actually training is only 1 year, you need to give them the allowance for those waiting and getting ready time. And bear in mind, i believe the army takes one year to prepare for the NDPInstead of waiting, sitting and standby time for another year, why not let them out and work in the corporate world? And instead of letting them sit and unable to excel? It's wasting our boys time lah.
-
The foreigners who whoreship the MIW and joined the MIW will be running the show in Sinkapore in another 10 years time as more of our citizens retire, so citizens prepare to emigrate or starve, this is what Sinkapore will be, overrun and taken control of by foreigners without a shot being fired. Likewise foreigners will be in higher positions as they have more work experience by then and also have the power to hire more of their own kind.
Who are the traitor dogs that did such a deed? No prize for guessing but there's a lifeline for those who think and forsee these, vote the MIW out if failing so, please emigrate and try to bring your parents along, there's no hope left. We are doomed.
-
Originally posted by likeyou:
Instead of waiting, sitting and standby time for another year, why not let them out and work in the corporate world? And instead of letting them sit and unable to excel? It's wasting our boys time lah.
aiyo, up to now u still dun understand, my ex NS bf told me SAF very corkup one, need a year extra to corkup so as to get the NSmen moving in the correct direction. -
Originally posted by charlize:
I think the figure is closer to 50/50.
double post
-
Originally posted by charlize:
I think the figure is closer to 50/50.
I believe that when ppl talked about the 60/40 ratio, the 40 refers to those neutralised foreigners, ie the pr and newly minted citizens.
It should not include the transient foreign workers ie s pass holder, work permit and those professional foreigners who have no intenttion of settling.
I believe forumites are talking about the sum of total singaporeans vs the sum of total foreign borns. If that is the case, than the transient workers have to be included.
So the ratios of 30/70 or 40/60, as experienced by forumites out in the street, depending where they are, are also realistic pictures.
-
Nowadays, the only place in Singapore where I am not outnumbered by foreigners is in a SAF military camp.
That is the only place where Singaporeans outnumber foreigners.
-
Originally posted by Vote PAP OUT to Save SG:
Nowadays, the only place in Singapore where I am not outnumbered by foreigners is in a SAF military camp.
That is the only place where Singaporeans outnumber foreigners.
i thought all Singaporeans?
-
Originally posted by kengkia:
i thought all Singaporeans?
There are foreigners doing menial tasks in SAF camps.
-
Originally posted by Vote PAP OUT to Save SG:
There are foreigners doing menial tasks in SAF camps.
Once a bangla worker happened to be resting at the shed ask us "So how much do you all earn as a soldier.." "We replied, $350."
Bangla say "What! I earn $700 a month."
We were like... yah lor.. we earn $350 only.
And he was lying at the shed and ... we were told not to lie on the shed. -_-" -
Then when i visited our friends doing recruit in camp, we will serve food by contracted PRC guys, somemore can disturb we gals too...they called me Ku liang..what is that?
All the recruit singaporeans have to suffer there, but the foreign cooks are enjoying the best food for themselves.
-
Originally posted by angel7030:
Then when i visited our friends doing recruit in camp, we will serve food by contracted PRC guys, somemore can disturb we gals too...they called me Ku liang..what is that?
All the recruit singaporeans have to suffer there, but the foreign cooks are enjoying the best food for themselves.
So how? Reduce the ns serving lah. -
Originally posted by angel7030:
they called me Ku liang..what is that?
Means your ku ku very cold.
-
Originally posted by Junyang700:
Means your ku ku very cold.
kuku? i heard of tan ku ku, kukup and kuku bird, but never ku liang?my sister in laws said in china call Xiao Mei or Xiao Jie is for those working in bars or lounge, normal girl like me are call Ku liang...what the hell
-
Originally posted by likeyou:
So how? Reduce the ns serving lah.
if reduce NS, then all the regular will be reduced and go jobless, then also the ministry of defence would had to retrench peoples, and more importantly, the Minister of defence, ministers of state for defend, the national secruity home affair ministry and ministers would had to loose their job -
Not surprising if Singaporeans would use chopper to kill other Singaporeans.
Population of locals might shrink even lower in the future.
-
The problem is not we have FTs per say, but fundamentally with the kind of FTs we are attracting, which is not the highly-skilled person that sees Singapore as a place to add value to and sink roots in, but as a stepping stone to places elsewhere.
Basically a place to exploit.
At the end of the day do they actually add value? It's a stopgap measure by the PAP to boost the workforce due to falling birthrates but at the end of the day it's not a long-term solution. Worse, attracting mercenaries instead of true team players ultimately finds you screwed even more at the end of the day.
Our nation needs FTs, but we need the RIGHT kind. I am not really sure what's up with a large proportion of the lot we're attracting nowadays. MM Lee say FTs keep us on our toes right? Maybe the PAP also need some lost votes to keep them on their toes...
-
it is quite sad how our government approaches foriegn talent, and yess, i guess it is getting worse in singapore, but apparently, globalisation hasnt spared the rest of the world either, i mena, look at cambridge, harvard, yale, and all the ivy league universities in USA and britain. more than 60% of them are dominated by foriegners. look at the big shots in sillicon valley like apple, even NASA, where already, half of the researchers are indians or asians, no exception. 60% of the time, an american loses in his bid to enter the universityt, the same goes for cambridge and stamford. look at MIT in particular. it is sad, that foriegn taleant sometimes does more harm than good, and our governments arent doing enough to curb this to a reasonable level.
-
There is a different between globlisation and attracting foreign talent. Other countries go globlisation, they recruited the best talents but do not attract them. Singapore is in a way where, unrecognised Universities or some forest high schools are also taken in as talent.
Other countries are talking about getting the best talents, Singapore is talking about increasing the population to make more money ya
-
Originally posted by angel7030:
if reduce NS, then all the regular will be reduced and go jobless, then also the ministry of defence would had to retrench peoples, and more importantly, the Minister of defence, ministers of state for defend, the national secruity home affair ministry and ministers would had to loose their job
Rubbish..rubbish and loads of rubbish.If reduce ns, regulars still a regulars.
Why retrench? Every quarters of the year, boys are being called upon to enlist in the ns.
Just like a chicken farm, everyday lay eggs every month, less or more, still lay eggs.
-
this is probably already underestimated statistics.
coz many maybe 50-100k singaporeans are working overseas or stay in another country hardly back.
-
erm, really? my class of 42 pupils have 4 foregin pupils