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By Andrea Ong
The Straits Times
Sunday, Mar 10, 2013
SINGAPORE - Aspiring citizens should be evaluated and endorsed by Singaporeans who know them well before getting their pink identity cards, suggested four MPs in Parliament Thursday.
This would pick out applicants who are genuinely integrated into the community and give Singaporeans a say in the decision-making process, said the MPs.
Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC) proposed that eligible foreigners who wish to become permanent residents or new citizens should have around five to 10 Singaporean assentors of different ethnicities who know them well from work or the community.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong GRC), Mr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir) and Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) also raised similar ideas for Singaporean "sponsors" or "assentors" during the debate on the budget for the Prime Minister's Office.
Mr Ang noted that the cantons in Switzerland practised something similar where the community is given a say in naturalisation.
Responding to these suggestions, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said the Government would study these suggestions and would also be open to other ideas.
Workers' Party MPs Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC) called for greater transparency in immigration policies and data.
But DPM Teo said the Government does not reveal specific criteria for immigration applications because it does not want to encourage people "to tailor their applications to specific criteria to artificially increase their likelihood of approval". Most countries have eligibility criteria but also do not reveal specifics of how these are evaluated, he said.
The Straits Times
Sunday, Mar 10, 2013
SINGAPORE - Aspiring citizens should be evaluated and endorsed by Singaporeans who know them well before getting their pink identity cards, suggested four MPs in Parliament Thursday.
This would pick out applicants who are genuinely integrated into the community and give Singaporeans a say in the decision-making process, said the MPs.
Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC) proposed that eligible foreigners who wish to become permanent residents or new citizens should have around five to 10 Singaporean assentors of different ethnicities who know them well from work or the community.
Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong GRC), Mr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir) and Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) also raised similar ideas for Singaporean "sponsors" or "assentors" during the debate on the budget for the Prime Minister's Office.
Mr Ang noted that the cantons in Switzerland practised something similar where the community is given a say in naturalisation.
Responding to these suggestions, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said the Government would study these suggestions and would also be open to other ideas.
Workers' Party MPs Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh (Aljunied GRC) called for greater transparency in immigration policies and data.
But DPM Teo said the Government does not reveal specific criteria for immigration applications because it does not want to encourage people "to tailor their applications to specific criteria to artificially increase their likelihood of approval". Most countries have eligibility criteria but also do not reveal specifics of how these are evaluated, he said.
