<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top> Coffeeshop Chit Chat - 154th assures SG: PAP will slow down FTs</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>5:05 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 9) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>21973.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>The foreigners in your face
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SINGAPORE's population will exceed five million before the year is out. The 3.1 per cent rate of increase, to 4.99 million inhabitants at end-June, has been the slowest since 2007 on account of more foreign workers going home when jobs became scarce. But like Dubai, a fast-growth urban centre in perpetual need of imported labour, the rate will pick up again when boom conditions return. Singaporeans understand the state's rational case for foreign input to achieve higher gross domestic product growth and accelerate the country's transformation to First World status.
But the social variables - friction in adjusting to alien cultures from East and West, foreigners displacing available Singaporeans in jobs, the competition for living space, social services and recreation - will be a challenge for the Government to manage adroitly. At a Nanyang Technological University forum, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong again acknowledged the tension arising and said coping measures were in the works.
The issue is complex because Singapore has sizeable numbers of permanent residents (PRs) and guest workers on permits, relative to the citizen component. The population profile has a one-third foreigner content of 1.8 million. It breaks down to 1.25 million transients and 533,000 PRs. Two issues arise.
The more substantive and difficult one to manage is how to persuade more PRs to take up citizenship. Native-born Singaporeans will be more accepting of foreigners if PRs who have worked here for a good number of years (South-east Asians, Chinese and Indians mainly) would show they have a permanent stake here. The unpleasant truth is that too many of them regard Singapore as a way station to a 'better elsewhere', almost always taken to mean America. If Singapore loses their smart children raised and schooled here, it would want to snare the high-output parents who are set in their ways. But the loss is complete when parents and children decamp as soon as the US green card arrives. Citizenship choice is highly personal, but PRs can do better returning the favour for the comforts they have enjoyed living here.
For both categories of foreigners, the rate of entry into Singapore has to be more gradual to ensure that matching job fit, social services and housing are available. This is the second issue, about which many Singaporeans feel strongly enough to demand a slower absorption rate. The Government has heard them and it says it will act, but the policy of foreign top-up to stimulate economic growth and creativity happens to be immutable. Something's got to give if the rate of growth in amenities does not equal the influx.
[email protected]
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SINGAPORE's population will exceed five million before the year is out. The 3.1 per cent rate of increase, to 4.99 million inhabitants at end-June, has been the slowest since 2007 on account of more foreign workers going home when jobs became scarce. But like Dubai, a fast-growth urban centre in perpetual need of imported labour, the rate will pick up again when boom conditions return. Singaporeans understand the state's rational case for foreign input to achieve higher gross domestic product growth and accelerate the country's transformation to First World status.
But the social variables - friction in adjusting to alien cultures from East and West, foreigners displacing available Singaporeans in jobs, the competition for living space, social services and recreation - will be a challenge for the Government to manage adroitly. At a Nanyang Technological University forum, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong again acknowledged the tension arising and said coping measures were in the works.
The issue is complex because Singapore has sizeable numbers of permanent residents (PRs) and guest workers on permits, relative to the citizen component. The population profile has a one-third foreigner content of 1.8 million. It breaks down to 1.25 million transients and 533,000 PRs. Two issues arise.
The more substantive and difficult one to manage is how to persuade more PRs to take up citizenship. Native-born Singaporeans will be more accepting of foreigners if PRs who have worked here for a good number of years (South-east Asians, Chinese and Indians mainly) would show they have a permanent stake here. The unpleasant truth is that too many of them regard Singapore as a way station to a 'better elsewhere', almost always taken to mean America. If Singapore loses their smart children raised and schooled here, it would want to snare the high-output parents who are set in their ways. But the loss is complete when parents and children decamp as soon as the US green card arrives. Citizenship choice is highly personal, but PRs can do better returning the favour for the comforts they have enjoyed living here.
For both categories of foreigners, the rate of entry into Singapore has to be more gradual to ensure that matching job fit, social services and housing are available. This is the second issue, about which many Singaporeans feel strongly enough to demand a slower absorption rate. The Government has heard them and it says it will act, but the policy of foreign top-up to stimulate economic growth and creativity happens to be immutable. Something's got to give if the rate of growth in amenities does not equal the influx.
[email protected]
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