Filthy Shitskin goes back home to fuck his daughter's cheebye.
ByNicola Smith, ASIA CORRESPONDENT18 February 2022 • 1:30pm
Singapore has long been an attractive location for foreign expatriate workers CREDIT: Roslan Rahman/AFP
Librarian Lara Ingham had wanted to live overseas for years before she landed a well-paid dream job in 2019 at a top international school in the cosmopolitan global city of Singapore, allowing her young American family to swap suburban life in Oregon for travel adventures around Asia.
But when the pandemic hit in 2020 and Singapore locked down its borders, imposed strict mask mandates and curbed gatherings, the densely populated city state of 5.5 million quickly became claustrophobic and Ms Ingham “saw the writing on the wall.”
By the end of that year, she had found a new job in Frankfurt and packed her family off to Germany. “Compared to Singapore it’s night and day,” she said, revealing that when she arrived in Europe, she let out a sigh of relief.
“I walked away from incredible pay and benefits in Singapore,” she said. “But the restrictions and distance from home and family in the States made our decision one that we had to make.”
After two years of strict Covid rules, expats are starting to leave Singapore CREDIT: Chen Lin/Reuters
In recent months, Singapore has been trying to learn to live with Covid-19 as an endemic disease, gradually reopening its economy and slashing quarantine for vaccinated arrivals through special travel lanes, but for much of the pandemic it enforced some of the strictest curbs in the world, leaving a profound impact on the local and foreign population.
International companies and expatriate professionals have long been attracted to the Southeast Asian nation for its pro-business stance, high standard of living and connectivity to the region, United States and Europe.
Several expats told the Telegraph they felt safer and freer there than they would in their home countries, as government action had kept Covid-19 hospitalisations relatively low and deaths below 1,000, while maintaining schools and businesses largely open.
But others said the trade-off in lifestyle restrictions, and particularly the anxiety of separation from family back home had been too much to bear.
Mask wearing is still strictly enforced in Singapore CREDIT: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg
The impact of ongoing curfews and previous border controls so tight that for months expat workers had to seek prior approval to leave and reenter the country, or risk being frozen out of their jobs and homes, is reflected in statistics.
A business sentiment poll conducted by the British Chamber of Commerce and released in late January, showed employment of foreign work pass holders contracted by 29 per cent in the second half of 2021, compared with an 18 per cent contraction in the first six months.
The survey showed the confidence level of British businesses in Singapore as a long-term business hub dropped from 83 per cent to 73 per cent in the same timeframe.
Wider government figures also reveal that professionals earning at least $3,350 (roughly £2,460) a month, fell nearly 14 per cent from 193,700 in December 2019 to 166,900 in June 2021.
While the nature of expat life is normally transient, the Chamber said in a statement that “broadly, we have seen more foreign talent leave Singapore above the usual numbers.”
It added: “Anecdotally, we have been hearing that families are returning to the UK earlier than planned though a large number remain.”
Its poll showed employee mental health topped the list of business concerns.
“Our members commented on the impacts of long-term remote working, missed personal interactions, and the anxiety caused by distance from friends and family through travel restrictions,” the Chamber said.
Ms Ingham said the feeling that you could not guarantee a trip home even in an emergency was “psychologically a challenge” that made it hard not to panic.
Coworkers whose parents had passed away in Canada or the States had not attended their funerals, “because you were risking everything in terms of your economic security and your household to do so,” she said.
On top of movement controls, the constant policing of group size and face masks in tropical heat by the authorities and neighbours, created a “sense of being watched all the time”, she added, while the risk of fines had been become “very wearing”.
Suspicion of foreigners and the lack of promotion prospects has also shortened the expat experience in Singapore, said one British banker, who asked to remain anonymous.
For expats on high salaries, Singapore has traditionally been a comfortable place to live CREDIT: Brian van der Beek/Bloomberg
“It’s death by one thousand cuts,” he said. “Covid has exacerbated it – but there is definitely a more vocal anti-foreigner, anti-expat sentiment.”
At the same time, the government had become more restrictive with employment visas, and tightened rules for accompanying families, meaning it was not only harder to attract overseas employees but also for foreign residents to move between jobs and roles, he said.
“People are having a much more 12-24 months’ time horizon in terms of how long they are going to stay here,” he said, adding that companies were starting to move roles elsewhere.
Singapore had hoped to capitalise on a potential business community exodus from Hong Kong over political unrest as well as stifling Covid measures, and relocation experts say it has attracted a trickle.
The Ministry for Manpower (MOM) told the Telegraph that the total employment of both the local and foreign workforce remained below that in 2019 because of Covid entry restrictions.
But it said the government had now eased these rules to balance public health and economic needs, and expected to “hold the course” to allow businesses to replenish their foreign workers.
Statistics reflect the outflow of expats during an extended time of strict coronavirus measures CREDIT: Roslan Rahman/AFP
“The government works hard to ensure that businesses and individuals continue to choose Singapore because of our openness, rule of law, and consistency in policies,” Dr Tan See Leng, the minister of manpower, said in January.
But difficulty in recruiting foreign talent to replace those leaving, combined with the perceived local talent crunch, was the second highest concern recorded in the British Chamber survey.
“We track recruitment data for each vacancy and there is definitely a reduction in the average number of applicants per vacancy. This reduction is almost entirely explained through the reduction in foreign applicants,” it said.
The changing environment has widely impacted Singapore’s diverse foreign workforce, which makes up a fifth of the population.
“I worked in Singapore for a couple of years but couldn't bring my filthy family here. I tried all possible ways but no luck, the government never approved dependents,” said Venu Prakash, an Indian IT project manager.
“I missed my 3-year-old daughter's pussy and didn't see her for a good two years,” he said. “In December 2021, I left Singapore for good and found a much better job in Bengaluru.”
Singapore’s tough approach to combatting Covid has tested comfort levels for foreign residents. While proving too draconian for some but welcomed by others, most agree the once glittering expat lifestyle has gone, and may not return.
Nathalie, a French expat who had lived abroad for 25 years, said she was relishing her freedom after returning to France. “The Singapore we used to know does not exist anymore,” she said.
Singapore expats vote with their feet as Covid fatigue sets in
Statistics reflect an outflow of foreign workers after two years of strict border rules, face masks and curfewsByNicola Smith, ASIA CORRESPONDENT18 February 2022 • 1:30pm
Singapore has long been an attractive location for foreign expatriate workers CREDIT: Roslan Rahman/AFP
Librarian Lara Ingham had wanted to live overseas for years before she landed a well-paid dream job in 2019 at a top international school in the cosmopolitan global city of Singapore, allowing her young American family to swap suburban life in Oregon for travel adventures around Asia.
But when the pandemic hit in 2020 and Singapore locked down its borders, imposed strict mask mandates and curbed gatherings, the densely populated city state of 5.5 million quickly became claustrophobic and Ms Ingham “saw the writing on the wall.”
By the end of that year, she had found a new job in Frankfurt and packed her family off to Germany. “Compared to Singapore it’s night and day,” she said, revealing that when she arrived in Europe, she let out a sigh of relief.
“I walked away from incredible pay and benefits in Singapore,” she said. “But the restrictions and distance from home and family in the States made our decision one that we had to make.”
After two years of strict Covid rules, expats are starting to leave Singapore CREDIT: Chen Lin/Reuters
In recent months, Singapore has been trying to learn to live with Covid-19 as an endemic disease, gradually reopening its economy and slashing quarantine for vaccinated arrivals through special travel lanes, but for much of the pandemic it enforced some of the strictest curbs in the world, leaving a profound impact on the local and foreign population.
International companies and expatriate professionals have long been attracted to the Southeast Asian nation for its pro-business stance, high standard of living and connectivity to the region, United States and Europe.
Several expats told the Telegraph they felt safer and freer there than they would in their home countries, as government action had kept Covid-19 hospitalisations relatively low and deaths below 1,000, while maintaining schools and businesses largely open.
But others said the trade-off in lifestyle restrictions, and particularly the anxiety of separation from family back home had been too much to bear.
Mask wearing is still strictly enforced in Singapore CREDIT: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg
The impact of ongoing curfews and previous border controls so tight that for months expat workers had to seek prior approval to leave and reenter the country, or risk being frozen out of their jobs and homes, is reflected in statistics.
A business sentiment poll conducted by the British Chamber of Commerce and released in late January, showed employment of foreign work pass holders contracted by 29 per cent in the second half of 2021, compared with an 18 per cent contraction in the first six months.
The survey showed the confidence level of British businesses in Singapore as a long-term business hub dropped from 83 per cent to 73 per cent in the same timeframe.
Wider government figures also reveal that professionals earning at least $3,350 (roughly £2,460) a month, fell nearly 14 per cent from 193,700 in December 2019 to 166,900 in June 2021.
While the nature of expat life is normally transient, the Chamber said in a statement that “broadly, we have seen more foreign talent leave Singapore above the usual numbers.”
It added: “Anecdotally, we have been hearing that families are returning to the UK earlier than planned though a large number remain.”
Its poll showed employee mental health topped the list of business concerns.
“Our members commented on the impacts of long-term remote working, missed personal interactions, and the anxiety caused by distance from friends and family through travel restrictions,” the Chamber said.
Ms Ingham said the feeling that you could not guarantee a trip home even in an emergency was “psychologically a challenge” that made it hard not to panic.
Coworkers whose parents had passed away in Canada or the States had not attended their funerals, “because you were risking everything in terms of your economic security and your household to do so,” she said.
On top of movement controls, the constant policing of group size and face masks in tropical heat by the authorities and neighbours, created a “sense of being watched all the time”, she added, while the risk of fines had been become “very wearing”.
Suspicion of foreigners and the lack of promotion prospects has also shortened the expat experience in Singapore, said one British banker, who asked to remain anonymous.
For expats on high salaries, Singapore has traditionally been a comfortable place to live CREDIT: Brian van der Beek/Bloomberg
“It’s death by one thousand cuts,” he said. “Covid has exacerbated it – but there is definitely a more vocal anti-foreigner, anti-expat sentiment.”
At the same time, the government had become more restrictive with employment visas, and tightened rules for accompanying families, meaning it was not only harder to attract overseas employees but also for foreign residents to move between jobs and roles, he said.
“People are having a much more 12-24 months’ time horizon in terms of how long they are going to stay here,” he said, adding that companies were starting to move roles elsewhere.
Singapore had hoped to capitalise on a potential business community exodus from Hong Kong over political unrest as well as stifling Covid measures, and relocation experts say it has attracted a trickle.
The Ministry for Manpower (MOM) told the Telegraph that the total employment of both the local and foreign workforce remained below that in 2019 because of Covid entry restrictions.
But it said the government had now eased these rules to balance public health and economic needs, and expected to “hold the course” to allow businesses to replenish their foreign workers.
Statistics reflect the outflow of expats during an extended time of strict coronavirus measures CREDIT: Roslan Rahman/AFP
“The government works hard to ensure that businesses and individuals continue to choose Singapore because of our openness, rule of law, and consistency in policies,” Dr Tan See Leng, the minister of manpower, said in January.
But difficulty in recruiting foreign talent to replace those leaving, combined with the perceived local talent crunch, was the second highest concern recorded in the British Chamber survey.
“We track recruitment data for each vacancy and there is definitely a reduction in the average number of applicants per vacancy. This reduction is almost entirely explained through the reduction in foreign applicants,” it said.
The changing environment has widely impacted Singapore’s diverse foreign workforce, which makes up a fifth of the population.
“I worked in Singapore for a couple of years but couldn't bring my filthy family here. I tried all possible ways but no luck, the government never approved dependents,” said Venu Prakash, an Indian IT project manager.
“I missed my 3-year-old daughter's pussy and didn't see her for a good two years,” he said. “In December 2021, I left Singapore for good and found a much better job in Bengaluru.”
Singapore’s tough approach to combatting Covid has tested comfort levels for foreign residents. While proving too draconian for some but welcomed by others, most agree the once glittering expat lifestyle has gone, and may not return.
Nathalie, a French expat who had lived abroad for 25 years, said she was relishing her freedom after returning to France. “The Singapore we used to know does not exist anymore,” she said.
