Nov 28, 2009
Penalise the free-riders among new citizens
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I REFER to Tuesday's report, 'MP: Why not have a pre-citizenship test?' Singapore has many measures in place to attract foreign talent. And recently, the National Integration Council was formed to help new citizens adapt to life here. There are also community bonding activities for new citizens to integrate with the population.
However, notwithstanding such campaigns, our efforts will go down the drain if there are no strong counter-measures in place to prevent new citizens from using the Singapore passport as a springboard to greener pastures.
Many expatriate couples from South Asia usually strategise by having one spouse take up Singapore citizenship - to enjoy subsidies in housing, childcare and education - while the other retains the couple's native citizenship, even though both are equally qualified to take up Singapore citizenship.
They do this so that when they have earned enough in Singapore, the spouse with the native citizenship can easily take the whole family back to their home country to enjoy their retirement. After all, the cost of living in their home country (South Asia) would be far lower than in Singapore.
=> South Asia = INDIA?
Alternatively, when the child is required to do national service, the spouse with the Singapore passport will apply for another country's citizenship so the child can cancel his permanent resident status to avoid serving the nation.
Many new citizens flock to Singapore because they see Singapore as a land of opportunity, which is clean, safe and good for families. But not many think of Singapore as their new homeland.
A few years back, the Economic Development Board wanted to release a list of former scholarship holders who broke their bond in an effort to publicly shame them and discourage bond-breaking.
Perhaps we could put in place some sort of penalty for new citizens who give up their Singapore citizenship within, say, five years.
Edmund Lin
Penalise the free-riders among new citizens
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<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
I REFER to Tuesday's report, 'MP: Why not have a pre-citizenship test?' Singapore has many measures in place to attract foreign talent. And recently, the National Integration Council was formed to help new citizens adapt to life here. There are also community bonding activities for new citizens to integrate with the population.
However, notwithstanding such campaigns, our efforts will go down the drain if there are no strong counter-measures in place to prevent new citizens from using the Singapore passport as a springboard to greener pastures.
Many expatriate couples from South Asia usually strategise by having one spouse take up Singapore citizenship - to enjoy subsidies in housing, childcare and education - while the other retains the couple's native citizenship, even though both are equally qualified to take up Singapore citizenship.
They do this so that when they have earned enough in Singapore, the spouse with the native citizenship can easily take the whole family back to their home country to enjoy their retirement. After all, the cost of living in their home country (South Asia) would be far lower than in Singapore.
=> South Asia = INDIA?
Alternatively, when the child is required to do national service, the spouse with the Singapore passport will apply for another country's citizenship so the child can cancel his permanent resident status to avoid serving the nation.
Many new citizens flock to Singapore because they see Singapore as a land of opportunity, which is clean, safe and good for families. But not many think of Singapore as their new homeland.
A few years back, the Economic Development Board wanted to release a list of former scholarship holders who broke their bond in an effort to publicly shame them and discourage bond-breaking.
Perhaps we could put in place some sort of penalty for new citizens who give up their Singapore citizenship within, say, five years.
Edmund Lin
:oIo:
