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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - PAP Says We MUST Accept More PRs</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 vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>exgoon <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>6:42 pm </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 11) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>26958.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>PAP MP Matthias Yao: Singapore must welcome “everybody”
January 11, 2010 by admin
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Written by Our Correspondent
In yet another sign that the ruling party is completely out of touch with the ground, PAP MP and Mayor of South East District Mr Matthias Yao became the latest leader to parrot his party’s stance and urged Singaporeans to accept and welcome foreigners.
In an interview with Channel News Asia, Mr Yao was quoted as saying:
“Singapore must welcome everybody, just as Singapore welcomed our own forefathers. My suggestion is welcome our new friends and citizens and for the new citizens, feel quickly a part of Singapore and contribute as much as they can to the economy and neighbourhood.”
It is disingenuous for Mr Yao to compare our situation now with the past when Singapore was a British colony and the British had to import large number of cheap foreign labor from other countries to keep its economy which is heavily dependent on external trade going.
Now that we have been a nation for 44 years, a delicate balance must be achieved between safeguarding the interests of locals while welcoming more foreigners into the country at the same time.
As a result of the ruling party’s liberal immigration policy which had saw the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore for the past few years, the nation’s demographics was altered radically.
Foreigners now make up 36 per cent of the population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 per cent, there is a growing proportion of new citizens who are not born here in Singapore.
At the rate the ruling party is “mass-importing” foreigners from elsewhere, true blue Singaporeans may find themselves in the minority in no time.
While Singaporeans understand the need to welcome foreigners to boost the nation’s flagging birth rates, what they are perturbed with is the quality of the new citizens we are accepting which resemble more of uncouth peasants than top-notch professionals.
A Gallup poll done in July last year reveals that the United States is the top destination for college students from mainland China and not Singapore.
Despite Singapore’s best efforts to woo the Chinese to study and work here, it does not even feature in the top 5 immigration destinations for them.
The United States accepts thousands of Chinese immigrants each year, many of whom are world class scientists, engineers, doctors, artists and respected professionals from other fields.
In contrast, the majority of Chinese immigrants in Singapore hail from the poorer inland provinces and many are unable to speak a single word of English. There are few newcomers from the affluent coastal cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin.
Recent media reports reveal that even cleaners, masseurs, beauticians and construction workers are given Singapore PRs and citizenship.
Are we so desperate of people that we have to welcome these “rejects” from other countries?
Social integration and assimilation takes time and it will not happen overnight simply by pouring money into it. The Japanese Americans took one or two generations to become fully naturalized American citizens.
In the case of the United States, the new immigrants have no choice but to force themselves to adapt to a new environment as they remain a minority compared to the native whites.
The increasing large number of Chinese and Indian immigrants flooding into Singapore will make it more difficult for them to integrate into Singapore society as they tend to mix within their own social circles.
With Singapore’s new found national identity being eroded away by the ruling party’s reckless and short-sighted immigration policies, we may end up becoming an economic “colony” for the ruling elite and rich foreigners.
source : Temasek Review
</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
January 11, 2010 by admin
Filed under Headlines
Leave a comment
Written by Our Correspondent
In yet another sign that the ruling party is completely out of touch with the ground, PAP MP and Mayor of South East District Mr Matthias Yao became the latest leader to parrot his party’s stance and urged Singaporeans to accept and welcome foreigners.
In an interview with Channel News Asia, Mr Yao was quoted as saying:
“Singapore must welcome everybody, just as Singapore welcomed our own forefathers. My suggestion is welcome our new friends and citizens and for the new citizens, feel quickly a part of Singapore and contribute as much as they can to the economy and neighbourhood.”
It is disingenuous for Mr Yao to compare our situation now with the past when Singapore was a British colony and the British had to import large number of cheap foreign labor from other countries to keep its economy which is heavily dependent on external trade going.
Now that we have been a nation for 44 years, a delicate balance must be achieved between safeguarding the interests of locals while welcoming more foreigners into the country at the same time.
As a result of the ruling party’s liberal immigration policy which had saw the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore for the past few years, the nation’s demographics was altered radically.
Foreigners now make up 36 per cent of the population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 per cent, there is a growing proportion of new citizens who are not born here in Singapore.
At the rate the ruling party is “mass-importing” foreigners from elsewhere, true blue Singaporeans may find themselves in the minority in no time.
While Singaporeans understand the need to welcome foreigners to boost the nation’s flagging birth rates, what they are perturbed with is the quality of the new citizens we are accepting which resemble more of uncouth peasants than top-notch professionals.
A Gallup poll done in July last year reveals that the United States is the top destination for college students from mainland China and not Singapore.
Despite Singapore’s best efforts to woo the Chinese to study and work here, it does not even feature in the top 5 immigration destinations for them.
The United States accepts thousands of Chinese immigrants each year, many of whom are world class scientists, engineers, doctors, artists and respected professionals from other fields.
In contrast, the majority of Chinese immigrants in Singapore hail from the poorer inland provinces and many are unable to speak a single word of English. There are few newcomers from the affluent coastal cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin.
Recent media reports reveal that even cleaners, masseurs, beauticians and construction workers are given Singapore PRs and citizenship.
Are we so desperate of people that we have to welcome these “rejects” from other countries?
Social integration and assimilation takes time and it will not happen overnight simply by pouring money into it. The Japanese Americans took one or two generations to become fully naturalized American citizens.
In the case of the United States, the new immigrants have no choice but to force themselves to adapt to a new environment as they remain a minority compared to the native whites.
The increasing large number of Chinese and Indian immigrants flooding into Singapore will make it more difficult for them to integrate into Singapore society as they tend to mix within their own social circles.
With Singapore’s new found national identity being eroded away by the ruling party’s reckless and short-sighted immigration policies, we may end up becoming an economic “colony” for the ruling elite and rich foreigners.
source : Temasek Review
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