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<!-- headline one : start --><TR>Immigration is the most significant change in Singapore
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I HAVE lived overseas for the past five years and on my annual visits home to Singapore, I have been impressed by the changes and the relentless drive to reinvent and reinvigorate Singapore.
Immigration stands out as the most obvious, significant change. What has been less satisfactory is the perceived ease with which new immigrants are allowed into Singapore. I have been profoundly surprised by the rate at which immigration has accelerated over the last few years.
A taxi driver related how one passenger had to point to his own identity card to indicate his destination, as he did not know how to pronounce the address in English - and he was a permanent resident (PR).
Singapore needs a set of minimum criteria by which to assess potential immigrants. The ability to communicate and be understood in English should be a key requirement, given our multi-ethnicity and the language's global heft.
Include a simple test, especially for PR applicants, to raise awareness and an appreciation of Singapore's social fabric and history. Given the potential for large-scale immigration to fundamentally alter Singapore's demographics, it is sensible, indeed prudent, to begin a comprehensive review of immigration to Singapore. Leaving the issue of integration to the offspring of current immigrants would be far too late.
Dennis Tan
Oxford, England
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<!-- headline one : start --><TR>Immigration is the most significant change in Singapore
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I HAVE lived overseas for the past five years and on my annual visits home to Singapore, I have been impressed by the changes and the relentless drive to reinvent and reinvigorate Singapore.
Immigration stands out as the most obvious, significant change. What has been less satisfactory is the perceived ease with which new immigrants are allowed into Singapore. I have been profoundly surprised by the rate at which immigration has accelerated over the last few years.
A taxi driver related how one passenger had to point to his own identity card to indicate his destination, as he did not know how to pronounce the address in English - and he was a permanent resident (PR).
Singapore needs a set of minimum criteria by which to assess potential immigrants. The ability to communicate and be understood in English should be a key requirement, given our multi-ethnicity and the language's global heft.
Include a simple test, especially for PR applicants, to raise awareness and an appreciation of Singapore's social fabric and history. Given the potential for large-scale immigration to fundamentally alter Singapore's demographics, it is sensible, indeed prudent, to begin a comprehensive review of immigration to Singapore. Leaving the issue of integration to the offspring of current immigrants would be far too late.
Dennis Tan
Oxford, England
........ secondary school certificate? No problem........ every uneducated peasant from the provinces has a few certified true copies with them when they leave the villages. 
