Persistent Emigration ---------------------
¶4. (SBU) Compounding the problem of low birth rate, a
significant portion of Singapore citizens and Permanent
Residents (PRs) move away from the country each year, Dr. Yap
said. Each year over the past five years, between
5,000-8,000 Singapore citizens and PRs permanently left
Singapore. This occurred notwithstanding Singapore's
then-robust economic growth and strong job market. With an
average of only 30,000 births and 15,000 deaths each year,
the impact of so many departures on Singapore's population
was significant, Dr. Yap added.
Immigration Numbers Kept Secret -------------------------------
¶7. (C) Ever mindful of sensitivities about its active
management of communal issues, the Government of Singapore
keeps its immigration numbers secret, MFA North East Asia
Assistant Director Tracy Chan admitted. This is at least in
part an effort to avoid reigniting racial tensions that led
to race riots in the late 1960s. One practical effect of
such a policy is that no one outside the GOS knows the
precise ethnic mix among immigrants, students and other
foreigners living and working in the country. In
conversations with other embassies, we learned that many of
them have no idea how many of their nationals reside in
Singapore.
- http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/04/09SINGAPORE325.html
¶4. (SBU) Compounding the problem of low birth rate, a
significant portion of Singapore citizens and Permanent
Residents (PRs) move away from the country each year, Dr. Yap
said. Each year over the past five years, between
5,000-8,000 Singapore citizens and PRs permanently left
Singapore. This occurred notwithstanding Singapore's
then-robust economic growth and strong job market. With an
average of only 30,000 births and 15,000 deaths each year,
the impact of so many departures on Singapore's population
was significant, Dr. Yap added.
Immigration Numbers Kept Secret -------------------------------
¶7. (C) Ever mindful of sensitivities about its active
management of communal issues, the Government of Singapore
keeps its immigration numbers secret, MFA North East Asia
Assistant Director Tracy Chan admitted. This is at least in
part an effort to avoid reigniting racial tensions that led
to race riots in the late 1960s. One practical effect of
such a policy is that no one outside the GOS knows the
precise ethnic mix among immigrants, students and other
foreigners living and working in the country. In
conversations with other embassies, we learned that many of
them have no idea how many of their nationals reside in
Singapore.
- http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/04/09SINGAPORE325.html