Photo of Immigration at Changi Airport from Shutterstock

Rolled back immigration and tightened foreign labour
The Straits Times article,“The Population White Paper – Time to revisit an unpopular policy?” by former Nominated Member of Parliament, Calvin Cheng states that “Since 2013, the Singapore Government has, out of political necessity, rolled back immigration and tightened the inflow of foreign labour; for all intents and purposes, it seems that the Population White Paper is on ice and few politicians now mention it in public.”
Non-citizens grew at almost double the rate of citizens?
From 2013 to 2016 – the citizen population grew by 95,436 or only 2.9 per cent from 3,313,507 to 3,408,943.

Figures from Singstat
Figures from Singstat
In contrast, the non-citizen population grew by 112,685 or at almost double the rate, at 5.4 per cent from 2,085,655 to 2,198,340.
61,735 new citizens and 89,678 new PRs granted?
Moreover, we granted 61,735 new citizens and 89,678 new permanent residents (PRs) from 2013 to 2015.
S-Pass increased by 26%?
The total foreign workforce  increased by 136,400 or 10.8 per cent from 1,268,300 in December 2012 (note: the Population White Paper was released on 1 January 2013) to 1,404,700 in June 2016.
For S-Pass – it increased by 37,000 or 26.0 per cent from 142,400 to 179,400.
For Employment Pass – it increased by 15,800  or 9.1 per cent from 173,800 to 189,600.
For Work Permits – it increased by 66,500  or 7.1 per cent from 942,800 to 1,009,300.
Employment change has turned negative for locals in the last 21 months?
Also, since in the last 18 months from January 2015 to June 2016 – employment change was 49,000 foreign jobs against only 500 jobs for locals – does it mean that the employment change for locals for the last 21 months to September 2016 has turned negative?
If so, what is the negative employment change for Singaporeans?
Looking at the above statistics – how can we say that “Since 2013, the Singapore Government has … rolled back immigration and tightened the inflow of foreign labour”?
The former NMP goes on to write, “Now, more than ever, Singapore needs to implement the manpower and population policies the White Paper proposed, together with plans for our economic future. There cannot be one without the other” – do you agree with him?

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

不知自己运毒 上诉庭推翻前期判决尼日利亚男子逃死刑

带行李箱入境新加坡被搜出冰毒,一名36岁的尼日利亚男子在两年前被判死刑。不过上诉庭三司在昨日推翻判决,使得男子逃过死刑。 2011年11月,该名尼日利亚男子阿迪里(Adili Chibuike Ejike),受人所托携带行李箱入境新加坡,但从行李箱内衬,搜出不少于1961克的甲基安非他命(Methamphetamine,俗称冰毒)。 不过在审讯时,失业的阿迪里辩称,有人给他酬金,请他帮忙带行李箱入境交给他人,他不清楚行李箱内有什么。尽管只是协助运毒,不过当时法官仍裁定他有罪和判处死刑。 对此,阿迪里提出上诉,在去年10月于上诉庭聆讯并保留判决。 法庭考量的关键乃是阿迪里是否自己可能在协助运毒的情况,刻意无视(wilful blindness)。 而在昨日的书面判决中,大法官梅达顺指出,除了被搜出拥毒,与此同时也要证明被告确实清楚知道有毒品的存在。 法庭指需证明被告是否有理由怀疑、并且可以进行检查,却假装不知道。 但即便被告有打开行李箱查看,也可能无法发现内衬还藏有毒品。 既然不知道箱内有毒品,故此被告运毒入境的罪名也就不成立。…

DPM Heng Swee Keat warns public on fake reports using his name to scam people

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Sweet Keat has warned the public on fake…

EZ-Link and Malaysia’s Touch ‘n Go launch cross-border contactless smart card

Earlier today (17 Aug), EZ-Link Pte Ltd, pioneer of contactless payments in…

New bill claiming to protect Singapore’s judiciary. But is it and will it?

By Teo Soh Lung The Administration of Justice (Protection) Bill presented to…