Online users concerned over the rise of Singapore’s population to 5.7 million, due to higher number of foreign workers

Based on the official figures released on Wednesday (25 September), it was found that the Republic’s population rose by 1.2% as it reached 5.7 million in June this year. This happened with the help of larger number of foreign workers in the country.
Additionally, the number of Singapore citizenships granted was also at its peak in 11 years, said the annual Population in Brief report, which was published by the Prime Minister’s Office Strategy Group.
There were a total of 3.5 million Singapore citizens in the country as of June 2019, which is an increase of 0.8% from the year earlier. As for the permanent resident (PR) population, the figure stayed quite steady at 530,000, while non-residents like dependants, international students and individuals working in the country went up by 2% to 1.68 million.
The reason for the hike in non-residents populations was due to the increase in work permit holders, thanks to the growth in the services sector and construction industry. If that’s not all, foreign workers, excluding domestic workers, shoot up by roughly 22,000 people between June 2018 and June 2019.
However, the figure for this group dropped in the previous two years. From 2017 to 2018, the number of foreign workers in Singapore went down by 10,000, and it decreased by 36,000 between 2016 and 2017.
Moving on to new citizens, there was a total of 22,550 of them in 2018, an increase from 22,076 the year before. Among these people, 61.6% were from Southeast Asian countries, while 32.4% of them come from other Asian countries. The remaining 6% arrived from nations outside of Asia.
Around 1,576 (7%) of the new citizenships were granted to children born abroad to Singaporean parents, about the same number as the year before.
As for PRs granted citizenships, the figure also went up slightly in 2018 to 32,710, as opposed to 31,849 in 2017. Out of this group, 62.5% were from Southeast Asian countries, 31.2% from other Asian countries and 6.3% from outside of Asia countries.
In a year, the city-state grants between 15,000 to 25,000 new citizenships “to individuals who are committed to making Singapore their home”, the report stated.
It added, “Immigration helps to moderate the impact of ageing and low birth rates in our citizen population, and keeps it from shrinking over the longer term.”
Upon reading this report, many online users commented in the Facebook page of CNA stating that their are worried and concerned with the large number of foreign workers and new citizens in the country. They pointed out that Singapore is being “given away” to foreigners and soon they will outnumber local born Singapore citizens.

Others said that the large increase in foreigners is mainly due to the upcoming election. They believed that the since Singapore citizens “are ready to VTO hence the need to have new citizens as a counter measure”.
A few suggested that these new citizens should not be allowed to vote for at least 5 or 10 years as it’s obvious that they’re going to vote for the PAP. Paul Chen wrote, “They won’t bite those hands who awarded them a new life in SG, no?”

On the other hand, a Facebook user called David Ho opined that the citizens are not entirely against foreign talents, but if they take away the locals’ jobs, then people won’t be happy. As such, he suggested that, “My view is the PR number should be reduce to min. These are the group which compete with the local.” He also said that PMET jobs should be reserved solely for Singaporeans only.