Issue on PRs

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Met a lady last night at a 7-11 store, she was complaining the hell outta this issue that they are taking away our jobs, the men, et cetera.

I have nothing against them (not a racist). But still feel that utmost priority should be given to locals for jobs and benefits. True to an extent that Singapore require "talents" for jobs which the locals do not favor, but can the blame be pinned on us when we were already brainwashed on the ideal / dream jobs when we were kids?

Maybe a study on how well can they gel into our society would be feasible before granting them the status.

Share your thoughts, pple.

In response to the above... "Duhhhh, he realizes only now???"

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Get married and have babies, migrants a temporary solution: LKY
Migrants are a temporary solution, in the long term, mindsets must change, former PM says

Published on Aug 12, 2012

By Leonard Lim

Singaporeans need to marry and have children if they do not want the country to fold up, Mr Lee Kuan Yew warned on Saturday night.

In his annual National Day dinner speech to residents of Tanjong Pagar GRC and Tiong Bahru, Mr Lee kept his message on population simple: The country's citizens are not reproducing enough, and migrants are needed as a temporary solution.

But in the long run, mindsets must change, and the trend of declining birth rates needs to be reversed.

"If we go on like that, this place will fold up because there will be no original citizens left to form the majority," he said.

A followup to the a/m issue

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Issue of foreigners dominates National Day Rally forum
Straw poll by chair Ng Eng Hen shows they are needed in firms

Published on Aug 31, 2012
By Goh Chin Lian

Law undergraduate Charles Yeo did not mince his words on Thursday night when he criticised the Government for marginalising Singaporeans, by letting in foreigners who are willing to work for less pay.

The 22-year-old student of England's University of Warwick said countries like Britain and Australia accept only foreigners with unique skills.

His words of reproach at a Reach forum to discuss the National Day Rally, led Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen to conduct an immediate straw poll.

How many among the 260 people at the forum worked in companies that employ foreigners, Dr Ng asked.

BACKGROUND STORY
2 in 3 back S'pore vision: Poll

ABOUT two-thirds of 178 people polled by the Government's feedback unit, Reach, backed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's vision of Singapore as "a home with hope and heart". Reach also got 530 inputs, with parenthood topping the list of topics, followed by education and graciousness.

In general, about two-thirds or more of people polled supported measures to promote parenthood, improve pre-school education and create more university places.

But they raised some concerns, including:

The impact of paternity leave on bosses' views of employees;
High living costs, long waits for HDB flats and work-life balance, which were cited as barriers towards parenthood;
Stresses of the formal education system;
Whether more university places will make it harder for graduates to get jobs;
Ground concerns on the impact of influx of foreigners on locals.

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DPM Tharman on selection criteria for PRs: We ‘can’ get more ‘transparent’

Posted by temasektimes on September 6, 2012

The lack of transparency in the selection of Singapore PRs and citizens has been a sore point of contention among both Singaporeans and foreigners alike.

While some seemingly qualified white-collared professionals had their PR application turned down several times, others such as bus captains, hawkers, nursery teachers were granted Singapore PR within a short period of time.

The question popped up again during a forum held at the Nanyang Technological University attended by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam during which a student asked if the government can be more transparent on policies such as the selection criteria of Permanent Residents.

As usual, the minister did not answer the question directly, but threw a smoke-screen to confuse the audience:

“We can get more transparent, but most important I think is not the criteria but the broader debate that we have to settle, which is how much an inflow of foreigners that we have. In other words, what levels and how fast we bring them in. And that’s a question that requires continuous review and frank and open debate.”

There was never any proper review or debate on Singapore’s immigration policies as the floodgates were swung open without proper planning to foreigners from all over the world from aroudn 2004 onward which led to sky-rocketing property prices, stagnant wages, rampant inflation and an obvious decline in the quality of life among native Singaporeans.

Fortunately, DPM Tharman did not ask the student ‘What do you think?’ and continued his double-speak:

“So I would say focus on the fundamentals, not so much the precision and the details, but focus on the fundamental principles, on who are the type of people whom we should let into our workforce to do different types of jobs, first. Secondly, the type of people who we want in our society, who stay here for longer period.”

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Grace Fu urges Singaporeans to speak out against ‘anti-foreigner’ views

Posted by temasektimes on September 5, 2012

With social tension between native Singaporeans and foreigners reaching an all-time high, PAP leaders have been calling on Singaporeans to ‘bond’ with the newcomers and to reject ‘xenophobic’ views, the latest coming from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Grace Fu.

Speaking to queries from the state media, Ms Fu said she highlighted the ‘worrying trend’ of anti-foreigner sentiments, especially in cyberspace.

She claimed that ‘most’ Singaporeans ‘understand the need for immigration and are ‘comfortable’ with diversity, but there is still a ‘small’ group taking a ‘negative’ view and they are dominating public discourse without substantiating her statements.

“The majority of Singaporeans must speak out when they do not agree with such (xenophobic) comments….Treat others like how we would like to be treated. Although we may not agree with the number of foreigners in Singapore, we should still treat another human being like a human being,” she added.

Foreigners now make up 40 percent of Singapore’s population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 60 percent who are ‘Singaporeans’, an increasing number are born overseas.