Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Singapore. More foreigners taking up Singapore citizenship?

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times reports on August 15, 2007 that "More foreigners are taking up Singapore citizenship". As with any report put out by any government controlled newspaper anywhere in the world, keeping in mind that all newspapers in Singapore are entirely government owned and controlled; one is likely to ask whether this is really fact or is it just propaganda? Simply just another false report to glorify the real or imaginary achievements, as the case may be, of a country in decline?

As is usually the case in totalitarian dictatorships like Singapore, which is one; anyone who knows Singapore in any degree of depth, will immediately know that this report too is a total fabrication; another of their daily attempts in desperation; to put on a smiling face to cover the real challenges faced by this administration, in this instance, the loss of human talent to emigration.

The real fact is that Singapore, despite Lee Kuan Yew having imposed happiness on it's people by building various amusement parks arbours and shopping malls, the population of Singapore is declining in more ways than one, namely, massive brain drain to Western countries; a serious decline in childbirth figures which has now come to the non replacement level of the population; and their inability to attract immigration from educated people abroad who see Singapore as nothing more than an absolute dictatorship; a country which whips and hangs their citizens.

In the newspaper article referred to, they mention merely 2 individuals, one a Mr. Larry Medina, an accountant, who is referred to as an American with an Indonesian wife who for some unknown reason had decided to give up his American citizenship and decide to live in Singapore instead. But we are not told why this man, an accountant would have wanted to act in such a bizarre manner, leaving a democracy to live instead in a dictatorship!

There could be a multitude of reasons both wholesome or sinister in this man's odd behaviour. It could even be that he is running away from the law in United States and is taking refuge in Singapore, just as the millionaire Indonesian money launderers are doing. We will never know.

The report states that he is doing so because he believes that the economies of Asia and Singapore are booming and he wanted to take advantage of that. Yet if he is indeed an accountant with an education commensurate with this profession, he would have known that Singapore is no better than Burma in their human rights record; surely a reason for him not to bring up his children in such a politically stifling controlled repressive atmosphere!

Yet on the other hand he may have some other reason which we do not know.

Then the report refers to a Burmese project engineer who came to live in Singapore. In his case, there is no mention why he decided to come to Singapore instead; unlike the majority of his Burmese countrymen who prefer to emigrate to Western countries such as Australia and the USA. Does he also have something to hide? Or has he applied to go to the West but has been unsuccessful and accepted Singapore as a second choice. And will he in the future decide to pack and leave for Australia if they finally accept him? These are questions for which we do not have answers.

We should tell Julia Ng, the Straits Times reporter who wrote this article that people no longer believe the tales put out by her government owned and controlled paper. Her report is simply false. One piece of evidence to prove my charge is the fact that they managed, of the thousands, which is a small number anyway, who they claim to have made Singapore their home; they could report on just 2 individuals, this accountant Larry Medina and the Burman project engineer Maung; who moreover are not prepared to go into any detail as why they chose chose the dictatorship of Singapore.

Now let us look at the real facts, which is that yet again, like all the other projects conceived in the minds of the million dollar ministers, this attempt at attracting foreign talent to Singapore has failed miserably. And this report is an example of the desperation that Lee Kuan Yew and his friends are facing from a dwindling population resulting from the bad image that Singapore has abroad, a dictatorship under the grip of one man Lee Kuan Yew, intolerant of dissent; a country which has the highest rate of executions in the world and which despite it's claim that it is a first world country, whips it's citizens for criminal infractions.

Lee Kuan Yew knows that Singapore has a bad name in the world. It is not a country where able educated men and women would prefer to live. And he knows that.

Here are the facts. Reproduction has declined almost to zero. The population is unable to replace itself.

There is massive brain drain of the educated from Singapore to the West. Singapore is losing it's best and talented citizens.

The type of immigration they are attracting into Singapore is at best mediocre. Only second rate persons unable to emigrate to their most favoured countries such as Australia for lacking requisite qualifications are picked up by Singapore. Such migrants are not the ones who can propel Singapore to become a great city of education knowledge culture and innovation. In fact many reports consistently state that most of those coming into Singapore are unskilled workers and workers with very little skills, even if they had any.

The educated who are leaving Singapore in droves are not being replaced by skilled immigrants from abroad. As a result, the government is constantly having problems trying to recruit sufficiently educated Singaporeans to join the work force. Instead their desire is to leave Singapore permanently. In fact in a survey recently conducted, and reported in the Singapore press, as much as 47% of young people said, when asked, that if given a chance, they would emigrate.

The Singapore government does not, even up till now, understand that as the good proverb said, "Man does not live by bread alone". He needs to be able have some control over his destiny and the way he lives. In other words he desires self determination, which is denied him in fascist Singapore. As Singapore does not permit any healthy debate as long as the debate is not to the liking of the government, people who wish to live in a society where there is a clash of ideas and thoughtful debate will continue to leave the shores of Singapore.

And instead Singapore will attract the likes of Mr. Larry Medina and the Burmese Maung, who may have had more reasons than what meets the eye to choose Singapore to live, out of all other real countries in the world.

And of course Singapore will successfully attract the second rate partly skilled and unskilled immigrants who would make up the statistics for the Singapore bureaucrat in the Singapore Ministry of Manpower trying to please Lee Kuan Yew with the necessary figures.

Thank you

Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: gopalnair@us-immigrationlaw.com

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

you are right one this..alot of true blue educated singaporeans are leaving singapore..and the govt are very busy bringing those 3rd rated talents from philiphines, china, india.. which are mostly not very skillful and some even have fake credentials.. I've alot of friends going over to australia, canada etc.. I am making my plans to leave as well, getting tired of living in a fascist state.

Anonymous said...

PAP is a bloody fool because of its deep stupor brought about by LKY drunkenness with his own self-importance.

He had always thought he was the one who built modern Singapore, which is nothing but a pure illusion.

No one single individual can do that. It is done by countless Singaporeans and entrepreneurs that kept the society and economy humming.

PAP makes the term "entrepreneur" sounds so mysterious as though it is a new kid on the block.

PAP is run by fools, however highly educated fools they may be.

For that matter the said local entrepreneurs were the real talent long before PAP began talking about foreign talent.

These businessmen operated countless small and medium businesses - factories, wholesalers, traders, retails etc.

During 1987/88 recession when these businesses asked the govt for some help in tiding them over that difficult period - such as through subsidies or lower rental of govt-owned factories - PAP ministers persistently told them to ship out if they cannot survive.

PAP ministers insulted them by saying that they were "sunset" industries and that if "they cannot stand the heat they should get out of the kitchen".

As a result more than 10,000 (the last I read about this in the press) of such businesses moved out to Johor, Batam and other areas of Malaysia and other countries.

Imagine over 10,000 SMEs for such a small country!

More are still moving out. And some of these companies are in fact high-valued businesses like one friend who was producing industrial moulds some priced at S$100,000 a piece.

Operating costs in Singapore were simply too high for him. He moved his factory to Petaling Jaya and is very comfortable there.

Talent? What does PAP know about talent? Nothing ... because the real local talent are flowing out in front of its arrogant face and yet it is talking of bringing in foreign talent.

I know not of another government that is in fact so muddled up and yet continue to be so egoistical.

A few years back under hard times, the PAP ministers were heard requesting these businesses to come back.

Save the breath. Why would these fled companies come back?

It is thus not just individuals but SMEs that have fled this island due to PAP's out-of-touch and irresponsible attitude.

First it was that wholesale capital or asset flight. Now the next wave is going to be mass brain drain.

PAP is still sleeping and dreaming its own dream of what Singapore ought to be.

danny said...

Dude are you high? You are a cop out Singaporean and on top of that, pretty crazy.

What did you actually do when you were a Singaporean to make Singapore a better place to live?

Now that you're an American, what to you do to make Fremont a better place to live?

Anonymous said...

I can sense that you are full of hatred towards the Singapore government and this writing seems like your way of getting back at them. It lacks facts and perspective.

Anonymous said...

I am an engineer. Over the past year, I have been squeezed out of my job by cheaper Chinese, Malaysian and Indian engineers. To them, $2000 is much when they remit back home. To me, I can't even afford a HDB, as frugal as I try to be, because the foreigners keeps driving home prices up on a daily basis. To add insult to injury, more of the foreign graduates replacing me had their university fees paid by our very own Ministry of Education. These graduates were not only given free college education, they were even given a month allowance of few hundred dollars each. While I had to work part time to support my education in NUS, and I still remain in debt to my student loan. (BITTER LAUGH!!!!).

I spent 2.5 years of my precious youth serving the SAF, during which I lost my first girlfriend during training. These foreigners were given PRs and citizenship in less than 2.5 years and they don't even need to serve. If war breaks out, I have to protect 1/3 of these people?? SAF even sent me a letter threatening to fine me for going overseas without telling them...to attend a funeral of my uncle...(BITTER LAUGH!!!!). Hey, here's an idea, why don't I migrate to another country before migrating back. That will save me more time!

I am working in odds jobs now 7 days a week. I am now almost 30 already. Inflation exceed my savings rate, and I find a home, marriage, kids and happy future beyond me. A simple illness or a year of unemployment could wipe me out. Yet the government is wondering why there are less marriages and births....(BITTER LAUGH!!!!)

I bear no love to my country now. My country does not need to be attacked, it has already be invaded and taken over. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Is there a way for me to downgrade from Spore citizen to PR? I want to be Malaysian citizen and Spore PR too…

I am an engineer. Over the past year, I have been squeezed out of my job by cheaper Chinese, Malaysian and Indian engineers. To them, $2000 is much when they remit back home. To me, I can’t even afford a HDB, as frugal as I try to be, because the foreigners keeps driving home prices up on a daily basis. To add insult to injury, more of the foreign graduates replacing me had their university fees paid by our very own Ministry of Education. These graduates were not only given free college education, they were even given a month allowance of few hundred dollars each. While I had to work part time to support my education in NUS, and I still remain in debt to my student loan. (BITTER LAUGH!!!!).

I spent 2.5 years of my precious youth serving the SAF, during which I lost my first girlfriend during training. These foreigners were given PRs and citizenship in less than 2.5 years and they don’t even need to serve. If war breaks out, I have to protect 1/3 of the population fuilled with these people?? (Assuming they dun run away at the 1st sign of trouble??!!) SAF even sent me a letter threatening to fine me for going overseas without telling them…to attend a funeral of my uncle…(BITTER LAUGH!!!!). Hey, here’s an idea, why don’t I migrate to another country before migrating back. That will save me more time!

I am working in odds jobs now 7 days a week. I am now almost 30 already. Inflation exceed my savings rate, and I find a home, marriage, kids and happy future beyond me. A simple illness or a year of unemployment could wipe me out. Yet the government is wondering why there are less marriages and births….(BITTER LAUGH!!!!)

I bear no love to my country now. My country does not need to be attacked, it has already be invaded and taken over. Thanks PAP!

Anonymous said...

I am a Singaporean who has lived in London, New York City, Shanghai and Hong Kong. I have an American husband who has a Singapore PR and who is thinking of giving up his US citizenship.

Here are the considerations for why we want to be back in Singapore:

1) Singapore is safe. I would like my children to be brought up in a clean city.

2) Singapore is clean in more areas than less. There are many nice, chi chi and clean areas in LDN, NYC, SHG and HK. However. if you have seen the dirty and dodgy areas in those countries, you will appreciate Singapore for her cleanliness.

3) USA taxes are worldwide source. Even if my husband buys US stocks - he gets taxed on the capital gains. Also we have properties outside of the US that will be taxed by the US. By the way, the taxes that my husband pays to the US can buy us a brand new luxury car every year.

4) No apparent beggers or vagrants in Singapore. It breaks my heart to see vagrants in the subways or tubes of the world, even in major cities. Here in Singapore - I don't see any extremely poor people. It makes me feel good that I am paying taxes to a government who takes care of its people!

I love Singapore!