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