Singapore immigration only ethnic Chinese need apply

Ladies and Gentlemen,

If you look around you in Lee Kuan Yew's island which is tiny, completely built up, flat and with a population no less than about 5 million, you will see almost entirely Chinese faces. There were supposed to be some Indians and Malays in that supposedly multi racial island but you will be lucky if you see even one. Lee by the way is 92 and will probably kick the bucket either tomorrow or the day after.

With the island's dwindling population, of no less than 2.5 million local born citizens, Singapore  needed to boost immigration or otherwise it will disappear. But having decided on it, Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore had other considerations unlike other countries equal immigration policies.

USA for instance welcomes immigrants. The ones selected are the best people regardless of where they are from. You could be from Basutoland, I know it doesn't exist anymore, but if it did, and you fit the requirements, you are welcome. You could be from Mali, Namibia, the Fiji Islands or wherever it did not matter. Under the American constitution anyone from anywhere has equal chance of immigrating to the US. Which is why I, formerly a Singapore citizen, am now an American citizen.

But Lee Kuan Yew's banana republic has different considerations. For instance you could be a very highly qualified Afghani but it will be highly unlikely that you will be accepted. So will an Iraqi, or an Egyptian or Frenchman. Anyone of these people will be investigated thoroughly. They want to know if he has ever agitated for human rights. Whether he has ever been outspoken against tyrants and dictators. Is he a proponent for democracy (not very good). On the other hand if it is found that he is a soulless businessman who would care two hoots if Lee Kuan Yew caned his people, imprisoned innocent dissenters and deported bloggers like Gopalan Nair, then perhaps he stands a chance.

But on the whole, people from Western democracies are unlikely candidates, as there is a possibility that they may have some views about some things, like democracy for instance, which is trouble for Lee Kuan Yew and his obedient subjects.

The ones who manage to breeze into Singapore without any effort are usually the mainland Chinese preferably from the remote areas of China who do not only have no understanding of anything else except of how to earn a few bucks or perhaps Malaysian Chinese who have been discriminated against by their Malay government and out of gratitude will eat humble pie quietly under the Lee Kuan Yew dictatorship.

People with strong views are not welcome, period.

You can see why the Lee Kuan Yew government adopts this racially and personality based selective immigration policy. It is not intended to select the best immigrants globally into the island. The purpose is more sinister than that. It is to make sure that the sort of immigrants that come to Singapore are the ones who would quietly live their lives without giving Lee Kuan Yew and his dictatorship too may problems, that is, people who would not question authority. Whereas if he had allowed the educated Frenchman or the Afghan with strong opinions of how their government should be, Lee may have too many problems.

Can you imagine if he allowed too many Australians, Americans or Greeks to immigrate to his island (I am not suggesting that Australians Americans or Greeks would want to come to Singapore in the first place anyway), they may take to the streets to demand the abolition of the death penalty, the abolishing of cruel punishments like caning or demand an end to racial discrimination. And that would mean a harder time for Lee to rule with his iron grip.

Oh no, it is far safer to bring in unquestioning idiots from the rural areas of China or  Malaysia who would be quiet, do their work and not give too much trouble like some Australian would have done, or even as Gopalan Nair would do (although I was born in Singapore and am a citizen by birth but have since been deported for being too troublesome).

As a result of the insecurity of the about to kick the bucket 92 year old Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, his tiny island has to make do with these unquestioning dumb immigrants, as a result of which the island's progress continues to be stunted unlike a situation where it gets the best from the world, a thinking educated immigrant.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com