Immigration To Singapore - Impacts and Concerns

Impacts and Concerns

The influx of immigrants and foreign workers to Singapore has resulted in strong sentiment by the locals against both the foreigners and the government, and was a major issue in both the 2011 general and presidential elections. Singaporeans have attributed the government's open-door immigration policy to the country's overcrowding and falling reliability of its public transportation system, increasing property prices for housing, suppressed wage level, increased competition for jobs and education, and other social problems.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke up against this anti-foreigner sentiment after Singaporeans expressed outrage at a statement by a scholar from China studying in National University of Singapore, Sun Xu, who made a remark on his blog that "there are more dogs than humans in Singapore". This was weeks after a revelation in parliament that S$36 million worth of scholarships were awarded to 2,000 foreign students every year, something that is unheard of in other countries. The government was accused of disadvantaging the local students in places for education and affordability, and in response it has made a policy change in primary education to give some priority to Singaporeans.

There were also concerns that immigrants were using Singapore as a springboard for immigration to other developed countries. Every year, 300 naturalized citizens renounced their Singapore citizenship. Many foreigners are hesitant of taking up Permanent Residency (PR) or Singapore citizenship due to the two years of mandatory military service by male citizens and second-generation PRs.