A closer look at Singapore’s immigrant policies

By: Pham Huynh Thao Quyen

SINGAPORE- With his living cost surging continuously, Rajesh was eager to find a job. But when he applied to become a waiter at a Holland Village restaurant, the manager replied, “Are you Singaporean? If not, then please go for other restaurants.”

Rajesh remains hopeful that he could find other opportunities even though he was unsuccessful. However, he feels that his nationality as an Indian will be an obstacle in his job search.

It used to be easier for foreigners to get along well with Singaporeans before the recession.  There even used to be privileges encouraging foreigners to make Singapore their second home. But with Singapore’s current economic state, things have gotten much harder for foreigners.

“Everything does not seem easy now when applying for the Permanent Residence. I think that I have to go back to Myanmar if they don’t accept me in the next two months”, said May, a training manager at R.E. & S. Enterprises Pte Ltd.

With many foreigners encountering difficulties finding jobs, Janny Nguyen suggests that discrimination may be part of the problem.

“Even in professional fields like real estate, journalism, banking, some companies really like to recruit Singaporean rather than foreigners”, said Nguyen, a Vietnamese staff member at Capitaland.

On the other hand, many Singaporeans think that foreigners are out to take their positions in big companies, leading to a tense relationship between the two groups. With this emerging tension, the government must then balance the economic benefits of immigration with its social costs.

Singapore’s immigration policies in the past actually prioritized the social aspect, stipulating a selection criteria to ensure that immigrants’ cultural backgrounds were at least similar to that of the local Singaporean population.

Nowadays, however, it seems that the economic benefits of immigration are winning out, much to the dismay of several Singaporeans.

“I can’t stand when they gathered all night at the food court just to scream and drink,” a Clementi resident said.

Foreigners’ lifestyles have also led to the belief that they are more prone to cause a nuisance, as in the case of foreign workers Ganesh and Stevent Truong. The two drank and slept overnight at Dover Park until the police came and asked them to go home.

Others feel uncomfortable when foreigners  indicate a refusal to assimilate into the local culture. When Chinese nationals hung their flag over some apartment blocks in Choa Chu Kang, conflict arose between the local residents and the Chinese immigrants.

With the country’s immigrant communities growing larger each day, some foreigners are perfectly comfortable with their compatriots and don’t even feel the need to reach out to the locals, further straining the relationship between the two groups.

“I really appreciate all contribution of foreigners for our country. But it is the time now for us to consider our immigrant policy when there are a lot of ‘behind the scene’ problems along with the positive impacts”, said Kelly Tan, a student from the National University of Singapore.

However, Singapore itself was built on the backs of Chinese, Indian and Malay immigrants.But while Singaporeans are proud of their country’s ethnic diversity, it seems that having too many foreigners in their neighbourhood has taken its toll.

Perhaps it is time to take a close look at the country’s immigrant policies and find a harmonious middleground for both locals and foreigners.