The suggestion by SM Goh to encourage permanent residents, especially those from Malaysia, to become citizens did not go down well. Read this article in www.easyapps.sg/sgep/latest.aspx.
My view
I have always advocated a positive approach - make it attractive for people to be citizens. Over the past decades, the government had made adopted the wrong policy of making it a burden to be a Singapore citizen, especially for males who have to serve national service and be placed at a big disadvantage in the workplace. This key issue has never been resolved. The small measures, such as the $9,000 for current NS men, did not go far enough.
First of all, I do not believe SM Goh was careless in his original call for "some PR" to take up citizenship or else ... It was, I believe a calibrated remark for more than 1 reasons.
ReplyDeleteSeiously, how many of us have personally know of Malaysians who jumped ship ? They are not "daft" !
If true-blue Singaporeans are not taken seriously its own government, who would want to become one ? Not when as a PR, you do not loose out much, but get to enjoy no-NS liabilty as a male PR.
The authorities, are not blind or deaft but choose to ignore too many "statistics". Suddenly, everyone seem to have just started to snap out of that denial state. Sad
I do not think NS is a reason for PR not to convert into Singapore citizens, though it is a major reasons why native Singaporeans leave the country because of the unfairness versus new citizens and PRs. New citizens do not need to serve NS anyway.
ReplyDeleteI guess a primary reason why Malaysian PRs do not want to convert to become Singapore citizens is that they want to go back to Malaysia to live off their savings earned in Singapore after retirement.
For a middle-class person, Singapore is a good place to earn money but a lousy place to retire. If you live up to 80 years old, there is a risk your savings will run out. If you retire in Malaysia, you can afford to live longer with a much higher standard of living. Besides, if you live in Johore, Singapore is nearby. Singapore is in fact nearer to Johore compared to other states in Malaysia. Proxmity wise, it is equivalent to living in another state of Malaysia.
If you were a Malaysian PR, would you convert to become a Singaporean citizen?
Some exceptions may be those Malaysian PRs working in government-related jobs in Singapore. These people may take up Singaporean citizenships because their citizenship may affect their career prospects.
The relationship between foreigners and their host country is a I-make-use-of-you, you-make-use-of-me kind of relationship. While I feel indignant that some PRs and new citizens are getting a better deal than native Singaporeans like me, I do not blame them because I would have done the same thing if I were a foreigner elsewhere benefiting from friendly government policies.
hyom
ReplyDeleteIt is very painful for me to know that new citizens are exempted from national service, when local born citizens have no choice. What an unfair soceity. Why is the government treating our local born so badly?>
Hi Mr Tan,
ReplyDeleteI think there should be more differentiation in terms of subsidies and taxes between native citizens and the others(new citizens, PRs).
While the government worries that reducing subsidies for PRs may drive some of the genuine foreign talent away, they should not ignore the danger of driving our very own born-and-bred Singaporeans away to foreign lands if the native Singaporeans are not adequately compensated or even getting penalized for NS (National Sacrifice). Morale among those who stay behind will be severely damaged.
While we can rely on foreigners for GDP growth, we still have to fall back on the native Singaporeans to defend the country in times of crisis. Foreigners who come here to work, being mercenaries by nature, will flee for safety the moment they smell fire. Solders with low morale cannot win battles. It will be too late to correct this should war breaks out, however improbable it sounds now.
To borrow from GCT's wife, the $9,000 payment to NS men is peanuts, an insult to our male Singaporeans.
ReplyDeleteAs parents we are very angry with this treatment, in comparison with PRs. Since Singaporeans are really immigrants in the first place, we could uproot ourselves to another country, no big deal.
I am a PR and was invited to become a Singapore citizen but it meant I would have to give up my UK passport. I have no desire to return to the UK but keeping the passport would be helpful to me in the future. If Singapore allowed this i would become a citizen.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Singaporean citizen with Aussie PR. Allow dual citizenship (openly). There is no use trying to stem the outflow, as most Singaporeans give up passport to take up CPF anyway.
ReplyDeleteStooge
ReplyDeleteYou want you your cake and at the same time also want to eat. I also want to do that. Is there such a nice thing in this world???