Singapore managing entry of foreign workers

SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said his country is “managing” the entry of foreign workers including Filipinos as the prosperous Southeast Asian city state grapples with rising migration and declining local population.

In a meeting recently with ASEAN journalists, Lee said that while the presence of migrant workers has been a “tremendous plus for us,” there is now a need to “manage their numbers” as the government aims to allow more local residents to enjoy the opportunities unlocked by the rapidly growing economy.

There are over 150,000 Filipinos working or residing in Singapore. Singapore’s economy swelled by 17.9 percent in the first half of this year although authorities said the growth might ease in the rest of the year to 13 percent to 15 percent. This was in contrast to the slowdown in the economies of traditional world powerhouses like Japan and the US. Even China’s economy, now considered the world’s second largest next to the US, is expected to rise by only over 10 percent in the second quarter.

Job hires from outside Asia, particularly North America and the United Kingdom, have dramatically increased by 20 and 50 percent in the past year, according to Singapore’s MediaCorp., citing records from recruiters and headhunters.

“We can’t allow the free flow of people,” Lee said. “No country allows free flow of people – maybe in the European Union, but nowhere else in the world,” he said in a briefing at the Istana, Singapore’s seat of power.

But “we will go where we are welcome,” he said, referring to Singapore’s bid to invest more abroad.

He said the surge in the migration of foreign workers has become “a sensitive issue,” prompting authorities to closely examine the phenomenon’s “social and economic impact.” But just last July, Lee announced the need for 100,000 more foreign workers to help Singapore sustain its phenomenal growth.

More than half a million of Singapore’s population of nearly five million last year were permanent foreign residents and 1.25 million were on employment passes, along with their families.

Singapore’s electronic sector alone is expected to create close to 5,000 jobs over the next few years. Singapore is home to regional headquarters of numerous banks and financial institutions.

A survey released by the Gallup recently showed that Singapore, along with New Zealand and Saudi Arabia, would see its population triple if everyone who wants to move there were allowed to. The poll involved interviews with more than 350,000 respondents in 148 countries from 2007 to 2010. Gallup researchers found that with such a trend, Singapore’s population of nearly five million would rise by 219 percent.

The same survey also showed that Philippine population would shrink by 22 percent if Filipinos were allowed to leave at will.

Lee said compounding the problem with Singapore’s fewer local hires is the growing preference of many young and foreign-educated Singaporeans for overseas jobs. He said many of those who have studied abroad have not returned to Singapore to seek employment.

While the government encourages its people to seek exposure in other countries, he said it’s his wish that they come back and help the country build a bigger homegrown work force.

“We say ‘go, take those opportunities,’ but we hope they’ll come back to Singapore,” Lee said. He said the country is even eyeing incentives to encourage its local population to reproduce more, including tax deductions and subsidized child-care facilities. He said the country is “10,000 babies short.”

He admitted that the country has not found the ultimate solution to the problem. “No country either has found solution to this problem,” Lee said.

“If more people come here than there are born here, this might be a problem,” he pointed out. “It’s something that we watch carefully,” he said. He also cited possible “ethnic issues” that may arise from the growing number of foreign residents and workers in the tiny but rich Southeast Asian nation. 

“The ethnic composition issue is everywhere,” he said, adding that it has always been the government’s aim “not to unbalance the ethnic mix.”

Singapore is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the world, with Chinese making up the biggest portion in the ethnic mix.

Lee stressed that despite the restrictions, Singapore would continue to rely on foreign workers to sustain its economy and reaffirm its solidarity with the community of nations.

“We’re not a global power. We just would like to do our best for ourselves, to improve ourselves in an open society. We just hope to live in peace,” he said.

“People find us useful, but we’re not a power,” the prime minister said.