Immigration a hot issue once again in Singapore polls

“Singapore doesn’t have natural resources so it’s a matter of balancing the books,” he added. It was six months after the republic’s 2011 general elections and the People’s Action Party (PAP) member of parliament was talking about immigration, one of the main issues during the campaign.

The PAP’s share of the vote had dropped to 59.3 per cent that year, down from 66.6 per cent in 2006, and the opposition had trebled its presence in Parliament, from two to six seats. Since then, the Singapore government has acted to tackle concerns about its immigration policy. But as the campaign for this year’s polls begins today, foreigners working in the city-state will once again be a hot button. The issue is even bigger now, reckons Braema Mathi, president of human rights group Maruah, after the Population White Paper in 2013 predicted that foreigners would make up nearly half of the 6.5-6.9 million population in 2030. 

“Many Singaporeans were upset because we are already beginning to find the physical space more crowded and congested,” said the former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP).

“The genie’s out of the bottle with the publication of the White Paper,” agreed Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University and another former NMP. 

“We can expect a vociferous debate that may, unfortunately, shed more heat than light, and will likely also elicit xenophobic responses from segments of the electorate.”

Back in 2011, foreigners made up a third of the workforce. Singaporeans complained that they were a strain on housing, transport, schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure – and the opposition capitalised on those grouses.

“Every time I take the train, it feels like I am in a different country,” candidate Nicole Seah of the National Solidarity Party told the audience at a rally. “It is like taking a holiday. I don’t even need to bring my passport!”

The Reform Party, which pledged a “Singaporeans First” hiring policy in its 2011 manifesto, claimed that the poorest Singaporeans were most affected by the influx of foreign labour.

As a new MP back then, Tay was asked to focus on professionals, managers and executives (PMEs), part of the “sandwich class” believed to have expressed their frustration through their votes. Commenting on the “Singaporeans First” call, he said in November 2011 that if the Government raised the criteria for employment passes (EPs) for foreign PMEs, “There will be some costs involved. Some small and medium enterprises may be hit”.

Still, the government did tighten foreign hiring rules. It has committed to limit foreign manpower growth to about 2 per cent annually, Tay noted on the eve of the 2015 hustings, to make sure the ratio of local to foreign workers stays at two-thirds to a third. It is much harder for foreigners to obtain citizenship, permanent residency and long-term visit passes now, he added. And it is also more difficult to obtain work permits, ‘S’ passes (for mid-level skilled workers) and even employment passes with the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF), higher EP salary base of S$3,300 (Bt82,500) and more rigorous scrutiny of EP applications.

“From next month, companies with weak commitment to creating a Singaporean Core and weak Singaporean Core in their workforce will be placed under additional scrutiny and made to account,” Tay said. 

The FCF, Career Support Programme (CSP), Employment Act and the Industrial Relations Act have all been reviewed and amended to provide greater protection of PMEs in the workplace. The MP pledged to “personally pay close attention to the new measures, especially the FCF enhancements and CSP, to see if they really help and work”. Last month, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said during a television interview that the inflow of foreign workers and immigrants last year “was the slowest it has been in a very long time and I think that is necessary. The growth in foreign employment (excluding domestic helpers) was down to 26,000 for the year, compared to 80,000 in 2011”. How they affect “the tone of our society” and the country’s “carrying capacity” was important, he added.

At the National Day Rally on Aug 28, Lee said that on foreigners and immigration, “there are no easy choices.” If the country closed the door to foreign workers, its economy would tank and companies wouldn’t have enough workers. But if it let in too many foreign workers, “Singaporeans will be crowded out, workplaces will feel foreign, our identity will be diluted and we just can’t digest huge numbers”.

He said his administration was “doing what Singapore needs and what best safeguards your interests”. So have the government’s immigration policy changes achieved the ideal balance?

“Various schemes have been put in place to assure Singaporeans that the government does not tolerate discrimination against Singaporeans at the workplaces,” said Tan. And there has been a “massive effort to increase the public housing supply, improve the public transport system, and to attend the other concerns”.

But Singapore has not adopted a “Singaporeans First” hiring policy, the academic stressed. The PAP government has so far resisted that call “because Singapore thrives by being open to flows of people, finance, and ideas”. Instead, since the 2011 elections, it has tried to develop a Singaporean core in sectors such as banking and finance, Tan said. 

Despite the various programmes since 2011, immigration will continue to be an issue during the campaign.

Singaporeans have not been well prepared to accommodate the influx, said Mathi, while allegations about foreigners working in Singapore have sparked deep resentment. 

“On social media there is quite a bit of chauvinism and racism,” said the activist. “It is a boiling pot.”