TR EMERITUS

I AM a cadet pilot who has graduated from the flying college which trains all of Singapore Airline’s pilots, be it for the main fleet, cargo division, or SilkAir. I belong to a group of about 20 Singaporeans who were willing to pay for the training course at the Singapore Flying College (a subsidiary of SIA). This training course cost me about $140,000 to complete. Even though no promise of a job was made, I was still willing to go through the course hoping for at least an interview for consideration for an SIA job. But the carrier seems to prefer to take in foreign nationals (including some from Malaysia, India and Hong Kong) over the current crop of local Singaporeans, who have coughed up a large amount of cash and have graduated with a Commercial Pilot Licence – only to be bypassed by this group of foreign nationals SIA has hired with zero hours of flying experience, and provided with training from scratch. We Singaporeans are being overlooked by SIA without so much as an interview. Most of us have to look to the low-cost carriers like Jetstar and Tiger for jobs, as these are the only airlines based out of Singapore that can take in pilots like us with few hours of flying time. However, Jetstar has a policy of taking in retired air force pilots, which means Tiger remains our only hope of employment. Setting our sights on jobs with overseas airlines is proving to be a major hurdle. I have sent in more than 200 applications to airlines all over the world but I’m usually rejected because I am a low-hour pilot or because the aviation authority in that country has a job protection clause in place for their pilots from their own nations. For example, Malaysian and Indonesian carriers only allow low-hours pilots provided they are citizens of those countries. This means the majority of the Singaporean pilots who have paid for their own training are hung out to dry, since we have to vie for limited places with the foreigners for cadet pilot positions, and we are not very attractive to airlines outside Singapore due to our low hours or the jobs policies put in place by other countries’ aviation authorities. So, why does our national carrier prefer to take in foreign cadet pilots with zero hours of flying time over their own local pilots, who have paid their dues in the local pilot training school? Aspiring pilots in Singapore who want to pay their own way through their training should think twice. Career opportunities are very limited and the cost of training is extremely high. Could SIA comment on why local pilots who were trained at their subsidiary training school aren’t given so much as a job interview? James Tan  Read More →

OPINION Increasing Singapore's population via immigration is a cornerstone of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's policies since he assumed office in 2003 soon after which he announced an ambitious plan to increase Singapore's population to 6.5 million people via immigration. The arguments for such a policy appear to be convincing on the surface: Singapore's birth rates are dropping and without immigration to pop up the numbers, Singaporeans will have to pay higher taxes to support an aging population. The floodgates were flung open and immigrants were accepted readily from all over the world, whether they are qualified or not in the first place. It has become so easy for a foreigner to obtain Singapore PR that even cleaners, construction workers, bus drivers, masseurs and prostitutes are accepted. The Home Affairs Ministry admitted that two out of every three PR applicants are accepted, an astonishingly high success rate for a developed country. There is no minimum period of residency required before one is allowed to apply for PR. Neither need one pass an English proficiency test given the fact that English is the lingua franca used by the majority of Singaporeans. Due to the PAP's liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies, foreigners now make up 36 percent of Singapore's population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 percent who are citizens, an increasing number are born overseas. The PAP government has been exhorting Singaporeans to accept more immigrants while choosing to turn a blind eye to the problems brought about by immigration. According to a Wall Street Journal editorial in January this year, the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, decreased labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standards of living. Barry R. Chiswick, a prominent immigration economist noted that bringing in too many low-skilled immigrants too quickly risks increasing competition for low-skilled jobs and reducing the earnings of low-skilled native-born workers. As such, low-skilled immigrants tend to pay less in taxes than they receive in public benefits, thereby raising the profits of their employers, but "they tend to have a negative effect on the well-being of the low skilled native-born population, and on the native economy as a whole." High skilled and high-wage immigrants bring their own set of problems as they are less productive than locals due to different languages, work habits and cultural backgrounds. It will take some time before they adapt themselves fully to Singapore's working environment. In a speech made last year to a group of visiting Japanese businessmen, PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew called on Japan to emulate Singapore's example of opening its doors to immigration to solve its problem of an aging population. Japan's population has peaked and is expected to decrease to 100 million in 2050 and 45 million in 2105. Unless Japan increases its population dramatically, it will face a "silver tsunami" in a few decades' time. Immigration is not considered a panacea to Japan's woes because it is likely to have a negative impact on Japan's standard of living. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare estimates the fiscal cost and benefits of immigration at three different stages: 1. Stage one: when single youths are admitted, the government gains more in tax payments than it pays in benefits. 2. Stage two and three: with spouses and children, the benefits paid by the local and central governments far exceed the tax revenus. If 500,000 migrants were to enter Japan in stage three, the ministry estimates, the net loss would become USD$12 billion dollars. The PAP conveniently forgot the simple fact that immigrants utilize precious public resources such as schools, public transport and healthcare as well and they too will grow old and fall sick. Given the large number of low-cost unskilled foreigners working in Singapore who are given citizenships, the benefits they bring to the nation are minimal compared to the accompanying social costs. As too many immigrants are accepted within too short a period of time, we are now experiencing problems on how to integrate all of them. A $10 million dollar Community Integration Fund has already been unveiled by the PAP to help the immigrants "integrate". How much more do we still need to spend in the future to cover up the PAP's mistakes? Whereas there is little doubt that Singapore needs immigration to boost its flagging birth rates, there is an urgent need for public disscourse and debate to refine the immigration policies to make them more acceptable to native Singaporeans who presently have little affinity for the PAP's grandiose plans to re-create a new Singapore comprising of immigrants from all over the world.   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.   The UBS Series: >> Part 1: Singapore has lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among Asian Tigers >> Part 2: Moving towards a Russian standard of living >> Part 3: Why Singaporeans are paupers in a first world economy   Related articles: >> Singaporeans having integration forced down their throats by the PAP >> Teo Chee Hean aspired to build immigrant society for all races >> Citizens and immigrants bond via quiz on Singapore >> Urgent need for population debate in Singapore >> The fallacy of using lax immigration policies to solve low fertility and aging population issues >> PAP mass-recruiting Taiwanese PMETs to compete with Singaporeans >> Halimah Yacob: Not true that employers hiring foreigners over Singaporeans >> Conversation with a PRC prostitute given Singapore PR by the PAP >> Teo Chee Hean: PAP’s immigration policy has always been “strict” >> How the PAP allows foreigners into Singapore to compete with locals for jobs >> Why Singaporeans ‘fear’ of new immigrants is absolutely rational >> SM Goh reassures immigrants that they are still welcomed in Singapore >> Singaporean working in China lashed out at grouses of Singapore PRs >> Eight reasons why foreign workers will be preferred over local ones >> Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial by PAP leaders >> Halimah Yacob refutes UBS study findings >> Halimah Yacob: Productivity drive will be derailed if foreign worker challenge not addressed  >> Exposing the six major flaws in the PAP’s immigration policies >> Wong Kan Seng promises to tighten immigration policies >> SM Goh: Foreign workers numbers may still rise >> Malaysian car mechanic applying for Singapore citizenship >> PAP launches Singapore Citizenship Journey to help new citizens integrate >> Compulsory for new citizens to attend “sharing sessions” with grassroots leaders >> Wong Kan Seng urged Singaporeans to be more tolerant of foreign workers >> Tharman: Foreign workers increase income of low-income families >> Sylvia Lim: Pace and influx of foreigners over last few years is wrong >> Amy Khor urges Singaporeans to welcome foreigners >> PAP MP wants more money to be spent to make new citizens feel welcomed in Singapore >> Shanmugam: Foreigners generate jobs for Singaporeans >> Vivian happy there are 4,500 new citizens serving as grassroots leaders >> Cosmetic changes made to immigration policy >> SM Goh: New immigrants needed to make up population shortfall >> PAP ministers hailed contributions of foreigners >> SM Goh expressed support for Zhang Yuanyuan >> State media: citizens have more rights over PRs >> Zhang Yuanyuan got her Singapore PR in only 2 months >> Official reply from government on the Zhang Yuanyuan fiasco >> Singapore PRC PR proclaimed loyalty to China publicly >> PRC resident hung China flag to celebrate its National Day >> PRC student in Singapore wants more scholarships for foreigners >> PRC prostitutes solicit for customers on Singapore’s cyberspace >> ERA: 40 per cent of resale flats buyers are PRs  Read More →

The PAP's designated trade union NTUC will be taking the lead to "enhance" the productivity of low wage workers in Singapore. According to official statistics, there are about 350,000 full-time employed "resident workers" earning less than $1,400 in 2009, of which the number of citizens remain a mystery since citizens and PRs are lumped together under the same category of "resident workers." Channel News Asia reported a 52-year-old cleaner Abdul Maanof, whose pay increased from S$700 to S$1,200 after attending courses to improve his machine handling skills. It was not revealed if Mr Mannof has a family to feed and if his current salary is sufficient to support himself and his children. Singapore's income gap has widened considerably over the last decade. It has the highest income inequality among the thirty most developed economies in the world after Hong Kong. The uncontrolled influx of cheap foreign workers, absence of a minimum wage system and lack of social welfare benefits are key reasons behind the widening income gap. Though Singapore is the richest country in Asia after Japan in terms of GDP per capita income, its citizens enjoy few benefits from PAP leaders who have constantly exhorted them to compete directly with the cheap foreigners they are bringing in while remaining "cheaper, better and faster" at the same time. They are also asked to work for as long as possible till they drop dead and die. NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Ong Ye Chung was quoted as saying:  "As we move, the society and our workforce must progress together. If we cannot achieve this and a large segment of the workforce is left behind, then I think what you have is a wider income gap and society cohesion will be undermined. " His views seem to contradict that of PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew who said during a ministerial forum at NUS last year that the widening income gap is of little concern so long the government continues to create jobs for Singaporeans.   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us  Read More →