TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent In other countries like Australia and New Zealand, foreigners are employed only in certain sectors where there is a shortage of local workers. In Singapore, they are allowed to compete directly with Singaporeans for jobs which can otherwise be taken up by them. PAP leaders have been insisting that Singapore needs to recruit large number of foreign workers for positions shunned by its own citizens. The state media for its part has largely echoed the PAP's stance while portraying Singaporeans as "fussy" employees. Customer service staff are jobs which Singaporeans are interested in, but are increasingly being crowded out by foreigners.  According to a Shin Min Daily report yesterday, a jobless Singaporean who went to a Bread Talk outlet for an walk-in interview was told by a Malaysian HR manager to back off:  “We don’t want to hire Singaporeans. We look after our own first.” The Singaporean felt slighted and walked away in anger. When contacted by the media, Bread Talk claimed that they hire more "locals" than foreigners and is currently "investigating" the matter. It is not uncommon for HR managers who are foreigners to bring in their "own kind" at the exclusion of native Singaporeans, e.g. Indian HR managers recruiting Indians from their own hometowns in India. Under Singapore's weird manpower statistics, citizens and PRs are lumped together under the same "local" category thereby obfuscating the real employment figures for citizens. Though companies have the dependency quota to fulfil before they can employ foreigners, the restriction can be easily circumvented by getting earlier arrivals to apply for PRs which are usually granted within a few months. The Home Affairs Ministry revealed that every two out of three PR applicants are successful, an astonishingly high success rate for a developed nation. There is no minimal period of residency in Singapore before a foreigner can apply for Singapore PR which is given out liberally like toilet papers to construction workers, masseurs, cleaners and even freelance prostitutes. While foreigners cost much less than local workers and have no reservist obligations, the PAP continues to exhort Singaporeans to be "cheaper, faster and better." A recent Wall Street Journal revealed that the relentless influx of foreign workers into Singapore has depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living and led to an overall decline in the standards of living. Official statistics from the Manpower Ministry showed that the real earnings of Singaporeans have decreased by 3.2 percent last year even as PAP ministers reward themselves with another 8.2 percent pay hike this year. It is the duty of the elected government of the day to take care of Singaporeans first and not foreigners who should never be permitted to compete with Singaporeans for jobs at all. The above Singaporean will not end up in such a predicament in his own country of birth had the government taken active measures to safeguard the interests of Singaporeans. Perhaps it is time for the PAP to consider changing its name to "Phor-eigner Action Party" ("phor" meaning to please in Hokkien) to better reflect its mission statement and vision for Singapore - that it is acting more in the interests of foreigners than Singapore voters.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans.   Copyright © 2009 – 2010 The Temasek Review (If you are going to reproduce this article on your blog or forum, please provide a link back to ours)  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Former Romanian diplomat to Singapore Dr Silviu Ionescu continues to take pot shots at the Singapore government after embarrassing it earlier by accusing it of "framing" him in a road traffic accident in December last year. The Singapore Coroner's Court has fingered Dr Silviu as the driver behind the wheels of a black Audi A6 from the Romanian embassy which was involved in a double hit-and-run road traffic accident at Bukit Panjang, killing a 31 year old Malaysian in the process. For some inexplicable reasons, the usually efficient Singapore police allowed Dr Silviu to escape the security dragnet in a case similar to the one-eye dragon and Tok Leng How's audacious escapades when he flew off to Romania three days after the accident. Though the authorities kept insisting that there were nothing they could do as Dr Silviu was covered under diplomatic immunity, the Foreign Affairs Ministry did not bother to apply to the Romanian government for a waiver when it had more than sufficient time to do so. In an interview with Romanian radio station Antena 3 which was broadcast across Romania yesterday, Dr Silviu accused the Singapore government of setting him up after he made several reports about "corruption" in Singapore without substantiating his claims. He also criticized the legal proceedings of the Singapore Coroner's Court: "The most important part is the one where the Coroner's Court did not take the legal measures to keep the dead body until in accordance with the penal code........The decision to release the body immediately, without waiting the Coroner's Court decision and like this to give to the judge and also to me the chance to see if the diagnostic and the death was really the cause the accident, is showing me that Singapore law was not respected. More than that, bringing my name in this court was against the Vienna Convention, which is making two times more delicate the position of this Court." The Foreign Affairs Ministry has since summoned the Romanian Ambassador Mr Neagu back to Singapore to demand that the Romanian government lifts Dr Silviu's diplomatic immunity. In the unlikely event it does so, there are no ways to compel Dr Silviu to return to Singapore to face charges since there is no extradition treaty between Singapore and Romania. The Romanian government has maintained an eerie silence on the case so far with the Romanian media largely taking the side of Dr Silviu Ionescu. Adevarul ('The Truth'), a Romanian daily published an article beginning with Dr Ionescu's sarcastic comments on the Singapore Coroner's Court: "Everything was a circus; the deceased person was not even subjected to an autopsy." Dr Silviu's remarks have made a mockery of Singapore's judicial system which has no qualms jailing Singaporean for "contempt of court." It appears that the PAP government is only good at bullying its own citizens, but when it comes to a foreigner like Dr Silviu, it "lan lan" has no choice but to keep its mouth shut.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans.   Copyright © 2009 – 2010 The Temasek Review (If you are going to reproduce this article on your blog or forum, please provide a link back to ours) Related articles: >> Dr Silviu on guilty verdict: "This is bull****" >> Dr Silviu Ionescu doesn’t think much of verdict >> Subhas Anandan wants $100K compensation for widow of deceased accident victim >> Quietor”wayang”diplomacyintheescapeofDrSilviuIonescu >> Confirmed: Dr Silviu Ionescu is the driver >> Email interview with Yenny Young, wife of Mr Tong Kok Wai >> Dr Silviu Ionescu: fact remains that I was not in the car at the time of the accident >> Investigating or procrastinating: Dr Silviu Ionescu still holidaying in Romania >> George Yeo on Romanian embassy car crash: What happened is “very bad” >> Online petition calls on Romanian govt to make ex gratias payment >> Dr Silviu Ionescu: I took cab to notify car theft >> Eye witness saw driver quarreling with a young girl in the car >> Dr Silviu Ionescu: I have no connection with the case >> Dr Silviu Ionescu flagged taxi at Sungei Kadut >> From Romania with love: The Great Singapore escape of Dr Silviu Ionescu >> Singapore police has not ruled out Dr Silviu Ionescu as a suspect in its investigations >> Romanian diplomat suspected to be driver of Audi in hit and run accident at Bukit Panjang  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Following rising public discontent against the PAP's liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies coupled with knee-jerk responses in the form of cosmetic policy changes to appease angry voters, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong now tried to reassure the immigrants that they are still "welcomed" in Singapore which has always been the case. Speaking at a community event at Marine Parade yesterday, Mr Goh said: "Our answer to this question as to whether we're rolling back the welcome mat must be a clear 'no'. But immigrants themselves must play a part." In 2003, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced his ambitious plan to increase Singapore's population to 6.5 million people via immigration. All of sudden, the floodgates were flung opened without warning and Singapore became swarmed by foreigners from all over the world, many of whom are unable to speak a single word of English. 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. As too many foreigners were allowed into Singapore within too short a period of time, Singapore now has a problem integrating them with the local population. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that many do not known English, the lingua franca of Singaporeans and tend to congregate within their own community instead of reaching out to the larger population. The PAP unveiled a mega $10 million dollar Community Integration Fund sponsored generously by Singapore taxpayers to make the newcomers feel "welcomed" and "accepted" in Singapore when the onus is on them to integrate themselves into Singapore society and not the other way round. SM Goh reminded the audience that the search for talent was a global phenomenon, quoting the example of a pilot project by New Zealand to encourage Singaporeans to study, work or live there which has attracted some 4,500 Singaporeans to register their names so far. It is most disingenious of SM Goh to compare New Zealand's experience with Singapore. New Zealand has a very strict immigration policy unlike Singapore's. All prospective workers and immigrants must pass a standard English test or IELTS before they are allowed to even step foot there. Many of Singapore's China immigrants will fail the test, let alone able to obtain a work visa to work in New Zealand. Furthermore, New Zealand only accepts immigrants to fill certain sectors with a chronic shortage of skilled labor such as doctors and nurses. Singapore allows foreigners to compete directly with locals for jobs which can otherwise be taken up by them. To put it bluntly, the PAP has screwed up its immigration policies big time and it would have long been booted out of office in any other democratic nation. Unless Singaporeans reclaim their rights as citizens of Singapore in the next general election, they will be the ones who need to "integrate" into a new Singapore dominated by these foreigners brought in by the PAP, or rather FAP (Foreigner Action Party) to supplant them so that it can perpetuate its political hegemony forever.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.   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: >> 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 →