TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Even the tiny Gulf state of Bahrain whose economy was built chiefly by foreign migrant workers, is feeling threatened by their increasing numbers. Speaking at a labor conference in Abu Dhabi two days ago, Bahrain's Labor Minister Majeed al-Alawi expressed his concerns that the number of foreign workers has not declined though 50 per cent of projects in the Gulf have come to a halt. (read report here) He described them as a "threat" to the Gulf's existence by highlighting the fact that one million citizens in the wealthy Gulf are unemployed even though the region employs 17 million foreign workers. The minister said the situation could become like Singapore and the Maldives, where "foreign workers had been brought on temporary contracts and are now ruling these countries." As a result of the Singapore government's liberal immigration policies, foreigners now make up 36 per cent of the population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 per cent who are citizens, an increasing number is born overseas. Though the Gulf states depend heavily on foreign workers as well, there is a difference between the way they manage them as compared to Singapore. Foreign workers are employed strictly only in sectors where there is a lack of local workers in the Gulf states while they are allowed to compete directly with Singaporeans for limited jobs in the labor market here. There is a clear distinction between citizens and foreigners in the Gulf states. Foreigners will never enjoy the same benefits in healthcare, education and housing as citizens unlike in Singapore. It is near impossible for a foreign worker to obtain a PR or citizenship in the Gulf states. They can expect to work there for years and still not get PR status. In Singapore, PRs are given out like toilet papers liberally to any Tom, Dick and Harry including construction workers, cleaners, masseurs and even prostitutes. Two out of every three PR applicants are successful, some of whom are accepted within a few months. Citizenships usually follow one or two years later. The Singapore government is so desperate for immigrants that selected nationalities like Hong Kongers and Taiwanese are given "In-principle" approval of PRs when they have never set foot on the country! Mr Alawi is not too far off the mark by saying that Singapore is now ruled by foreigners. Judging from the callous manner in which PAP leaders have been glorifying the foreigners and denigrating Singaporeans by describing them as less "hard-driving" and "hard-striving" than them, they resemble more like foreigners than native Singaporeans. Perhaps it is time they change the name of their party to FAP or "Foreigner Action Party".  Read More →

OPINION Faced with rising frustration, resentment and anger from Singaporeans over its misguided liberal immigration and pro-foreigner policies, PAP leaders have been flip-flopping to and fro in their recent public statements to an equally confused electorate. Some of them appear to have contradicted earlier statements made by themselves while others give the impression that they do not know what their colleagues are talking about. While such blatant discrepancies can be attributed to the senility of some senior PAP leaders, it is pretty shocking that younger members of the party don't quite understand the ramblings of one another either. As late as December last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Singaporeans that foreigners are "essential" to Singapore as they took up jobs shunned by locals. Minister of Community, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan added that the government cannot "shield" Singaporeans from competition with the foreigners. A week later on 1 January 2010, PM Lee tried to reassure Singaporeans that they "remain a priority for his administration." Now, how is he going to ensure that when he cannot even protect locals from losing their jobs to foreigners? In early January this year, Law Minister Shanmugam said he had a "hunch" that foreigners and PRs are not responsible for driving up HDB flat prices: “You say maybe foreigners are paying these high valuations. I think if you check, you’ll find that the majority are Singaporeans.” Two weeks later, the octogenarian Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew contradicted him during a speech made at an event to celebrate HDB's 50th anniversary: “…property prices have gone up because foreigners with permanent residence are buying into the market.” So who should Singaporeans believe, Mr Shanmugam or MM Lee? The celebrated Minister in Prime Minister's Office Lim Swee Say has constantly urged Singaporeans to be "cheaper, faster and better." Now Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong wants Singapore workers to focus on acquiring new skills, rather than working longer and harder, to be more efficient. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan seems clueless about the sky-rocketing prices of HDB flats. He has been insisting that they remain "affordable" to Singaporeans though evidence on the ground suggest otherwise. In November 2009, he said a family with a monthly income of $3,000 can buy a flat worth up to $250,000 and spend only 30 per cent of their income every month on the mortgage. “Similarly, a family with a monthly income of $4,000 can afford to buy a new flat worth up to $333,000 without spending more than 30 per cent a month on the mortgage. This means they can comfortably buy any of the flats offered in the latest BTO projects this month,” he added. A month later, he admitted that he was “caught off guard” by how the HDB resale market headed north in a recession year: “Nobody, no matter how prescient, no matter how clever, would have been able to predict that this was what was going to happen,” he said. Now he acknowledged that some people may be “adversely” affected by his housing policies: “There’s no question that our policies are designed for the good of the people. While there may be certain parts of the policies that are not favourable, overall, I think these policies are for the well-being of the people and are good for the country.” Does he know what is happening exactly? One cannot blame the junior ministers for being confused when their paramount leader Lee Kuan Yew appears to be equally lost as well. The elder Lee has been one of the strongest proponents of the PAP's unpopular immigration policies. As late as August last year, he was telling Singaporeans to “bear with the tide of immigrations” as foreigners are “essential” for Singaporeans. In a recent interview with the National Geographic magazine published in December 2009, he was quoted as saying that "it is a good thing" that Singapore has welcomed so many Chinese immigrants (from mainland China) as they are more "hard-driving" and "hard-striving" than locals. He is now singing a different tune altogether: “We’ve grown in the last five years by just importing labour. Now, the people feel uncomfortable, there are too many foreigners. Trains are overcrowded with foreigners, buses too, property prices have gone up because foreigners with permanent residence are buying into the market. The answer is simple: We check the flow of foreigners, raise your productivity, do the job better, so that instead of two workers, eventually you’ll do it with one worker, like the Japanese do,” he said. So is Lee admitting that his government has made a mistake earlier by importing too many foreigners over the last five years? If the inflow has been well managed, why is there a need to slow the intake now? To further complicate matters, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said a week later that these recent moves by the government do not mark a "sudden turnaround" in its foreigner policy and that while the rate of increase will "slow down", the number of foreign workers may actually rise! These are indeed confusing times for a confused PAP leadership who are getting cold feet over facing angry voters in the next general election due to be called soon. Both PM Lee and SM Goh claimed they were "surprised" by the on-going "mini-election" frenzy. Perhaps they still do not know that the real reason is that many Singaporeans cannot wait any longer to vote them out of office altogether! With more and more young Singaporeans joining the electorate, there is a lingering fear that a mini "political tsunami" resembling that of Malaysia in 2008 may happen in Singapore. The signs are there: young Singaporeans are becoming more vocal and critical of the government (at least online), more of them are joining the opposition including former government scholars, the new media is gaining sufficient readers to counter the mainstream media and more importantly, the genuine concerns of Singaporeans over the rising number of foreigners and high prices of HDB flats are not going to dissipate with time. After opening the floodgates to allow the foreigners in, there is no way the ruling party can evict them to bring Singapore back to the 1990s. The demographics of Singapore has been changed beyond recognition with certain parts resembling more than provinces of China and India. This is the result of years of uninterrupted PAP rule and voters will be reminded time and again whenever they find themselves in "unfamiliar" territory surrounded by strange people with strange body odor! The recent "flip-flops" are nothing more than just strategic posturing to appease voters and to crawl back lost support. Cosmetic changes have been implemented in the fields of education and healthcare to better "distinguish citizens from PRs." Even PM Lee is singing praises of Singaporeans by giving "credit" to their "resilience" for keeping last years' unemployment rate low. He forgot that his father had just called Singaporeans "daft" if they were to cast a protest vote against the ruling party in the next general election and also insinuated that Singaporeans are "lazy" with his infamous remark made in the same National Geographic interview: "“If native Singaporeans are falling behind because the spurs are not stuck into the hide, that is their problem,” he was quoted saying by journalist Mark Jacobson. Perhaps what PM Lee actually meant is that Singaporeans are "resilient" despite of all the "spurs" that the PAP has stuck into their hide all these years! Surely only a confused electorate will vote such a confused party which does not know where the country is heading into power again in the next general election! Singaporeans must vote wisely in the next general election to reclaim ownership of their beloved country which belongs to all of us and not just to the PAP or a select few. If we do not make our voices heard now, we will never get the opportunity again because they will be drowned out by the new immigrants who are likely to vote for the PAP! Singapore for Singaporeans! Vote for change! Vote out the PAP!  Read More →

Reuters, 4 February 2010 Singapore aborted a flight display at its international airshow on Thursday after a South Korean pilot steered his jet too close to spectators, witnesses and the show organiser said. An aerial display, which was supposed to last for eight minutes, was shortened to less than half that after the error by the T-50 Golden Eagle jet, owned by the Korean Aerospace Industries. "The T-50 Golden Eagle's flight this afternoon was observed to have infringed the safety boundaries and the pilot was instructed to terminate his flying display as a precaution," Singapore Airshow's Marilyn Ho said in an email to Reuters. "The Singapore Airshow has strict safety standards for all aerial displays. Proper safety markers and boundaries are in place to ensure the safety of the audience and the pilots." The week-long biennial Singapore Airshow kicked off on the densely populated island-state on Tuesday and is due to open to public this weekend, when thousands of spectators are expected to visit. Thursday's flight display was watched by hundreds of trade visitors -- many of whom were wowed by the aircraft's proximity as it approached the show centre's seaside grounds, and then made an acute turn back out to sea, a witness told Reuters. "I was surprised at how low the aircraft was flying. First, I thought it was part of the thrill factor, but found it anti-climaxed when I didn't see the jet return, only to realise that the show had ended," said a Singaporean photographer who didn't want to be identified. - Reuters  Read More →