PEE in Singapore

Population Expansion Exercise (PEE), that is! Not the peeing in HDB lifts that one hears about occasionally!

The Workers’ Party is a very careful opposition party. Not surprising, for obvious reasons! If the PAP wants 6.9 million by 2030, the WP wants a tad less. Both parties share the same concerns on the falling fertility rates in Singapore. Both talk about protecting the Singaporean core. All this can make one wonder if the WP is an extension of the PAP.

The difference between past opposition leaders and those from the WP stable is that the latter is making inroads into Parliament, thanks to a stumbling and fumbling PAP.

Nothing but Trouble: Singapore was not an impoverished country with a poor quality of life when the population was about half of what it is now about two decades ago. The surging, government-induced population brought nothing but trouble for the country, with a deteriorating quality of life. Income levels may have gone up, but so have costs

• Fresh Singaporean graduates, from local as well as top overseas universities, struggle to find even an entry-level job while those with fake degrees from overseas seem to easily land managerial jobs. And when they are found to have used fake degrees, they are let off with a simple fine as some recent examples show!
• Experienced Singaporeans come under pressure from younger, cheaper, mediocre people in the name of foreign talent who get trained here.
• So both the young and old of Singapore are impacted by the immigration policies of the government that always tries to tell people that businesses will pack up and go elsewhere if they are not allowed to bring in immigrant workforce. Which neighbouring country allows free import of people!

University Seats: If Singapore thinks that there is a serious shortage of locals with the right skills, then that is only a pointer to the failure of the Government in giving the education system the needed revamp and fillip. Still, how on earth are the Singapore universities ranked among the top 50 in the world? Is it because foreigners are able to find admissions in all plum courses at the expense of locals?

• And why lump PRs and citizens together, providing the former with all kinds of funding (including CITREP)? Let Singapore not forget that PRs are also foreigners!

Room for Only Real Talent, Not Half-Wits: Businesses are not here to serve Singaporeans. They are simply here to make money and flourish. They will scoot if their business falters even if they have a full complement of staff! Singapore does not need firms without a viable business model.

Bring in talent, but make sure it is real talent – not a flood of half-wits who get trained here and nurture ambitions of using Singapore as a springboard to a career in the U.S. It was very common in the recent past and if they are here longer now it is only because of the job crunch in the U.S. and Europe.

Let us forget the local vs foreigner debate. A Singapore with 7 million people in the next 17 years is something every resident will have to dread. Singapore is too small to accommodate that kind of a population without seeing a deep dip in the quality of life!

G Joslin Vethakumar