Singapore’s permanent residents will have to pay more for education and health care than the citizens of this tiny city state. Such discrimination may not be unjustified. Citizens should come first. And permanent residents have the option to become citizens too.
The government welcomes foreigners to make Singapore their home. It wants the population to grow from nearly 4.5 million now to six to seven million by 2030. The newspaper Today says: "This move could actually nudge some of them (permanent residents) into taking up Singapore citizenship." Yes, but not all.
Some may take time to make up their minds for two reasons.
One, Singapore does not allow dual citizenship — unlike the USA, Britain or even India today. There may be permanent residents who have made Singapore their home, whose children speak and think like Singaporeans, but who still have property and other connections back in their home countries which they want to preserve.
And, secondly, though everyone speaks English in Singapore, where English is one of the four official languages, Singapore is, according to Wikipedia, "one of the largest Chinese cities outside China", with Chinese Singaporeans making up 76.8 per cent of the population. Jobs are easier to find for people who speak Chinese. That’s only natural in a country with a large Chinese-speaking population where much of the trade is with Southeast Asia — where ethnic Chinese play a key part in the economy — and with China. And as the Chinese economy grows, so will the need for Chinese speakers. Unfortunately, Chinese is not an easy language to learn.
Singapore is a peaceful, prosperous, good place to live in with good government and excellent infrastructure. People who come here are likely to stay unless they get even better opportunities elsewhere or have to return home for various reasons. But one result of living under a government that thinks long term is an awareness that nothing is permanent. Situations change. Those who decide to settle here no doubt think long term too.
Related posts:
