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Tuesday, January 29, 2013 By

Singapore to take in 15,000 to 25,000 new citizens a year

Singapore will take in 15,000 to 25,000 new citizens to stop the population from shrinking, says the Population White Paper.

On an average, 18,500 people were granted Singapore citizenship annually over the last five years but fewer than that last year, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said in September last year, according to AsiaOne.

The government also plans to take in about 30,000 permanent residents each year. “This will maintain a stable PR population of between 0.5 and 0.6 million, to ensure a pool of suitable potential citizen,” says the white paper.

The number of new permanent residents decreased from an average of 58,000 a year from 2004 to 2008, to 28,500 a year from 2010 onwards, said DPM Teo last September.

“We have come down from a high of 79,000 new PRs in 2008 to about 30,000 each year currently,” says the white paper.

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Friday, July 27, 2012 By

Fewer new Singapore citizens and permanent residents

Singapore is accepting fewer new citizens and permanent residents because of growing resentment against foreigners.  In the 2011 general election, the ruling People’s Action Party received just 60.14 per cent of the vote – its lowest  since independence – though it won 81 of the 87 seats contested. The government has responded by taking various steps to address the people’s concerns, including reviewing its immigration policy.

Singapore's new citizens and permanent residents

Singapore’s new citizens and permanent residents

A total of 15,777 people were granted Singapore citizenship in 2011 down from 18, 758 in 2010. That too was a decline from previous years:  19,928 people were granted citizenship in 2009, down from 20,513 in 2008. A total of 17,334 people were granted citizenship in 2007.

The number of people given permanent resident status declined to 27,521 in 2011 from 29,265 in 2010. Far more people were allowed to become permanent residents in the previous three years: 59,460 people became permanent residents in 2009, 79,167 in 2009 and 63,627 in 2008.Continue Reading

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Thursday, July 12, 2012 By

How many HDB flats in Singapore?

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has built since 1960 more than a million flats, of which nearly 50,000 are owned by Singapore permanent residents.

Reporting stricter rules for PRs who sublet their flats, Channel News mentioned:

HDB said that as of April this year, 49,190 flats are owned by Singapore PRs. Of this number, 2,142 owners currently sublet their flats, making up just five per cent of the total approved sublet cases.

That made me wonder how many HDB flats are there in Singapore. I looked up the HDB annual report for 2010-11.

It contains a section called Key Statistics, which says 1,011,027 dwelling units have been built since 1960.Continue Reading

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Friday, September 3, 2010 By

Homes of Singaporeans

Homes of Singaporeans: 2010 census

More than 3.1 million, or 82 per cent, of Singapore's 3.77 million resident population live in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats, according to the 2010 census. The resident population comprises Singapore citizens and permanent residents. Singapore's 5.07 million population also includes 1.3 million non-resident foreigners.

Of the 3.77 million resident population:

  • Almost 1.28 million or 34 per cent live in four-room HDB flats
  • Just over 1 million or 28 per cent live in five-room and executive flats
  • More than 632,000 or 17 per cent live in three-flats
  • Just over 112,000 or 3 per cent live in one- and two-room flats.
  • More than 367,000 or 10 per cent live in condominiums or private apartments
  • Over 249,000 or 7 per cent live in landed properties.

The next table shows the resident population and housing in different areas of Singapore.

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Tuesday, August 31, 2010 By

Foreign-born Singapore resident population up from 18% to 23%

Singapore Population (Figures in Thousands)

Singapore now has 5.07 million people. But the population is growing more slowly – by 1.8 per cent this year, down from 3.1 per cent last year – with fewer new permanent residents and a lower intake of other foreigners. Several Asian countries have even lower growth rates, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and India.

The number of Singapore permanent residents has gone up by just 1.5 per cent to 541,000 this year, after an 11.5 per cent increase last year.  There are now 1.3 million non-resident foreigners, up 4.1 per cent this year after a 4.8 per cent increase last year and an astounding 19 per cent jump in 2007.

The Singaporean population has grown only 0.9 per cent to 3.23 million after a 1.1 per cent rise last year. China's  population (1.33 billion) has an even lower growth rate (0.5 per cent in 2008 and 2009 ) and so does Hong Kong (population 7 million after 0.4 per cent growth in 2008 and 0.7 per cent in 2009). Taiwan's population (23.8 million) increased only 0.4 per cent and South Korea's (48.7 million) just 0.3 per cent in both 2008 and 2009 while Thailand's (63.9 million) went up by merely 0.7 per cent in 2008 and 0.6 per cent in 2009.

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Sunday, July 25, 2010 By

How many Indians, Chinese, Malays and people of other races in Singapore’s total population?

Indians now make up almost a quarter of the 1.79 million foreigners in Singapore, reported The Straits Times. The number of Indian nationals on the island has doubled from 200,000 to 400,000 in the last two years, it added, quoting the Indian High Commission.

So what's the ethnic composition of Singapore's total population, which has now grown to 4.98 million?

Singapore ethnic groups

We know the racial makeup of Singapore's 3.73 milllion resident population: 74.2 per cent Chinese, 13.4 per cent Malay, 9.2 per Indian, with others making up 3.2 per cent.

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Wednesday, February 24, 2010 By

‘Singapore withdraws red carpet for foreigners’

Singapore withdraws red carpet for foreigners with eye on vote, says Bloomberg. The report, published by BusinessWeek, covers changes in government policy on immigration and foreign workers.

But is it right when it says, "The government’s shift, which includes higher school and medical fees for non-citizens, has spurred speculation that an election may be called as early as this year" ?

The Wall Street Journal reports Singapore moves to curtail immigration. It says:

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Friday, January 29, 2010 By

More people working in Singapore than before

More than 2.99 million of Singapore's 4.99 million population were working by the end of last year. That's more than ever in the last decade, as this chart shows.

Employed_singapore

The number of jobs actually went up despite the recession. So did unemployment — marginally.

But the good news is overall unemployment fell from 3.4% to 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to preliminary estimates by the Ministry of Manpower. Unemployment among Singapore residents — citizens and permanent residents — fell from 5% to 3% during the same period.

That can be no consolation for the 87,000 residents who found themselves jobless last year, up from 62,900 in 2008. Overall unemployment rose to 3% last year from 2.2% the year before and, for Singapore residents, from 3.2% to 4.3%.

Unemployed_singapore

But as the Manpower Ministry press release says:

Local employment grew by 43,000 in 2009. In contrast, foreign employment fell by 4,200 compared to a record increase of 156,900 in 2008. As at December 2009, there were 1.05 million foreigners forming 35.2% of the 2.99 million persons employed in Singapore. The majority comprising 64.8% or 1.94 million persons employed were locals.

So the number of locals employed has gone up from 1.9 million in 2008. The number of foreigners working has dipped from 1.057 million to 1.053 million. There were just under a million foreigners working in Singapore in 2007 and the figure in 2006 was 756,000.

Working_residents_foreigner

All the figures in these charts are based on data from the Statistics Department of Singapore and the Ministry of Manpower. The employment figures for 2005 to 2009 are taken from the preliminary estimates given by the ministry at the beginning of the year and for 2004 to 2001 from the ministry's mid-year estimates presented on this page.

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010 By

Singapore residents down from 81% to 75% since 2000

I just had a look at Singapore's last census done 10 years ago. The total population at the time was just over four million, of whom 3.2 million were Singapore residents. More than 2.64 million or nearly 82.5% of them were born in Singapore. There were also more than 303,000 residents born in Malaysia, over 29,000 born in Indonesia, more than 145,000 born in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, more than 58,000 born in South Asia, over 14,000 born in other parts of Asia, more than 4,000 born in Europe and over 3,000 born in the USA and Canada.

The fifth census this year will show more foreign-born new citizens. A Straits Times report in April 2009 said: "Last year, 20,513 foreigners became citizens, while 79,167 took up permanent residency."  According to a Channel NewsAsia report in December 2007, "The whole of last year saw 13,209 foreigners taking up Singapore citizenship and 57,310 taking up permanent residency. In the first 10 months of this year, Singapore attracted 13,969 new citizens — much higher than the average of 9,600 in the past five years — and 53,011 new permanent residents (PRs), a 21 percent rise compared to the average of 43,600 in the last five years.''  So, Singapore gained more than 86,000 new citizens between 2002 and 2008.

Despite the new citizens and growing number of permanent residents, who are also counted among Singapore residents, the population of Singapore now shows a greater presence of foreigners than 10 years ago. Singapore last year had a population of 4.98 million of whom 3.73 million were Singapore residents, according to the Statistics Department of Singapore. That means 74.8% of the population were Singapore residents. Back in the year 2000, Singapore residents — then over 3.2 million — made up 81.2% of the four million population.

Here is a chart showing the population increase since 2000, based on Statistics Singapore data.

Sing_pop_growth

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Monday, January 18, 2010 By

Why Singapore is not like Malaysia

The Singapore government can pat itself on the back for keeping Singapore free from the racial and religious tensions that flare up in Malaysia. But, while the government encourages religious harmony, could there be another reason why Singapore is unlike Malaysia? Look at the ethnic makeup of the two countries.

Singapore_ethnic_makeup
Singapore is overwhelmingly Chinese: 74.7% of the population is Chinese, 13.6% Malay, 8.9% Indian, while others make up 2.8%, according to Singapore in Figures 2009 by the Singapore Department of Statistics.

Malaysia_population
Malaysia is not so overwhelmingly Malay: 53% of the population is Malay, 26% Chinese, 8% Indian, while the indigenous people make up 12%, according to the Financial Times article, "Allah" spat marks ethnic Malays' insecurity, published last week.

Countries and regions where ethnic groups are more evenly split can be prone to racial tensions. Look at Lebanon, Nigeria, Sudan, Northern Ireland. The state of Assam in northeastern Indian provides a parallel to Malaysia. Assam also has ethnic-based political parties like Malaysia's Umno, born out of the indigenes' resentment against other ethnic groups.

Singapore might have simmered with similar tensions, too, if the ethnic groups had been more evenly balanced.

What makes me think so?

Because of the widespread resentment against foreigners in Singapore. Singaporeans naturally don't like having to compete with foreigners for jobs and housing. And they see foreigners everywhere. As this chart shows, Singaporeans make up just 64 per cent of the population in Singapore: 3.2 million of the 4.98 million population are Singapore citizens, 533,200 are permanent residents and the rest are foreigners, according to Statistics Singapore.

Singapore_population_piechart
Singaporeans still enjoy a bigger majority in Singapore than Malays in Malaysia, but that has not prevented a growing resentment against foreigners.

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