Singapore’s foreign talent dilemma: PAP’s priority – Singaporeans first or folks made fools?

by Khush Chopra

The late Lee Kuan Yew, in his notable National Day Rally Speech of 1989, argued for the essential role of passion in nation-building, emphasising that it was passionate Singaporeans with conviction who would lead Singapore to success.

I cannot agree more.

Yet, the very person he chose to illustrate his point raised a concern to Lee Kuan Yew that continues to be relevant today.

According to Lee Kuan Yew, a Cambridge scholar he had interviewed advised him to ensure that the government demonstrates its commitment to retaining Singaporeans.

The Cambridge scholar said this to Lee Kuan Yew: “Please make sure that the government says it does care about keeping Singaporeans here.”

This raises questions: Does the government truly care? Why did the scholar harbour doubts? Why did he specifically bring up this concern to Lee Kuan Yew?

It’s revealing that the same individual Lee Kuan Yew praised—a passionate, scholarly Singaporean educated at Cambridge, seen as a key figure in Singapore’s success—voiced worries about the government needing to reassure Singaporeans of its desire in “keeping Singaporean here” amidst foreign talent recruitment efforts.

This concerned Singaporean pointed out that the government should not rely on foreigners to compensate for population decreases due to emigration. However, his point applies equally to the declining total fertility rates.

Today, is it not evident that immigration is being used to address our population deficits and to substitute for Singaporeans leaving the country, amid the historically low Total Fertility Rate (TFR)?

No one is suggesting that foreigners have not helped or do not contribute to propel the country to greater heights. It’s the question of just how wide we have opened our doors and the impact of this open-door policy on Singaporeans that must be questioned today.

Are newcomers benefiting from what Singapore citizens have established over the years without contributing equally? Are the newcomers not getting a free ride on what Singapore citizens have built up all these years? Is the concern Lee Kuan Yew himself articulated in this speech not a concern we the citizens of Singapore not share ?

Do Singaporeans genuinely feel ownership over Singapore, or does Singapore serve the interests of foreigners we have opened our doors so widely to?

Have Singaporeans been qualitatively and quantitatively been overshadowed by foreigners, including new citizens?

Does the People’s Action Party (PAP) Government show concern? Where is the dedication to preserving this place as ours? Where is the passion to build a nation for ourselves and future generations?

I am not against foreign talent. However our foreign talent, immigration and population growth by immigration policies have gone too far. We have promoted foreign talent as being superior to our local talent. Singaporeans have very deep concerns that they are being hurt by these policies.

Singaporeans have become second class in their own country. We must start to think of Singaporeans first and foremost.

It is my view that the root cause of the PMET (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians) displacement problem lies within the Government’s “foreign talent policy” which include population, immigration and economic policies in favour of foreign talent.

We must address the jobs issue comprehensively to find an appropriate balance between the needs of our citizens for good jobs and our need for an open economy and an open marketplace for global talent.

The PAP has created a global marketplace for talent that operates unfairly against the needs of an ordinary citizen for survival.

It is less about unfair discrimination against Singaporeans but rather more about unfair competition and allowing the job market to be opened to a global marketplace for talent.

How can our average PMET compete with the best the world has to offer?

It is the Government’s duty to create jobs and ensure job security for Singaporean’s.The PAP Government has failed to carry out its duty to Singaporean’s and has instead betrayed us by favouring “foreign talent”.

During another earlier New Year’s Day speech in 1982, Lee Kuan Yew emphasised the goal of achieving a wholly Singaporean workforce by 1991, focusing primarily on reducing dependence on foreign labour.

While he did not explicitly mention foreign talent, the rationale behind his message applies to all forms of foreign labour, including professional managers and employees. This approach aimed to address social, political, and economic concerns, contrasting countries facing challenges due to large migrant workforces with countries like Japan’s self-sufficient model.

In the 1989 Rally speech, LKY also said this: “If you just do your sums: plus – minuses, credit – debit you are a washout.”

He was clearly referring to social, political, and economic concerns of immigration that must be taken into account.

Who had LKY ironically actually described in the context of immigration and emigration that was a washout that clearly did not take the wider socio-economic context into account? Could he have perhaps unwittingly described a certain scholar Mathematician?

On this April Fools’ Day, it’s time for Singaporeans to reflect: Who has truly made them the fool?