Why we need immigrants
Saturday, 07 November 2009
(The Straits Times) - SINGAPORE will go the way of the dinosaurs, without the influx of permanent residents and new citizens, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong warned on Saturday night.
Making a compelling case for the need to take in more new immigrants, he trotted out various sets of figures to drive home the stark reality Singapore is facing: 'In the last 10 years, the number of people aged 65 and above has grown by about 100,000 while the number of children aged below 15 had shrunk by about 50,000.'
And despite all the efforts to encourage marriage and procreation, the total fertility rate climbed only marginally from 1.26 in 2004 to 1.28 last year - far short of the 2.1 needed to replace father and mother. In absolute terms, Singapore needs about 60,000 babies per year, but last year only 32,400 citizen babies were added.
Calling this an 'unsustainable demographic structure,' SM Goh told residents and grassroots leaders at a Deepa Thirunal event at the Braddell Heights Community Club: 'If we do not take in any more new immigrants, our population will begin to shrink in 2020. That is only 11 years away!
'To sustain our present standard of living, we need to top up our population with immigrants, particularly those with skills, entrepreneurial drive and talent. Without them... our growth rate would be easily 1 to 2 percentage points lower.
'Without the foreign workforce, our flats and MRT will not be built, our buses will come to a standstill, our healthcare services will degrade, and many investors, including Singaporean ones, will uproot and go where talent is abundant. Instead of sacrificing just 1-2 percentage points of growth, our economy will shrink, and our quality of life decline.'
Beyond just sustaining the quality of life here, immigrants enrich the society, said Mr Goh, adding:' Immigrants inject a certain vitality and diversity to our society, adding vibrancy to our economy, and broadening our horizons in other fields like the arts, music, sports, and philanthropy.'
Waow, I like this sentence. Unfortunately, the current french government has forgotten this ideology...
ReplyDeleteLiu, Singapore is an immigrant society to begin with. Not many people can claim to be further than 3rd generation Singaporeans. It is what makes Singapore what it is, the good and the bad. I like to think the good outweigh the bad.
ReplyDeleteAs for France, I am not so sure encouraging immigration is the right policy at this time. The situation there is different and the needs of the country are different as well.
ReplyDeleteThere is something that should be highlighted about our immigration policy, Singapore is selective about who can reside here based on various criteria such as ethnicity, education and background. I think it is different in France.
I think most countries' are selective, it is a question of how transparent their policies are.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of France, I recalled some years back a group of people from, IIRC, some parts of Syria, Syria, tried to claim the right to citizenship in France based on an obscure part in history when France was shortly given mandate over that particular portion of the region after WW1, and French offer of citizenship to people from former French colonies or territories. As I recalled, they were rejected.
In France, the immigration is not a necessity in terms of “reproduction of the population”. Most of the immigrant population comes in France because it already has links with France. Either because it has relatives there or because it has ties with France, based on historical links – such as inheritance and consequences of the colonizations.
ReplyDeleteThe entry in France is based on the law. In particular the right to live in family or, the right to find a protection when you are persecuted in your country. However, most of the migratory policy was made on utilitarianism.
That was made in a different way according to periods, because during the "Glorious Thirty", the choice was rather a "laissez-faire policy". We let immigrate the labor and we also let the employers choose the working strength they needed...
From the 1970's, the successive governments have never anticipated these immigrants - that we let come - and who began to make their own family come. Which is completely normal, but what the French law had not planned... As a result, this process is understood as an “undergone immigration”. It is presented as such, and it is also one of reasons why what we call the "second and third generations", are still considered as “intruders”....
The current French government has strengthened its fight against the fraud. (Marriages of convenience for example, people who did not recognize children only to become parents of French children, or people who do not get immigration identity cards). These limitations are very harmful to the foreign population which has family ties in France, because it makes suspicion on all of them with the only aim to detect a swindlers' minority.
I've highlighted this sentence because for me “Integration” doesn’t have to mean that you ask for everything to the foreigners in order that they conform to the society they come to join. “Integration” is also reciprocity, that also means that a welcoming society has to give itself the means in order that the people to integrate want to be a part of this society. Today, in France, this is not the case, since we have a very unegalitarian system with employment because of racism and discrimination. Regarding the housing, the employment, the schooling of children, the cultural expression, and the healthcare, the laws are the same for all. However these rights are not still enough to eliminate current discriminatory practices of which I'm not proud at all as a french citizen.
http://www.3news.co.nz/French-police-bulldoze-immigrant-camp-near-Calais-/tabid/417/articleID/122271/cat/41/Default.aspx
I've added this link but it doesnt seem to appear. Let's try again...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.3news.co.nz/French-police-bulldoze-immigrant-camp-near-Calais-/tabid/417/articleID/122271/cat/41/Default.aspx
The font is white for links :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. :-)
ReplyDeleteA Danish solution to what they perceive as their immigration problem http://singapuranews.multiply.com/journal/item/9577/ST--Go_home_get_28k
ReplyDeleteClick on the link that you can't see.
Well, at least that will weed out migrants who are in it for the money but detest their host country otherwise. It should make for a start at comfortable living back in the developing world.
ReplyDelete