Immigration and immigrant workers in Singapore have been closely associated with the country's economic development. After independence in 1965, immigration laws were modified in 1966 to reinforce Singapore's identity as a sovereign state. However, the initial strict controls on immigrant workers were relaxed as demand for labor grew with increased industrialization (Yeoh 2007).
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Between 1970 and 1980, the size of the non-resident population in Singapore doubled. The trend continued in the 1980s and 1990s (Yeoh 2007). Foreigners constituted about 29% of Singapore's total labor force in 2000, which is the highest proportion of foreign workers in Asia (Yeoh 2007). Over the last decade, Singapore's non-resident workforce increased 170%, from 248,000 in 1990 to 670,000 in 2006 (Yeoh 2007). By 2006, there were about 580,000 lower-skilled foreign workers in Singapore; another 90,000 foreign workers are skilled-employment pass holders (Yeoh 2007). In September 2010, the Singapore Statistics Bureau announced the report showed that the Singapore population approached 5,000,000 people by the end of June 2010, but the Singapore citizen total was 3,200,000 people, accounted for 64%. In other words, in the Singapore population, surpasses 1/3 is the foreigner. With only approximately 700 square kilometers Singapore has become possibly the most densely populated country in Asia, if not the world.
In Singapore, the term immigrant workers is separated into foreign workers and foreign talents. Foreign workers refers to semi-skilled or unskilled workers who mainly work in the manufacturing, construction, and domestic services sectors. The majority of them come from places such as People's Republic of China, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Thailand, as part of bilateral agreements between Singapore and these countries (Yeoh 2007). Foreign talent refers to foreigners with professional qualifications or acceptable degrees working at the higher end of Singapore’s economy. They come from People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and United States of America. The Singaporean government has carefully constructed a system under which different types of employment passes are issued to immigrant workers according to their qualifications and monthly salaries. The “P, Q, R” employment-pass system was put into practice since September 1998; a new “S” type employment pass was later introduced in July 2004. The government has also set different policies on recruiting foreign talents and foreign workers.
The different policies towards 'Foreign workers' and 'Foreign talent' in Singapore have led some people to feel that their contributions toward Singapore’s development are valued differently. However, the Singapore government has always stressed the importance of immigrant workers to Singapore’s economy and development. Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, then Prime Minister, said in his 1997 National Day rally speech that the government's lack of restrictions on the recruitment of foreigners did not extend only to top-rung prestigious positions, but also to middle-level management, skilled worker and technician positions (Low 2002).
Various policies and incentives are used to attract foreign talent to Singapore. CONTACT SINGAPORE was launched in 1997 by the International Talent Division of the Ministry of Manpower to facilitate the inflow of international talent to Singapore. The Singapore Talent Recruitment (STAR) Committee was formed in November 1998 with the aim of attracting foreign talents to Singapore. Other similar programmes include Manpower 21, launched in 1999, and the International Manpower Program of the Economic Development Board. The government has developed the Scheme for Housing of Foreign Talents with the aim of providing affordable yet comfortable accommodations for foreign talents, in order to attract them to work and stay in Singapore (Low 2002).
On the other hand, stringent policies and regulations have been set on employing foreign workers. In 1981, the government even announced its intention to phase out all unskilled foreign workers by the end of 1991, except domestic maids and those employed in construction and shipyards. The policy stance was met with strong protests from employers facing labor shortages (Athukorala and Manning, 1999).
In April 1987, the Singapore government announced its immigration policy, which intended to control the foreign worker inflow. The two key elements in the policy were a monthly levy payable by the employer for each foreign worker employed, and a “dependency ceiling” that limits the proportion of foreign workers in the total workforce of any one employer. The government later introduced a two-tier levy system in October 1991 under which employers were required to pay a higher levy on workers whose employment would change the “dependent ceiling” value of the company(Athukorala and Manning 1999). The levy and the “dependency ceiling” have remained the two instruments with which the government has regulated worker inflow in line with changes in domestic labor-market conditions (Athukorala and Manning 1999).
A regular contributor on the republic’s history and current affairs, Chua Sun Tong wrote in The Online Citizen that Goh Chok Tong was the starting force behind the influx of foreign Permanent Residents (PRs). The ill-prepared policy, one of modern Singapore’s most important, has been the cause of a number of problems for locals, ranging from jobs and public transport to housing and education. It also led to one of the worst election declines in 2011 for the ruling People's Action Party. In his article, Chua said that as Singapore’s fertility rate fell to 1.4 in 1987, Goh — who was then Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and due to succeed Lee Kuan Yew — started a pro-immigration policy. Chua alleged it was Goh who had openly promoted mass immigration in 1987 when he was DPM. There has been no official confirmation from the two retired leaders. During the past 20 years (1991-2010) some 726,768 PR permits were issued — mostly to foreign professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), who were directly competing with middle-class Singaporeans. At one time, he also strongly nudged as many PRs as possible to take up Singapore citizenship. Chua’s article was an analysis of the “Sept 2011 Population Report in the Larger Context” issued by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), a think tank. “After promoting foreign immigration without really defining its meaning from 1987 to 2011, (Goh) relinquished his Cabinet position,” Chua wrote. “He expressed hopes that a younger Cabinet would be able to carry Singapore forward in a more difficult and complex situation. His policies probably caused this situation.” The IPS report attributed no names of leaders responsible, but it seems that Goh had been pushing it for a long period. Goh allegedly opened the door for 20,000+ new PRs a year from 1987 to 1997 (up from 8,000 average). The figures rose steadily in two more waves until 2005-2010 when between 50,000 and 80,000 arrived every year. “(Goh) remained in the Cabinet after stepping down from the prime ministership in 2004,” Chua added. The tempo of PR arrivals increased. What he said of the role of the former Prime Minister Goh has come as a surprise to Singaporeans, who had all along believed the immigration policy was solely his predecessor Lee Kuan Yew’s idea. Chua said that even after Goh had handed over leadership to PM Lee Hsien Loong, he continued to work on the programme while in Cabinet, and large numbers of PRs kept coming in. In another comment, social activist Ravi Philemon also said that it was the government under Goh which relaxed the stricter yester-years immigration policy of Singapore. In fact, the excessive arrivals resulted in Lee Kuan Yew warning him that 60,000 new residents a year was “politically indigestible” and that 30,000 was more realistic. Singaporeans generally read with some disbelief that Lee had allowed such an important decision as mass immigration to be decided by Goh. The majority of Singaporeans assumed the original initiative had come from the founding leader himself — and that Goh was only a very convinced implementer.
As part of the immigration debate, Singaporeans' attention is often on their income levels and public housing. Many Singaporeans take the view, expressed in the media and online, that immigration threatens Singaporean's employment opportunities, particularly since Singapore has not any minimum wage rule, the low income population is therefore facing intense labor market competition without any minimum wage safeguard. In addition, the population, having greatly increased in a short time, is causing tremendous pressure on public services: buses and the subway train carriages become very crowded, the real unemployment rate for Singaporeans has increased, certificates of entitlement for cars, places in the better schools, the university housing supply for Singaporeans is tight, home prices - both private and public - are rocket high, and local-born Singaporeans, particularly singles, now face difficulty in securing public housing which is now open to Permanent Residents who can purchase public housing on the second hand market.
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