Two in three S’poreans concerned over foreigners: survey

By Angela Lim – August 2nd, 2010

Most Yahoo! Fit to Post readers echo the sentiments of Singaporean citizens in the latest national survey conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies .

In results released on Monday, the IPS said that a poll of over 2,000 citizens aged between 21 and 64 conducted last year revealed that two out of three respondents felt that national unity would be compromised by the presence of foreigners, regardless whether they were here to settle down or were transient workers.

And while most Singaporeans understand the need for the government to bring in foreigners to boost the economy, many have concerns about their long-term impact.

Since this post was first published on Yahoo!’s Fit-to-Post blog, the majority of the close to 300 respondents so far agreed with the survey findings.

Yahoo! Fit-to-Post reader greenage39 wrote, “There is something we need to realize here. A nation does not grow all by itself, be it Singapore or any other nation. It’s always a collective effort from different people.”

Another, dxxxd, said, “I think few Singaporeans object to influx of low-income foreign workers i.e. construction industry. But bringing in young educated foreigners with convertible PR certainly threatens middle executive/manager (soon to be classified as under-performers) jobs especially those folks above 40.”

Yet others like verene1988 felt that instead of complaining, Singaporeans should step up to the challenge.

“Many Singaporeans are sounding like jealous and threatened children. So, fellow Singaporeans, get yourselves upgraded to compete with the foreign talents. Don’t lose out,” she wrote.

The IPS survey involved face-to-face interviews conducted between February and May last year. This National Orientations of Singapore (NOS) survey has been done roughly every five years since 1993.

Over 60 per cent of respondents felt “the policy to attract more foreign talent will weaken Singaporeans’ feelings as ‘one nation, one people’”, a significant increase from the 38 per cent of respondents who felt the same way in 1998, when the survey question was last posed.

Most of those concerned about the influx of foreigners were low-income earners making less than S$2,000 a month, and those living in one-, two- or three-room flats.

Despite this, when asked if the government was right to increase the number of foreign workers to support the Singapore economy, two out of three respondents said “yes”.

Sociologist Tan Ern Ser, one of the study’s authors, told The Straits Times the contradiction was a result of Singaporeans making a distinction between how they are affected as individuals and a collective.

“As citizens and employees, we may have a somewhat negative orientation towards having an influx of foreigners, but as investors and consumers, we may be more welcoming of them,” said the associate professor at the National University of Singapore.

“I reckon Singaporeans would resolve this contradiction by taking the stand that we understand the need for bringing in foreigners, but they must not be allowed to threaten my job, my space, my comfort zone, my sense of security and the Singaporean way of life. Should these threats remain, we would expect some degree of tension to prevail,” he adds.

Singaporeans want more say in policy-making

In addition, the IPS poll also revealed that Singaporeans want to have more say and involvement in policy-making compared to 12 years ago.

But when it came to actually making their views on public policy issues known to the government, just 8 per cent actually did so.

The survey found over 85 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “voting gave citizens the most meaningful way in which to tell the Government how the country should be run.” This was an increase from 72 per cent in 1998.

Political observer Eugene Tan of Singapore Management University (SMU), told the same paper that the trend pointed to an active citizenry and suggested that Singaporeans increasingly expect to be consulted on major policy matters.

“It means that the ‘we know more than thou’ approach in policymaking is out of sync with (their) aspirations. Singaporeans want to be ‘talked with’ and not ‘talked to’ by the government,” Mr Tan said.

National loyalty ‘at healthy level’

The findings on political participation aside, the survey also found that the level of national loyalty and pride inched up and was at a “healthy and stable” level.

But the sense of loyalty and pride was considerable weaker among the more educated, higher-income groups, the young and the politically alienated.

The study’s authors — IPS senior research fellow Gillian Koh was the other — suggested that this was because those who were more highly educated and better off were more likely to be widely travelled, and so more exposed to the cultures of other countries.

With increasing concerns about foreign workers, national loyalty and a growing number of Singaporeans wanting a greater say in the political process, the IPS survey results are providing an interesting backdrop for the upcoming General Elections.



Yes today we need many foreign workers to do many of the jobs ie maids, cleaner etc....i will be very happy if RDG got more foreign ladies....

I'm more concerned whether still need to work at age 80 or not? And this is not because I want to work......

swing2sky wrote:

I'm more concerned whether still need to work at age 80 or not? And this is not because I want to work......

Bro S2S...at 80's, i think you should spend more time in Church services....