Immigration to Singapore

Early immigration

Early population figures show that the growth of population in Singapore was for a long period fueled by immigration, starting soon after Stamford Raffles landed in Singapore in 1819. The founding of colonial Singapore as a free port led to a rapid influx of people, initially mostly Malays, quickly followed by the Chinese. It was estimated that when Raffles arrived in Singapore in January 1819, Singapore had about 120 Malays, 30 Chinese and some local tribes (the Orang Laut). Another estimate put the total population of Singapore at 1,000, mostly of various local tribes. By 1821, the population was estimated to have increased to 4,724 Malays and 1,150 Chinese. Javanese, Bugis and Balinese also began to arrive. In the first census of 1824, 6,505 out of the 10,683 total were Malays and Bugis, constituting over 60% of the population. The total population of Singapore then increased to 16,000 by 1829, 26,000 five years later, and 60,000 by the beginning of 1850.

Chinese migrants started to enter Singapore from the Straits area and southern China to trade just months after it became a British settlement. Later migrant workers from China would also increase considerably to work on the pepper and gambier plantations, with 11,000 recorded in one year. Indians migrants also arrived, mostly from Bengal and the Coromandel Coast. Singapore became one of the entry and dispersal points for large number of Chinese and Indian migrants who came to work in the plantations and mines of the Straits Settlements, many of whom then settled in Singapore after their contracts ended. By 1860, the total population had reached around 90,000, of these 50,000 were Chinese, and 2,445 Europeans and Eurasians. The first thorough census in Singapore was undertaken in 1871, and it showed that Chinese were the largest ethnic group at 57.6%. In 1901, the total population of Singapore was 228,555, with 15.8% Malays, 71.8% Chinese, 7.8% Indians, and 3.5% Europeans and Eurasians. The Chinese population of Singapore has stayed at over 70% of the total since.

The early population figures show that the Chinese immigrants were overwhelmingly male. The 1826 figures give a total population of 13,750, with 5,747 Chinese males and only 341 Chinese females, compared to 2,501 Malay males and 2,289 Malay females. The sex ratio of Indian migrants was similarly distorted. The imbalance of the sexes of the immigrant communities continued for a long time with the continual flow into Singapore of male migrant workers who were either single or had left their wives and children behind in China or India, for example the 1901 census figures show that there were 130,367 Chinese males and 33,674 Chinese females. Most of the early Chinese immigrants did not intend to settle permanently to raise their families there; they worked to send money back home, and many would return to China after they had earned enough money. For over a hundred years, the great proportion of the Chinese in Singapore were immigrants – by the late 1890s only around 10% of the Chinese population were native born in Singapore. Later an increasing number would also choose to settle permanently in Singapore, especially in the 1920s when more chose to remain in Singapore rather than leave. Change in social attitude in the modern era also meant that Chinese women were freer to emigrate from China, and the sex ratio began to normalise in the 20th century, which led to a much greater number of people being born in Singapore. Immigration would continue to be the main reason for the Chinese population increase in Singapore until the 1931–1947 period when the natural increase in population would surpass the net immigration figure.

Immigration from China and India to Singapore stopped during the years of Japanese occupation. After the Second World War, the immigration pattern shifted from the influx of migrants from other countries to movement of people between peninsular Malaya and Singapore, with significant number of net migrants moving from Malaya to Singapore. However, after the declaration of independence of Malaya in 1957, the migration of people from Malaya began to fall.

Post-independence immigration

When Singapore became an independent nation in 1965, it signaled the end of free movement of people between Malaysia and Singapore. This and increasing job opportunities in Malaysia meant that the previous high level of movement of people between the two countries fell significantly. Net migration in Singapore dropped to 24,000 in the decade of 1970-80 due to tighter control of immigration from Malaysia and other countries. However, a lower rate of natural growth in population and the need for low-skill labour resulted in a deliberate shift in policy by the Singapore government to allow more foreigners to live and work in the country, and net migration increased in the 1980-1990 period to nearly 200,000. By the decade of 1990-2000, the net migrant number of over 600,000 had surpassed the natural growth of the population, and accounted for nearly two-third of the population increase. The same high level of immigration is also seen in the next decade with 664,083 net migration recorded. Curbs on immigration however began to be implemented in the 2010s to ease increasing social issues arising from the high level of immigration.

The high level of foreign migrant workers in late 20th and early 21st centuries meant that Singapore has one of the highest percentages of foreigners in the world. By the middle of the 2010s, nearly 40% of the population were estimated to be of foreign origin; although many have became permanent residents, most of them were non-citizens made up of foreign students and workers including dependents. Between 1970 and 1980, the size of the non-resident population in Singapore doubled. The numbers began to increase greatly from 1980 to 2010. Foreigners constituted about 29% of Singapore's total labour 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). As of June 2014, the total population of Singapore stands at 5.47 million: 3.34 million citizens and 0.53 million permanent residents (total resident number 3.87 million), with 1.60 million non-residents with work passes and foreign students.

Policy

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 [1], Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Thailand, as part of bilateral agreements between Singapore and these countries. Foreign talent refers to foreigners with professional qualifications or acceptable degrees working at the higher end of Singapore's economy. They come from India, Australia, the Philippines, People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Europe, New Zealand and the United States.

The Singaporean government has constructed a system under which different types of employment passes (EP) are issued to immigrant workers according to their qualifications and monthly salaries. The "P, Q, R" employment pass system was put into practice in 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.

At present, the Singapore government issues the EP under three categories:

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).

Foreign talent

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, beginning with six offices worldwide, 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, to attract them to work and stay in Singapore (Low 2002).

Foreign workers

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 labour 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 labour-market conditions (Athukorala and Manning 1999).

Non-residents working in Singapore will require a work visa. There are various types of Singapore work visas starting from work permits for the lower-skilled labourers, to P1 and P2 category Employment Passes to attract niche professionals with good credentials in both education and work experience.

From 1 September 2012 only foreign workers with earnings of at least SGD4,000 (USD3,150) per month can sponsor their spouses and children for their stay in Singapore and some of them are also not allowed to bring their parents and in-laws on long-term visit passes. The new regulation also impacts those who switch companies on/after the date, but foreign workers whose families are already in Singapore won't be affected. The increase from SGD2,800 to SGD4,000 was to ease public disquiet over the influx of workers from overseas.

2013 Population White Paper

In early 2013, the Singapore parliament debated over the policies recommended by the Population White Paper entitled A Sustainable Population for a Dynamic Singapore. Citing that Singapore's 900,000 Baby Boomers would comprise a quarter of the citizen population by 2030 and that its workforce would shrink "from 2020 onwards", the White Paper projected that by 2030, Singapore's "total population could range between 6.5 and 6.9 million", with resident population between 4.2 and 4.4 million and citizen population between 3.6 and 3.8 million. The White Paper called for an increase in the number of foreign workers so as to provide balance between the number of skilled and less-skilled workers, as well as provide healthcare and domestic services. It also claimed that foreign workers help businesses thrive when the economy is good. The motion was passed albeit after amendments made to leave out "population policy" and add focus on infrastructure and transport development.

The White Paper was criticised by opposition parties. Member of Parliament Low Thia Khiang of the Workers' Party of Singapore had criticised current measures of increasing the fertility rate, claiming that the high cost of living and lack of family and social support discouraged young couples from having babies. As for current immigration policies, he had noted that immigrants were a source of friction for Singaporeans and that an increased population would put more stress on the already strained urban infrastructure. PAP MP Inderjit Singh had also spoken out on the issue, citing cohesion and social issues that would have been made worse with the proposed immigrant influx rate.On 16 February 2013, nearly 3,000 people rallied to protest the White Paper and raise concerns that the increased population would lead to the deterioration of public service and the increase of the cost of living in the future.

Impact and criticism

The large influx of migrants from the 1980s onwards has raised concerns about the government's policy on immigration. Whilst the inflow of immigrants and foreign workers have helped to alleviate a labour crunch and help the economy, the influx of immigrants and foreign workers to Singapore has resulted in strong sentiment by the locals against both foreigners and the government and was a major issue in both the 2011 general and presidential elections. Singaporeans have attributed to the government's open-door immigration policy the country's overcrowding and falling reliability of its public transportation system, increasing property prices for housing, suppressed wage level, increased competition for jobs and education, increasing income inequality and other social problems. These issues came under close scrutiny by foreign media in the aftermath of the 2013 Little India riot. Local NGOs have also raised issues of migrant welfare, especially those relating to work injury and living conditions. Social pressures have been acknowledged by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with various measures put in place in the last few years, such as the Fair Employment (Consideration) Framework and Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices and increasing support for migrant workers.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and various government agencies have spoken out against a rising anti-foreigner sentiment after Singaporeans expressed outrage at disparaging statements made by foreigners residing in Singapore. For example, in March 2012, Sun Xu, a scholar from China studying in the National University of Singapore, made a remark in his blog that "there are more dogs than humans in Singapore". This was weeks after a revelation in parliament that SGD36 million worth of scholarships were awarded to 2,000 foreign students every year, something that is unheard of in other countries. The government was accused of disadvantaging local students in places for education and affordability, and in response it has made a policy change in primary education to give some priority to Singaporeans.

Further incidents have also fanned local sentiments against expatriates and foreign workers in Singapore, for example, the publicity over negative comments about the locals by banker Anton Casey and Filipino nurse Ed Mundsel Bello Ello. Whilst anti-foreigner sentiments are still prevalent online, fifteen foreigners who were interviewed by ChannelNewsAsia did not feel such anti-foreigner sentiments reflected what they encountered in the real world. Local Singaporeans have also written in to the press to encourage fellow Singaporeans to have a mindset of being more accepting towards other cultures, reminding them that Singapore is also from immigrant stock. Media reporting that foreign workers help out in distress situations have also helped improve locals' perception of foreign workers.

There are also concerns that immigrants were using Singapore as a springboard for immigration to other developed countries. Every year, 300 naturalised citizens renounce their Singapore citizenship. Many foreigners remain hesitant to take up Permanent Residency (PR) or Singapore citizenship because of the two years of mandatory military service for male citizens and second-generation PRs.