Essay On Immigration In Singapore

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Singapore
Historically, Singapore is a small nation that built up its economic foundation through immigration. Back in 1819, when it was established as a British trading colony, the small island had a population of just a few hundred. Singapore attracted laborers from neighboring China, India and the Malay Archipelago. This trend of immigration has continued, with migration in recent times consisting of both low-skilled and high-skilled workers. The last decade, especially, has seen a rapid increase in migration, against the backdrop of a rapidly ageing population, and a fertility rate of 1.2, well below the replacement rate of 2.1. Singapore’s fertility rate has been below the replacement rate for a good three decades, prompting the government to reverse its earlier conservative stance on family planning to its current ‘Have three, or …show more content…

The dominant victory by PAP, however, seems to indicate that generous and loose migration policies are here to stay in Singapore, probably for the benefit of the country.

A large portion of the migrant population in Singapore is made up of low-skilled or unskilled workers in the construction, domestic labor and manufacturing industries. These migrants are a transient population who come to Singapore without their families, under strict contracts which limit their stay, and who have virtually no hope of ever becoming citizens of Singapore. The jobs that they do are also largely scorned by Singaporeans, and thus they fill an important gap in the labor market.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are growing concerns that high-skilled foreigners are taking managerial and professional positions away from Singaporeans. PAP’s long-held view of meritocracy, however, largely maintains that he or she who is most deserving of the job should and would get the

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