Recently, the influx of a huge amount of foreigners has started to provoke unhappiness among Singaporeans. It is hard for one to go out in Singapore today and avoid to be served by a foreign worker, whether it is a waitress, cleaner or cashier. This has helped to increase our population, but Singaporeans have started to complain that these people have not made efforts to integrate while at the same time competing with Singaporeans for roles in the job market, sporting arena, and even in schools.
The rationale for bringing in these foreign workers, is that due to our limited and aging population, and low birth rate, we will soon have a very limited pool of talent and people to contribute to our society, reducing our competitiveness in the world. Bringing in these foreigners help to fill up jobs and contribute to our economy. In other areas, like sports, talented foreigners are brought in to boost our teams in various sports.
Undeniably, these talented foreigners have made an impact on our nation's performance in global competitions. In the recent soccer match between Singapore and strong rivals Malaysia, all the goals came from players from foreign countries, like China and Yugoslavia. In the recent world table tennis team championships, where Singapore beat defending champions China for the first time in decades, all but one or two members of the team were China-born. These foreign "talents" have helped to improve the sports scene in Singapore greatly, boosting Singapore's performance significantly. However, this has caused protest from Singaporeans, who believe that local talent should be cultivated instead, and that a win through the use of foreign born players isn't really a win for Singapore at all. In fact, the table tennis championship final was described by some as a match between "China team A and B". However, are these players really "foreigners"? They have already declared their loyalty for Singapore, reside in Singapore, and sing the Singaporean anthem and say our pledge. Are these people any less Singaporean than us? They are not foreigners who are hired on to the team for a few matches then return to play for their own country after their contract has expired, so they should not be discriminated against simply because of their place of birth. In fact, Singapore is a nation of immigrants from all corners of the world, and we who call ourselves Singaporean, were foreigners too just 2 or 3 generations ago. Furthermore, these foreign athletes can raise the standard of Singapore sports, this encourages local athletes to work harder in order to get their performance up to a better standard. Since these athletes are definitely here to stay, we should accept them into our society.
Another issue is the fact that foreigners from other countries create competition for Singaporeans. This comes in the form of skilled and unskilled labourers, and even students. Firstly, skilled foreigners, I believe, should definitely be accepted, and even encouraged to
come into Singapore to share their skills with Singaporeans. Highly qualified foreigners who fill up jobs in Singapore can help to value-add to our economy, and help to improve the skills of Singaporean workers and give them a global perspective in their various sectors. As long as they are able to contribute to Singapore, there is no question that they should be welcomed with open arms.
However, unskilled labourers such as construction site workers, cleaners and mechanics have been met with some protest from Singaporeans. They have complaints that these unskilled foreigners are willing to work for much lower wages than Singaporeans, leaving Singaporeans who would normally fill those roles unemployed. Furthermore, due to their relatively lower level of education, they are usually less accustomed to life overseas, and are unable to communicate effectively and integrate with Singaporeans. They also leave Singapore once their work contracts have expired. These foreigners use their wages to support themselves in Singapore, but send much of their money back to their own country for their family to spend, where the cost of living is usually much lower. Because supporting a family in countries such as China or India for example, is much cheaper as compared to supporting a Singaporean family, foreign workers are able to work at much lower wages. Singaporeans who are simply unable to advance beyond their existing level of education are left unemployed because of this. Companies should give some leeway to these kind of workers, who are a very small minority. At the same time, other unskilled Singaporean workers should take the effort to upgrade their own skills too, so that they are able to remain competitive with foreign unskilled labour, and can occupy jobs in which these foreign workers are not qualified for.
Lastly, Singaporeans object to the fact that many foreigners do not integrate into Singaporean society. Usually, foreigners live in their own communities, interact among themselves and typically do not communicate much with Singaporeans. To solve this, both parties need to take action. When in a foreign country, where one is unfamiliar with the culture, language and lay of the land, it is definitely typical human behaviour to stick with people of one's own culture. Foreigners should do more to explore Singaporean culture and lifestyle, rather than make their own communities into "sub-cultures" of their own communities back home. In fact, the government has established a mandatory course for foreigners who wish to have Permanent Resident status in Singapore or wish to have Singapore citizenship, to familiarise them with Singapore lifestyle and culture. This can be extended to foreigners who are residing in Singapore for a significant period of time, and can be opened to any other interested foreigners. At the same time, Singaporeans themselves need to make an effort to communicate with these foreigners in order to make them feel more comfortable in Singapore, so that they will intermingle with Singaporeans more naturally, rather than perpetually having to be made to feel like outsiders. In fact, as long as foreigners are able to communicate and intermingle well with locals, diversity is after all very beneficial to allow Singaporeans to have a global perspective and allow them to feel comfortable when overseas, Singapore is a country with many cultures and races after all.
In conclusion, Singaporeans should learn to adapt to foreigners who decide to make the effort to reside in Singapore and contribute to our economy, and at the same time, the foreigners need to make the effort to communicate and intermingle with the locals and adapt to local culture.
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