IMMIGRATION AND JOBS FOR SINGAPOREANS
Almost all of the candidates took issue with the government’s immigration policy and its impact on society, especially job security for locals.
“Singapore has always been a global city. But if you feel the opportunity shrinking, if you feel like a stranger in your own land, you’re not alone. It’s not about shutting doors, it’s about protecting your own, even as we welcome others,” said Mr Nadarajan Selvamani, a candidate in Tanjong Pagar GRC.
Mr Lim said that he would fight to “cut net immigration by a lot” if elected into parliament, without elaborating.
He claimed that a majority of Singaporeans were “uncomfortable with the number of foreigners in this country”, but “don’t like to be labelled racist or xenophobic or nativist”.
“It is wrong when in two generations, you introduce so many foreigners into a country that Singaporeans today are looking at you and wondering what you’re talking about when you talk about the Singapore identity,” he said.
He and Dr Michael Fang, the PAR’s candidate for Yio Chu Kang SMC, took aim at Singapore’s Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India.
Mr Lim described CECA as a “labour arbitrage agreement” where “the employer takes advantage of cheaper foreign labour, brings them in, and the higher cost Singaporean worker is displaced or replaced”.
Mr Chiu, part of the PAR’s team in Jalan Besar GRC, questioned whether multinational corporations that received tax breaks and other incentives to do business in Singapore have carried out technology transfer to local workers.
Mr Prabu said the PAR “will put Singaporeans to the front of the queue again for education, for employment and entrepreneurial opportunities”.
