Singapore's Population at "Demographic Turning Point"

For a while now, Singapore has been well-known for being a cosmopolitan country. However, in recent times, citizens have started to protest against Singapore’s continuous acceptance of immigrants. In this essay, I will explain why Singapore should continue to be open to immigrants. I will be focusing on the immigrants who hold a S Pass or an Employment Pass as these are Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) who are highly-skilled workers and thus have the potential to become naturalized citizens and permanent residents.

Singapore’s citizen population reached a turning point in 2012, as our first cohort of Baby Boomers turned 65. Due to our current low birth rate, we are unable to replace our ageing population. Singapore will experience an unprecedented age shift between now and 2030. Over 900,000 Baby Boomers, more than a quarter of the current citizen population, will enter their silver years. From 2020 onwards, the number of working-age citizens will decline, as older Singaporeans retiring outnumber younger ones starting work.

In an effort to increase our birth rate, the government has worked to support young families through marriage and parenthood policies in order to encourage people to start families. However, sufficient time must be given for policy enhancements to take effect. In the meantime, maintaining a stable population is required to stave off labour shortages as the population ages and there are fewer working-age people. This is where immigration comes in, contributing to the minting of new citizens and the formation of new families. Immigration contributed 20,000 to 25,000 new citizens annually, whereas citizen births averaged 32,200 annually in the past decade. And in 2016, about one in five marriages were inter-ethnic. Therefore, immigration is vital in augmenting the population quantitatively and qualitatively.

Besides maintaining a stable population, immigrants benefit our economy by helping Singapore to remain globally competitive. As technology advances rapidly, more and more new high-tech industries, such as cyber security and information technology, are emerging. And while locals are being trained with the relevant skills, it will take some time before the supply of local workers with the right skills can meet the soaring demand. Many of these industries such as info-communication technology are fast-moving and market demand can shift quickly in response to advances in trends and technology. Immigrants who already possess the required specialised skills and talents are readily able to support the growth of these emerging industries to keep up with the evolving demands, allowing Singapore to remain globally competitive.

Immigrants are also required to replenish the Singapore citizens who have chosen to migrate to other countries in order to prevent our workforce and talent pool from shrinking even further. According to statistics released by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), the number of Singaporeans relocating has hit an all time high of 6% with 213,400 in 2016.

Moreover, as Singapore develops and its citizens becomes increasingly educated and affluent, there is an acute need to import immigrants for lower-level blue-collar jobs that Singaporeans shun, such as construction labourers, shipyard workers, sanitation staff and domestic helpers, as few Singaporeans are willing to take up these jobs.

Some short-term implications of Singapore as an anti-immigrant country have already been seen. In the 2011 general elections, the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) suffered the biggest drop in its share of votes ever, hurt by anxiety over rising income inequality, high housing costs and overcrowding of public transport due to foreigners. The government responded by slashing foreign labour quotas, worsening the labour crunch caused by an ageing population. This affected the manufacturing, services and construction sectors, which had a devastating effect on Singapore, a country more known for its business-friendly policies.

Singapore-based conglomerate Keppel Corp Ltd, one of the world’s largest offshore rig builders, said last month it has invested in its overseas facilities to increase production capability, unable to meet its labour requirements locally. This is only one of the examples of enterprises being affected by foreign labour curbs. In the long run,

Therefore, it is crucial that Singapore continues to be open to immigrants in order to maintain a stable population and a continuous economy growth.