They don't get the subsidies in education we locals get. They have to pay the full price, especially for polytechnics and universities. It is true they are coming here, but they are also paying a lot for it.
i don't know about poly's, but you might want to check your info about universities, whether foreign students really are paying for their own tuition, and who it really is who is paying for their education. the government is not the only body that can subsidise tuition. in reality there are many, the university itself included.
firstly, we don't need foreign talent. as it is, locals are not finding jobs. the jobs that are being created by the government are not even in the same industry as the ones being lost. those who were retrenched are still jobless and their lives still collapsed. it would be interesting
if the jobs created are taken by foreigners or locals.
of course, why would politicians care? they are only interested in statistics and unemployment percentages. if foreigners come in and take up low skilled jobs, they will boost the employment figures. these figures then help paint a pretty and misleading picture.
it is common among highly industrialised nations (since nobody wants to be called a 'developed' nation anymore) to welcome immigrants. there are several reasons for this:
1. productivity of labour
this has something to do with the supply of labour. developed nations are rich and have alot of assets and capital. the incrimental effect of extra capital is little compared to developing nations. on the other hand, the productivity of labour is higher in developed countries. at the very least, in comparison.
in layman's terminology, there is no point building more and more factories in japan or providing china and india with more and more people. but if you provide china and india with capital, you get high productivity, due to the amount of labour that is readily available (PROVIDED all that labour is skilled and educated, which is another matter).
so for developing countries to converge to the status of developed countries, capital needs to flow from developed countries to developing countries. once again, if workers are educated, labour from developing countries can move to developed countries where there is alot of capital to be utilised.
to this point, by the words of MM Lee himself, we are NOT a developed country yet. i am not here to disagree with that. in fact i don't know. there is too much confusion and facts are distorted, claims unsubstantiated.
2. population growth
it is common sense that the labour force is directly proportionate to population growth. there is causality in that, unless you think that parents are raising morons nowadays (which might also be true...).
the inflow of foreign workers aside, the singapore population is actually growing. some of you may think otherwise, but the media loves to publicise the
social problems of this issue, thing like romance, attitude among young adults, some minister's daughter who doesnt want to get married; all kinds of unsubstantiated fluff.
the significance is that, in a growing population, the labour force is growing. never mind the replacement of older workers, the reality is that not enough jobs are even being created. do we need foreign workers?
now compare ourselves with a truly developed nation like japan; their population is actually shrinking. there are not enough workers to replace the ones who are retiring. this is where the country really needs skilled, educated workers. and don't get distracted by news of foreigners being retrenched and sent home in the auto industry, that is not a matter of a falling labour demand. it is merely due to the failures of the auto industry, foreign exchange, and other exogenous factors. it is a different industry than where the demand lies.
but i'm sure we are much more than units of 'labour'. we are human beings too. we pay such a high price for being a born citizen of this country, especially the men, and yet it is so cheap for foreigners to come here- probably one of the easiest place to migrate to in the world.
i think we are losing the point about foreign labour. do they have any interest in being part of our society, or are they gonna remain 'foreigners' until the day they leave? what exactly is being done on their part? can they even communicate with the minority races in singapore?
personally, as time goes by i feel more and more distant from the values and the goals of the government, as well as the values of some of the people in it.
