SINGAPORE - MIGRATION IN 1998

Singapore stood out like an island of stability and prosperity in the crisis-ridden region. But it was an uneasy prosperity in view of the slide to poverty of their big neighbor. Particularly threatening to Singapore is the fact that it is but a half hour away by boat from Indonesia. The government introduced various measures throughout the year to keep irregular migrants out — caning; stiffer penalties; punishing errant migrants, employers, smugglers and harborers. Many reports dwelt on arrests and detention of immigration offenders and successful operations against immigration-related scams. In the first 10 months of 1998, there were 42,215 irregular migrants arrested. Criticisms against caning did not deter Singapore from enforcing it. An editorial in The Straits Times justified Singapore’s tough stance as necessary: "Singapore, to put it bluntly, must look after itself first, which entails ensuring first and foremost that it remains free of illegal immigrants looking its way."

As to the untimely repatriation of documented foreign workers from the city-state, some 7,000 foreign workers had their work permits cancelled in the first five months of 1998 (compared to 6,000 for the whole of 1997), mostly because employers defaulted on levy payments. The crisis also affected migrant workers in less obvious ways. In the construction industry, for example, beleaguered or unscrupulous employers resorted to their own "repatriation" scheme by hiring private security guards to escort workers to the airport and see to it that they take the plane for home. The demand for domestic helpers went down by 50 percent since the crisis. In a bid to entice families to hire domestic helpers, agents introduced zero-scheme fees, which works to the advantage of employers and agents, but which is very costly for the workers who have to shoulder the processing fees. The hiring of Indonesian maids in this manner has resulted in the women having to go without salary for months to repay the agents. This practice prompted the Indonesian government to suspend the deployment of new maids to Singapore from October 1.

If Singapore took a strong stance against irregular migration, the government also sent a "strong signal" to employers that it takes a "stern" view of maid abuse via stiffer penalties in Changes in the Penal Code (Amendments) Bill passed by Parliament on 20 April. Although most of the 100,000 foreign domestic helpers are treated well by their employers, reported cases of maid abuse had grown from 105 in 1994 to 192 in 1997. Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Sen said, "Maid abuse runs counter to Singapore’s aspiration to become a gracious, civil society." The amendments cover a range of offenses for which punishment has been increased from between one and seven years to between one-and-a-half years and 10-and-a-half years.

Unskilled foreign workers continue to be part of the country’s work force. Between 1992 and 1997, the foreign workforce grew from 200,000 to 450,000, mostly due to the entry of unskilled workers. This trend, according to Lim Hong Kiang, Minister for National Development, would undermine productivity levels. The construction industry, in particularly, registered a drop in productivity from 4 percent in 1991 to -5.7 percent in 1997. The government imposed new requirements to discourage the importation of unskilled workers. From April 1999, 50 percent of all foreign construction workers will have to pass a basic skills test (reading basic drawings, understanding some English) before they will allowed to work in the country, up from the current 20 percent. The share of skilled construction workers will be increased in the future. The government also modified levy requirements in favor of skilled workers. Beginning 1 April 1998, the monthly levy for domestic helpers and unskilled construction workers has been raised from S$330 to S$345, and S$440 to S$470, respectively. (In November, the Manpower Ministry — formerly the Labour Ministry until 1 April — announced that the levy for foreign maids will be suspended in 1999, considering the crisis.) On the other hand, the levy for skilled foreign workers was halved from S$200 to S$100. Furthermore, work permits that will be issued from 1 April will be either for one or two years instead of the standard two-year permit in the past.

In contrast to the cautionary approach towards unskilled foreign workers, the government is intent on attracting foreign talent. Sensitive to Singaporeans’ reactions to the policy, the government has conducted various fora with locals as well as Singaporeans overseas to explore their views. In general, the results of these discussions and findings from various studies indicate that Singaporeans are lukewarm towards it. For the second year in a row, Prime Minister Goh Tok Chong talked about the need to import foreign talent in his National Day Rally speech (23 August). In arguing for the policy, he cited the contributions of foreign talent to Microsoft, the French World Cup football team, and the Singapore team (which include permanent citizens) which successfully scaled Mt. Everest. He said that, "while we attract foreign talent and welcome foreigners who contribute to our economy, Singapore must always have a hard core of citizens, cohesive and totally committed to the country, around whom we can attract other talent and build a nation."

Other trends are contributing to the internationalization of Singapore. Recent statistics reveal a pattern of increasing international marriages. In 1996, 29.3 percent of all marriages in Singapore were cross-national marriages, most of which were with Malaysians. In the past, only Singaporean men could sponsor their foreign spouses for permanent residence; the same did not apply to local women with foreign spouses (purportedly to discourage them from marrying foreigners). A new law, which became effective 2 January 1998, now extends the same right to Singaporean women, as long as families can prove that they have resources to support themselves. While some highly educated women seem to prefer Britons, Americans, Australians and French as marriage partners, the foreign spouses of Singaporean men are likely to be Chinese, Indonesians, or Thais. In fact, Singaporean men who are looking for brides from China can avail of the services of 21st Century Foreign Marriage, said to be the first matchmaking agency in Singapore.

Despite the crisis (or perhaps because of it), Singaporeans continued to travel and spend outside the country. According to the Trade and Industry Ministry, Singaporeans’ overseas spending increased from S$7.2 billion in 1995, to S$8.2 billion in 1996, to S$9.1 billion in 1997. In 1997, Malaysia and Indonesia were the most popular destinations for Singaporeans. As to whether Singaporeans would rather live elsewhere, a Singapore 21 survey (n=2,300) revealed that eight in 10 Singaporeans would remain in the country, even if they could live or work elsewhere. For the majority of Singaporeans, the major reason for staying was because they had grown up in Singapore and had always lived there. For Singaporeans overseas, the Home Affairs Ministry decided not to implement overseas voting yet pending further consideration. Up until now, the Ministry requires that a Singaporean must return home to vote as a practical test of his or her links to the country.