Immigration policy 'a balancing act': Chan Chun Sing

Chan Chun Sing fields questions on migrants, Singaporean identity at talk with students

By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 5 Aug 2012

The pace of the inflow of new immigrants has to be constantly adjusted, said Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing yesterday.

The adjustments will depend on how much society can benefit from the economic potential of the newcomers without accentuating social tensions.

"Things change and we have to evolve according to feedback. It is difficult to define a static point," he said. "The Government needs to find a balancing point between how much we can accept them and the economic dynamism and fresh perspectives they bring."

He was speaking in an open dialogue called Singaporeans In Conversation with 150 students from local and overseas institutions.

The two-hour session saw him fielding questions ranging from the Singaporean identity to hot-button issues such as immigration and income inequality.

When a student asked how the average man in the street is faring with the influx of immigrants, Mr Chan said: "Those feeling the heat are the lower-end PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) in sectors like accountancy and IT where they face competition from China and India. It is not so much the bottom 20 percentile as those are the jobs that Singaporeans don't want to do."

He said immigration policies often entail a fine balancing act. "The country can open its doors, grab talent and then let them assimilate or it can wait till its infrastructure is ready and then open the door but risk missing opportunities."

On questions on the Singaporean identity, he listed factors that define it, from superficial visual cues like appearances to other factors like shared memories and culture. "Ultimately, it is that sense of allegiance or affinity which takes time to develop that defines identity."

In its seventh year, the dialogue was organised by students from local and overseas universities.

In response to jokes from the audience that Singaporeans are attacking the Government because the nation does not have a common enemy, Mr Chan said they should find a common cause to rally behind instead.

"Some political systems find an external common enemy to unite its people but that is not sustainable. Identity should be inclusive rather than exclusive," he said.

Participants, such as Ms Chua Ruo Mei, 26, who studied international relations at Brown University, were glad to have the chance to be involved in the dialogue. "But I feel the Government can be more consultative on issues like immigration, which is close to our hearts and affects many people," she said.