CURBING the number of foreign talents who are prepared to immigrate here would be counter-productive to Singapore's long-term interests, said Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng on Monday.

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Wong Kan Seng is saying that FTs are more productive than S'poreans.

#2 - Yup! Ministers included!!!

honestly, like to know how many PR/new citizens have approached our MPs for financial help.

Strange!!! 'S'poreans come first' but he kept stressing the importance of FTs. Hmm......

Next GE lets vote one or two ministers out. See whether the rest will be more humble.

#6 - No! No! No! I don't think it'll happen lah!
If my memory didn't fail me, I remember MBT had lost a few times in previous GEs before but he's now still a strong as ever Minister, ok!

'This is reflected in the way our policies are crafted, from healthcare and housing to education and other social policies. While we welcome immigrants to our shores, our own people are always closest to our hearts.

I remembered the healthcare and housing part differently.

At one stage, there was no difference between locals and non locals in healthcare. Until some damage on the ground was reported upwards and PM had to say will treat the locals better.

For those local couples earning $8k pm, their choice of buying their first home direct from HDB was denied. They had to buy either from the resale market or to get a private property.

So much for being Singaporeans first.

I think Mr Wong KS seems to have blurred the line that separates support for total restriction of foreign talent into Singapore and the curbing of influx of immigrants.

I agree that total restriction of foreign talent is unhealthy for Singapore. But the question is: Are we at the other extreme? That is, are we too lax in our immigration policies, calling any foreigner a foreign talent and allowing them to compete for jobs that could be handled by locals?

Yes, we should not stop immigration completely. But, I believe the flow of immigrants into Singapore should be controlled according to the prevailing economic situation here. If we have more jobless people on the streets, does it even make sense to flood our streets with more foreign job-seekers, increasing the number of jobless people in Singapore?

Our economists and city-planning officers should do some kind of economic forecast on how many foreign talent are needed in a given year, so that we can allow the needed number of foreign talent into the country. This forecast may not be accurate, but it is better than having no controls at all when it comes to immigration.

Already, Britain is controlling the number of people being allowed to migrate to the country. How about Singapore?

Including the new ones.