PAP MP Matthias Yao: Singapore must welcome “everybody”
January 11th, 2010 | 
Author: Written by Our Correspondent
In yet another sign that the ruling party is completely out of touch with the ground, PAP MP and Mayor of South East District Mr Matthias Yao became the latest leader to parrot his party’s stance and urged Singaporeans to accept and welcome foreigners.
In an interview with Channel News Asia, Mr Yao was quoted as saying:
“Singapore must welcome everybody, just as Singapore welcomed our own forefathers. My suggestion is welcome our new friends and citizens and for the new citizens, feel quickly a part of Singapore and contribute as much as they can to the economy and neighbourhood.”
It is disingenuous for Mr Yao to compare our situation now with the past when Singapore was a British colony and the British had to import large number of cheap foreign labor from other countries to keep its economy which is heavily dependent on external trade going.
Now that we have been a nation for 44 years, a delicate balance must be achieved between safeguarding the interests of locals while welcoming more foreigners into the country at the same time.
As a result of the ruling party’s liberal immigration policy which had saw the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore for the past few years, the nation’s demographics was altered radically.
Foreigners now make up 36 per cent of the population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 per cent, there is a growing proportion of new citizens who are not born here in Singapore.
At the rate the ruling party is “mass-importing” foreigners from elsewhere, true blue Singaporeans may find themselves in the minority in no time.
While Singaporeans understand the need to welcome foreigners to boost the nation’s flagging birth rates, what they are perturbed with is the quality of the new citizens we are accepting which resemble more of uncouth peasants than top-notch professionals.
A Gallup poll done in July last year reveals that the United States is the top destination for college students from mainland China and not Singapore.
Despite Singapore’s best efforts to woo the Chinese to study and work here, it does not even feature in the top 5 immigration destinations for them.
The United States accepts thousands of Chinese immigrants each year, many of whom are world class scientists, engineers, doctors, artists and respected professionals from other fields.
In contrast, the majority of Chinese immigrants in Singapore hail from the poorer inland provinces and many are unable to speak a single word of English. There are few newcomers from the affluent coastal cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin.
Recent media reports reveal that even cleaners, masseurs, beauticians and construction workers are given Singapore PRs and citizenship.
Are we so desperate of people that we have to welcome these “rejects” from other countries?
Social integration and assimilation takes time and it will not happen overnight simply by pouring money into it. The Japanese Americans took one or two generations to become fully naturalized American citizens.
In the case of the United States, the new immigrants have no choice but to force themselves to adapt to a new environment as they remain a minority compared to the native whites.
The increasing large number of Chinese and Indian immigrants flooding into Singapore will make it more difficult for them to integrate into Singapore society as they tend to mix within their own social circles.
With Singapore’s new found national identity being eroded away by the ruling party’s reckless and short-sighted immigration policies, we may end up becoming an economic “colony” for the ruling elite and rich foreigners.
Posted in Headlines
39 Responses to “PAP MP Matthias Yao: Singapore must welcome “everybody””
Loading ...
Allan Ooi AWARE Chee Soon Juan Chiam See Tong Claire Lee David Widjaja DBS Dr Allan Ooi Dr Silviu Ionescu Dr Vivian Balakrishnan Foyce Le Xuan highnote5 Hong Lim Park Jack Lin Xinli Jack Neo Jack Neo affair Jack Neo scandal Josie Lau Josie Lau Meng Lee Kenneth Jeyaretnam Lee Kuan Yew Lehman brothers Lighthouse Evangelism MAS minibonds Miss Singapore World NTU stabbing PAP Pastor Rony Tan Ris Low Romanian diplomat in hit-and-run Rony Tan S-League silviu ionescu Singapore Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Tan Kin Lian Thio Su Mien Tiger Woods affair Tong Kok Wai Top 8 Vivian Balakrishnan Wendy Chong Y O G Youth Olympic Games
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
YA,MAYBE HE CAN GO AND WELCOME BACK DR SILVIU?
How out-of-touch can the MIW be ??
PAP’s policy : Foreigners = 1st… Singapore citizens = 2nd.
This is the only country in the world where an elected Government takes its voters for granted and treats them as second class citizens.
The title of World’s Highest Paid Government Ministers must have gotten into their head and make them hallucinate.
Practically ALL the MIW Ministers are paid more than the combined annual salaries of :
US President Obama : USD 400 K
French President Sarkozy : USD 318 K
German Chancellor Merkel : USD 303 K
British PM Brown : USD 279 K
Australian PM Ruud : USD 229 K
Japanese PM Hatoyama : USD 243 K
* Lee Hsien Loong : S$ 3.8 million = USD 2,730,000
Mah Bow Tan : S$ 2,7 million = USD 1,940,000
Lim Swee Say : S$ 2.6 million = USD 1,870,000
ps. Don’t forget. Singaporeans DID NOT agree to their obscene salaries. These self-serving MIW Ministers gave themselves a pay increase.. 4 months after the 2006 GE.
http://www.yeocheowtong.com/Salaries.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/world/asia/09iht-sing.3.5200498.html
Hong Kong welcomes the billionaires and we welcome the coolies. In Hong Kong the immigrants provide jobs; in Singapore, they take away our jobs. Be your own judge which government is doing its job.
Forget it guys, the MiWs have their heads stuck so high up their own asses that only by storming their ivory towers to throw them down will they ever remove their heads from their asses. And there’s onlu one way to throw them out from their ivory towers: vote wisely.
Look like we have one option only :
Vote PAP OUT !!!
Nothing wrong with welcoming foreigners I have no problem with that at all but its very very different from asking them to share your family wealth and jewels.
We will welcome all foreigners but all we want is that they are not allowed to enjoy the same benefits for Citizens after-all they do not share the same responsibilities like serving NS and not pulling out our CPF when they like it etc etc
http://utopia8787.blogspot.com/2010/01/pap-please-stop-screwing-singapore.html
the PAP will lose the election this year for sure. why?
instead of nipping problems in the bud, they miss the whole point.
the worries of the voters are not into “integration” of these foreigners(new citizens included), but the social and economical problems created by the latter which makes integration impossible.
instead of focusing on the REAL ISSUES like how to ease traffic congestions, overcrowding public transport, overstressed infrastrutures, lack of places in universities, the PAP choose to brainwash the people.
crime rate went up anecdotally because of the influx of foreigners. hell, we don’t even have infamous gruesome murders and “foreign” crimes in the past, what Huang Na(Malaysian kill China girl), recent S-Pass Nigerian kill Singaporean woman, Black Foreigners scamming Singapore women of sex and money, Singapore girls and Ah Guas molested in Parties, Foreigners with Fake Degrees stealing jobs from Singaporeans, Sri Lankan Maid kill Indian worker, Indian National attempting to kill his ex-gf’s father…
many of these foreigners exhibit anti-social behaviors like walking on roads(Little India), talking loudly in their donno-wtf-langugage, speaking in their preferred Mother Tongue to Singaporeans(hello this is Singapore, not China and India), selling tissue paper and street basking(yes even our poor face foreign competition too)
you think thats bad? here are some more:
-all of Singapore’s massage parlours are manned by Foreigners(PRs and New Citizens included) and the rising statistics of adulteries and broken marriages because of Foreigners
-Singaporeans are facing retrenchments at an earlier age(40+) because of Cheaper Better Faster Foreigners
-HDB prices went up because of housing for Foreigners(and Mah Bow Tan still says HDB is affordable)
-more Singaporeans are begging in the street/driving taxi/selling tissue because of Foreigners stealing jobs
-University Places going to F9-English Foreigners instead of eligible NS-serving Singaporeans
-wages depressed and longer working hours because of Cheaper Better Faster Foreigners
what integration? $10 Million Integration Fund for Foreigners? more business for grassroot leaders the likes of Sear Hock Rong?
instead of helping our elderly, poor and disabled, the PAP spend our money helping PRs to find jobs and Foreigners to integrate. I wouldn’t be here making noise should PAP has truly taken care of the lower echelons and putting Singaporeans first as PM Lee claimed.
Singaporeans first? more like Foreigners first.
help the poor and disabled? grovel and beg on your knees for CDCs first
PAP please stop screwing Singapore using our money.
vote for Change, vote the PAP out
p.s. i don’t know we have a Mayor in Singapore before this report…and 5 of them! so how much are we paying these Mayors each and what do we pay them for? pay them to serve foreigners?
Vote PAP Out!
This kind of patchwork, piece-meal instant-solution policy by PAP will only create more problems for SG and S’poreans.
—————————————–
We have instant noodles for convenience. We have instant trees everywhere to speed up the process of growth. Never mind if some branches fell off during a big thunderstorm as the double quick time solution is unnatural and will have its weaknesses. The damages are minimum, a few cars dented or an unlucky person hit by a branch.
Our instant tree formula works in many fields. We want gardens we have instant gardens. We want flats we have instant flats, or nearly, just three or four years. We want footballers, we have footballers. We want talents we have talents. We want to increase our population we just import and lo and behold, we have our five million and maybe 10 million in double quick time.
But our nation-building process just does not seem to work after 45 years. We are still a ctiy state, not so much as a nation. Many cynics will brand this place as a hotel. Why is that so? Why is it that after 45 years, we are still struggling to be one country, one people and one nation? The instant tree formula does not work and cannot work in nation building. In hotel building yes. All super guests will come and go and no one will blink an eyelid. But when citizens, those who have been here for a generation of more are uprooting, it is reason for concern.
Then again, to some quarters, no sweat, replace with new and better or hungrier ones. It is just like changing a shirt. So now we are expediting our new citizenship process. Many more are welcomed with open arms. After 45 years, when we are struggling to be one people, how many more years will it take with the dilution? The brew will be diluted and needs more time to brew again.
And we have new citizens and instant NS men. Another instant tree formula. How fast and well will the new citzens bind themselves as one of us? We may have a peaceful environment and time is on our side. The lessons of the Americans when their own soldiers turn their weapons against their own men cannot be taken lightly. Our families are small and every son is all we had. oWe lost two good sns in Australia to a new NS man.
Nation building and gelling a people to be one cannot be simply solved by the instant tree formula. Nation building is not masak masak. It is a serious process and takes a long time to mature. Don’t be too happy with the numbers coming from the instant tree formula. The numbers could be cancerous.
http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/my-singapore-news/more-haste-less-speed
Aiyoh! I re-emphasize million-times again, that’s precisely why we urgently need strong oppositions in the parliament to counter balance the presumptuous and ungrateful million-dollar miw!
I repeat again, when critical issues like:
sky-rocketing hdb flats (be it resale or new purchase from hdb);
foreign “talents” or mediocre substitutes for local citizens to make up the numbers; (this problem had been created by the DOM during the 60s and 70s, my dear)
or national service of born and bred citizens versus profusion employment of foreign talents and cheap laborers;
or under unemployment of true-blue-citizens versus relentless import of foreign “slaves”;
or allocation of school placements for the proliferation of “foreign-weapons-of-mass-procreations” versus true-blue-Singaporean’s off-springs,
or innocuous financial rebates (such as gst rebates, etc) to “pure-blood” citizens versus unemployment due to misplacement by cheaper prs and fts,
etc, etc,
all these die and death, bread and butter national issues, will the sycophantic cronies of the DOM stand up for the born and bred citizens to cast objection votes against the betrayal policies set-up to marginalize the main-street-men, will the mps of the miw voice against the party whip and risk their exorbitant annual remuneration packages to “lobby” for the ordinary Singaporeans they suppose to represent?
At the end of the day, individual’s achievement on financial gain and social status prevail over national dignity! So, be honest with yourselves can the well rewarded mps of the miw truly represent the main-street-men to strive for justice and equality for the nation! For yourselves to judge!
So; vote for the opposition, vote for your future; vote for the opposition, vote for the change to this soulless and mercenary society; vote for the opposition, vote for the hopes of dawn that will prevail over sun-set; my dear.
“Now that we have been a nation for 44 years, a delicate balance must be achieved between safeguarding the interests of locals while welcoming more foreigners into the country at the same time.”
CORRECTION – we are not yet a nation. Don’t you read the dear leader’s speeches. He has long believed that the generations of spreans who helped built the country are unworthy, and is replacing us all with cheap, obedient labour from 3rd world countries.
Never heard anything from this guy for the past dunno how long. Now he speaks. is it almost time for election?
It is the Government’s simplest solution with NO AVAILABLE EXPLANATION OF VALIDITY to the most complex challenges facing this country.
They obviously COMPLETELY run out of ideas.
DO WE STILL WANT THEM AROUND ANYMORE???
My cousin was retrenched and now works as a supervisor in a local factory for $1.3k a month before CPF deductions. He has two school going children and an aged mother to feed. Perhaps the foreign talent in his factory can integrate by donating portion of their salaries to my cousin so that he can feed his family. They can also help him complete his NS obligations. If Matthias Yao can achieve this for my cousin and other Singaporeans in similar situations, I don’t think Singaporeans have any problems welcoming everybody.
PAP welcomes everybody!
So Singaporeans, you are no more needed!
Singaporeans, why are you so naive. These messages are not meant for us. It is meant for the FTs. PAP is indirectly telling them, they will be the priority against true born Singaporeans. The FTs will be better off if they vote for PAP.
LKY & his cronies know most Singaporeans will not vote for them in subsequent elections. Therefore they are concentrating on these new citizens to win votes.
They will use all kind of dirty ways to remain in power & for their self benefits.
This election, true born Singaporeans who loves Singapore have to vote them out otherwise we will truly suffer for the next 5 years.
Dear Matthias Yao
You obviously have not done a reality on yourself lately. You are a Mayor and you have obviously have a constituency that you are looking after. Have you conducted a survey as to how many older Singaporeans (many of them educated and well qualified) in your constituency have suffered since the large influx of foreign workers into Singapore competing with us on unequal terms?
I recommend you see Halimah Yacob to ahve a better understanding.
We do not know why Channel new Asia even bothers to interview you. You are way past the PAP expiry date. If you had been useful, the PAP would have made you a minister.
It is best you retire – faster, cheaper and better leave the Government and Lim Swee say.
Dear Matthias Yao
You obviously have not done a reality on yourself lately. You are a Mayor and you have obviously have a constituency that you are looking after. Have you conducted a survey as to how many older Singaporeans (many of them educated and well qualified) in your constituency have suffered since the large influx of foreign workers into Singapore competing with us on unequal terms?
I recommend you see Halimah Yacob to have a better understanding.
We do not know why Channel new Asia even bothers to interview you. You are way past the PAP expiry date. If you had been useful, the PAP would have made you a minister.
It is best you retire – faster, cheaper and better leave the Government and Lim Swee say.
As usual,the MIW never listen to the people,they are only interested in lecturing us,only want us to listen to them,they are always right and we are always wrong.
When they make a mistake never apologise or admit it,when others make a mistake they will harp on it over the TV,Radio,Internet,and ST.
This is the kind of people we pay millions of dollars every year to run our lives.
I think it is high time we put a stop to all this.Vote the PAP Out once and for all,no other way.
i think all these miw must set a good example themselves by first welcoming “everyone” especially OPPOSTION into “their” mini-singapore at Parliament House before they try to tell singapore citzens to welcome foreigners to Singapore.
first things,first.
let’s see whether they set the example this coming election?
so,singaporeans,just go ahead and follow the instruction of our smart MIW by welcoming more OPPOSITION into Parliament.
you have their mandate already to “welcome EVERYONE!”
it is an irony that the fan of eugenics – LKY is now a supporter of ultra-liberal immigration policy. shows you what a 双头蛇 he is
Wow, alex tan, I like the tone of your post! Every word draws BLOOD! Keep up the good postings and the emotions
en route to the coming election,I’m sure many here will agree totally with what you have voiced out and many more are clapping their hands ‘cos you have just said the things
which they want to say,but never have the chance to do it!!
for a govt that exploits its people especially its poor, that’s a boastful statement to make.
lhl has no ideas, just want to copy what the states people say
Doesn’t A*STAR scholars and researchers have a solution for this? How much money is spent to resolve the labour problem?
I totally agree & feel the same way about such exploitation. Our problems are brushed aside as we are deem to be the 2nd class citizens.
My worry is can we actually vote the PAP out? I hate this foreigners, especially when they are given their PR’s and citizenship like ‘lelong’. But then it occured to me that it’s no point of us complaining of their arrival as it’s clear that they are here to stay (temporarily). Definitely their vote is for the PAP. So why don’t we try to reach out to these people ourselves?
@PAP on the way to Decline on Mon, 11th Jan 2010 3:07 pm quoted is true. They know that they are on the way to decline. We know that these FT are not here to stay. It’s just the votes are needed by the PAP. So why can’t we apply the same technique and reach out to them?
“Because you basically won a close re-election, your first task is to unify the city. And it’s done not with words but with actions, by reaching out, to the supporters of your opponent as well as to reassure your own supporters. ”
By Marc Morial
When you are on a flight, you are always told during the safety briefing, that you are suppose to strap the oxygen mask to yourself first before even attending to your beloved child. For obvious reasons ( even against natural instinct as a parent) that you would need take care of yourself first before you can have the ability to attend to anyone else.
Sure, we can welcome everyone, but first we must cater to our own needs and we need to make sure we are well and good enough before even thinking of sharing our non-existent personal ‘wealth’ with strangers! Unless of course, they are coming here to share the burden of many of our debts… excluding our very well paid ministers and top 5% obviously.
Labour and service? Many of us can do that ourselves, but it is unhealthy if we are competing who is willing to take the lowest wage. So, it is very hard to share that, but hey, our ruling party is on your side since they love creating false and exploitive economy.
Wealth? Sure we can share that, once we can find oil at the bottom of many of our ridiculously over priced flats, and we get to OWN it.
Debt? Please come and help us out, and oh yeah, bring water.
A*star scholars are mostly foreigners. Singaporeans are rejected, then say the scholarships have few Singaporean takers.
A* no good
Every dictator is an enemy of freedom, an opponent of law.
@ayama 11th Jan 2010 3:54 pm
“This is the kind of people we pay millions of dollars every year to run our lives.”
This is the kind of people we pay millions of dollars every year to ruin our lives.
Never heard of this MP before. How come any Tom, dick and Harry can become PAP MP and get $$?
There are no real access to statistic and info regarding the actual number of true blue SG,that are unemployed and have difficulty in securing another job.
There is also no assess to info or data of those True blue SG who manages to find another job but with a lower pay.
Can TR dedicate a team or section to collet such info.?
I am sure many SG who are jobless or now hve to draw less pay would be willing to provide their info and tough experiences.
TR could also collect this data and “Shaft IT” to Mdm Harimau or Lim Say Say …so that perhaps..indirectly..these jobless SG may suddenly be able to find New,Promising and well paid jobs..in the name of “face saving” and “debunking” the truth.
We collect data….we also help jobless SGreans.
The line between foreign workers, PR and new citizens are getting blurred to the extent that it has become more and more confusing.
“The government needed to control foreign workers in Singapore to balance their employment against long-term national interests. The prolonged use of foreign workers could have adverse economic, social and political effects.” These are the words of our labor ministries in 1996. Today the effect has already slipped into this country giving much social and political effects. It is a very sad story.
Absorbing PR and new citizens by the truckload will actually boost our GDP and increase our MIW salaries. By welcoming these people into our society, we are helping the MIW to make more money. The money in the form of very high salaries go right into their pocket while we die is our business. In the figure of GDP, they have done a great job for our society but in fact there is no gain in real term for the native man on the street. PRs are actually citizens of another country, given privilege paper to tap on our economy.
As for new citizens, they are more like a part of us because they will have to give up their other nationality. Hopefully there is no loop hole where they get to be citizens of two countries otherwise we will be fooled of the worst kind. These new citizens are not as yet proven to be loyal subject of the country and there is no need to welcome them like one big family. Given time when they speak and behave just like anyone of us, naturally they will be family.
The whole idea of big brother rewarding themselves based on the growth of GDP is nothing but a fallacy. Their salaries are a catalyst in destroying the whole social fabric of this society. They propagate that we must not have any blame game allowing their gain game is the only best way to go.
Losing money, depriving native citizens of the prosperity of the nation, repressing our words and action and exorbitant sex up taxing is burdening the people of Singapore. Instead of giving encouragement to the people with promise of change, they turn the table by calling us not hard driving and not hard striving, demoralizing us to the most extreme.
What a heap of jokers when they slacked and blundered, we can only wonder, no one has the honor to step up to take responsibility instead they wield their power to shut the opposition mumble. A blip upward in number, they would be quick to say they are our country big saver and their cronies worship them with vigor and push these joker salaries to a new big number. Unfortunately this jokes makes us all suffer and how I wish the people can come out in even greater number to smack down some of these jokers to bring our house back to the right order.
Countrymen, please stand up for Singapore and do the best you can. However please tell Matty to sit down and shut up to stop him from singing out of tune.
To – Matthias Yao – LEARN TO TAKE CARE OF SINGAPOREANS FIRST
CALLING Matthias Yao
CALLING Matthias Yao
LEARN TO TAKE CARE OF SINGAPOREANS FIRST
GO HELP THE BELOW CASES.
So many cases of SINGAPOREANS being ‘LEFT BEHIND’.
MPs and Government Departments REFUSING TO REPLY OR ANSWER QUERIES.
Below are a few [TIP OF THE ICEBERG],
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC091126-0000059/Direct-lift-access-not-always-possible–HDB
http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/YourSay/YourDiscussionCorner/tabid/117/ptid/414/page/2147483647/threadid/2848/forumtype/posts/Default.aspx
[Page 17]
http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/YourSay/YourDiscussionCorner/tabid/117/ptid/414/page/2147483647/threadid/2427/forumtype/posts/Default.aspx
[Page 36]
To ; Matthias Yao – LEARN TO TAKE CARE OF SINGAPOREANS FIRST
MORE CASES.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/09/30/town-council-took-unemployed-man-to-court-for-sc-arrears/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/12/28/hdb-reply-to-ms-aurora-longs-letter-on-conversion-of-two-hdb-flats-in-toa-payoh-into-worker-dorms/comment-page-1/#comment-53148
http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/11/30/eunos-residents-protest-against-hdbs-lift-upgrading-programme/
hi there
1. well, i just heard some arse’s behind farting hot airs through its rear end man!
2. same old same old tune, nothing changes, nothing new.
3. pay millions, lost billion and singing nothing but same old.
4. worthless elites!
i wonder if they are aware, that very competent and well qualified singaporeans in middle and upper management are losing their jobs to foreign talent. we are creating glass ceilings for our own people, all because we still have a colonialistic hangover that white men are superior. i have seen many caucasian expats, who come in full of talk but cannot do the walk, sidelining local singaporeans, either by pushing them into a parking lot or out of the company.
i don’t think anyone has ever sat down and thought deeply about the repurcussion of our open door policies. singaporeans are losing out increasingly, in all areas of their lives, from education to employment opportunities. and we have to pay through our noses just to survive everyday. its getting harder for us and our children to even get through the next 25 years….
Weclome everybody how can not fair leh if you welcome everybody you must also welcome somebody anybody and nobody at the same time, here is the reason why.
This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done
Mr Yao, how about standing up for local Singaporeans for once and make us feel welcomed in our homeland?
If not then you have overstayed your welcome and should be voted out of office
VOTE FOR CHANGE, VOTE PAP OUT, VOTE OPPOSITION
.
You all must believe what the man said.
IGNORE WHAT’S IN THE BRACKET [….. ].
HE DINT SAY THAT.
.
.
“ No One Will Be Left Behind “ [ Just Left Aside To Die ] http://news.asiaone.com/News/NDP+Rally+2007/NDP+Rally+2007.html
“ Singaporeans Come First For Govt “ [ “Top Priority" To Be Left Behind ] http://news.asiaone.com/News/the%2BStraits%2BTimes/Story/A1Story20100101-189132.html