Critical Reflection: My Academic Writing

The ES1102 module has been a short but fulfilling one. Initially, this module sounds like a chore with series of essay writing. But after a few weeks of lessons, what I had expected to be monotonous and boring turns out to be pretty engaging.

The start of this module was a bit rough. The first assignment was to submit an essay to our blog. It was a horrible experience. After a long time of not getting in touch with essay writing, I was just barely able to complete the assignment. It took me half a day just to pen my thoughts into an essay.

However, as more samples and exercises were given, writing becomes easier. There were class discussions to help us generate and collate our ideas as well as class exercises that were segmented into smaller portions to help us understand better. I particularly like the exercise to compare academic and non-academic writing. This exercise not only provides an example to how we should phrase our ideas, but also highlighted potential mistakes that we might make. All these activities have helped me build the foundation to academic writing. In the later half of the module, I realized that ideas started flowing in naturally as I am writing an essay and writing is no longer as tedious as it used to be.

All in all, this module has taught me a lot about academic writing. The knowledge that I have gained will definitely be useful and I will continue to exercise what I have learnt here in my other modules. This module is indeed tedious but worthwhile, because the skills that I have learnt here is not only applicable to this module but also for my future.

Singapore's immigration problem

Singapore has always relied on immigration to drive her economy, all the more so, in the face of low fertility rate and aging population. However, aside from acting as a stimulus to the economy, the large influx of immigrants also gives rise to social tensions and discord. Xenophobic comments can be easily found on the online platform, and news report highlighting frictions between Singaporeans and immigrants are published regularly. The social consequence brought about by migration, therefore, is severe and will further escalate to affect the society as a whole unless a common understanding is reached between the locals and immigrants. This essay will highlight the main problem of migration, the various impacts on the society and discuss some of the existing measures as well as to propose possible solutions to address the issue.

The main problem of migration is the inability to fully integrate the immigrants into the society. The large intake of immigrants has made integration of foreigners extremely difficult, and as a result the locals and immigrants were unable to understand each other. This in turn leads to cracks and tensions in the society. According to Lim (2015), the local population accused the foreigners for congestion and rising property prices. Lim added that this unhappiness materialized in General Election 2011. In fact, the discontent persists and oppositions made rallies centered on migration issues in the recent General Election 2015. It is apparent that citizens still consider immigrants as outsiders instead of a fellow citizen, which explains why the locals express hostility towards the immigrants. Citizens feel that the foreigners should not be entitled to the same rights as them such as housing and jobs. In addition to the dissent from the local population, the foreigners also have problem understanding the society and culture. A notable example would be the Anton Casey incident, where according to Fenn (2014), British banker Anton Casey inappropriately dubbed the commuters on the public transport as “poor people” on Facebook. He was then forced to flee the country after receiving death threats and losing his job. This shows that the issue with migration has been dragged on for so long that it is now at its tipping point. A simple misstep from a lack of understanding of the culture can result in angry backlash from the society. Clearly, failure in social integration of immigrants is causing social tensions and issues.

To ease the tensions, the government has implemented several schemes such as the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF). According to Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the FCF comprise of new measures to ensure that companies consider Singaporeans fairly for employment opportunities. This framework was implemented to prevent ‘hiring-own-kind’ or hiring practices that discriminate against Singaporeans. This framework, however, does not guarantee that all Singaporeans get employed. In the case that a more qualified immigrant competes for the same job, the immigrant will get employed. However, as the Singaporean does not know that the immigrant has better qualifications, he will still feel discriminated. Hence, ill feelings towards the immigrants still exist, which does not help to reduce or ease the social tensions.

Another scheme that has been implemented is the Singapore Citizenship Journey (SCJ). According to the National Integration Council, the SCJ is a mandatory two months program for prospective citizens to have greater understanding of the Singapore’s history, culture and norms, as well as to interact with the local communities. This program aims to orientate and integrate the new citizens into the society; however, it overlooked the low participation rate from Singaporeans. As there is no channel for communication between new citizens and the locals, it is highly unlikely that both parties can understand each other. This means that it is only a matter of time before social frictions occur.

To successfully integrate the immigrants, education is the key. Singaporeans have to understand that the city-state’s economy needs immigrants, and being intolerant of foreigners could spell disaster for Singapore. Tolerance and an accepting attitude can be instilled, just like how racial harmony was inculcated. The government can implement school programs to raise awareness or to ingrain certain mindset. Currently, the education system mandates Community Involvement Programme (CIP), which is to impart the mindset of giving back to the community. Activities such as litter picking are done to raise awareness about the littering situation in Singapore, newspapers collection are done to inform the importance of recycling, and trips to old folks’ homes are organized to encourage volunteerism. The CIP could be extended to tackle the migration issue, by encouraging interaction and understanding. However, one-sided effort from the locals will not be enough. The government can also make community involvement compulsory for immigrants. In addition, prospective citizens should be discouraged to send their children to international school, as there is no better way to integrate into the society than to experience local lifestyle.

In conclusion, the problem that comes with migration is a long-standing issue and will need time to eradicate the root of the problem, starting with education at its core. This essay has discussed the underlying reason for social frictions and discord, which is the inability to integrate immigrants. Despite the fact that several measures has been implemented, the social frictions still exist as these measures largely overlooked the importance of social integration. It is, hence, imperative that the government takes actions to educate both locals and immigrants to have a tolerant and accepting attitude. And for that to be successful, bi-directional efforts are required from locals and immigrants to be open-minded and actively participate in community activities.

Reference(s):

http://thediplomat.com/2014/02/singapores-foreigner-problem/

http://www.ipscommons.sg/immigration-in-singapore-changing-reactions-and-rhetoric/

http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/fair-consideration-framework

https://app.nationalintegrationcouncil.org.sg/SingaporeCitizenshipJourney.aspx

Reader Response: Singapore expat’s surge fuels economic fears

In the article “Singapore expat’s surge fuels economic fears”, Barta and Wright (2010) discusses the pros and cons of Singapore’s openness to foreigners, as well as the various opinions from different groups of people regarding this issue. The benefits discussed include compensating for the low birth rate, and by the principle of supply and demand, stimulating economic growth as the population increases. However, the influx of immigrants also brought about undesirable side effects such as increasing the cost of living, overcrowding and widening the income gap. Citizens from all walks of life highlighted an array of problems from different areas; manual workers raise concerns regarding the decreasing low-skilled worker pay, while a local university professor finds that “relying on foreign labor to help boost growth is unsustainable”. On the other hand, there is also a portion of the community that is against curbing immigration. Specifically, factory owners and real-estate developers who are concerned about the supply of manpower as Singaporeans are unlikely to take on menial jobs. Due to a myriad of potential problems, Barta and Wright concludes that curbing immigration is not a viable solution for now.

Barta and Wright effectively shows that despite a common consensus that high immigration rate has negative impact on Singapore’s economy, the potential decline on economic growth make abolishing immigration unthinkable. This argument, however, overlooks the social consequences brought about by the influx of foreigners such as protest against the White Population Paper and the increasing emigration rate.

Barta and Wright weighs the pros and cons of curbing immigration solely by analyzing the economic consequences. However, they overlooked social consequences such as the rally against the White Population Paper. According to Yahoo News (2013), 4,000 Singaporeans turned up to show their disapproval for the population prediction of 6.9 million. In a highly disciplined society like Singapore, such rallies are unheard of. The fact that the locals had to undertake such a drastic measure clearly shows their unhappiness, and this discontent may evolve into discord among the natives and the new citizens, or worse still, political instability as the locals loses confidence in the government.

Barta and Wright also did not take into consideration the increasing emigration rate. According to West (2014), in the article “Singapore’s Migration Dilemma”, many high-skilled Singaporean citizens migrate overseas in pursuit of better career prospects as they feel that foreigners limit their opportunities by taking their jobs. Indeed, this creates a vicious cycle known as brain drain as Singapore loses more valuable professionals; more immigrants are required to fill the gaps created by the diminishing supply of manpower, which in turn contributes to the problem of jobs getting stolen by foreign talent, which, once again, causes Singaporeans to leave in search of better opportunities. It is plain to see that this problem is diluting the Singaporean culture.

The society forms the core of a nation, and any discussions on national issues should not exclude social impacts. Social and economic problems have the same weightage when determining the next course of action for a nation. The pros and cons of both aspects must be carefully considered with the broader picture in mind before any conclusion can be made.

Reference(s):

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703414504575001302415117966

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/-yir2013--population-white-paper-triggers-nationwide-debate-101840966.html

http://www.asiancenturyinstitute.com/migration/200-singapore-s-migration-dilemmas

Reader Response: Singapore's Migration Dilemmas

In the article “Singapore’s Migration Dilemmas”, West (2014) discusses several challenges faced by the migration policy. Despite bringing rapid development to the country’s economy, the policy is not favored by its citizens. Discontent shows up in the form of emigration and ill treatment towards the foreigners, which in turn lead to a demand of better quality of life by the migrant workers. As various complications surface, Singapore is undoubtedly drawing close to the juncture for critical decision making for her future development.

By citing numerous examples, West successfully proves that the migration policy is indeed a doubled-edged sword - pushing Singapore’s economy to prosper at the expense of social accord.

West illustrated the effectiveness of the migration policy by drawing comparison between Singapore and Japan, one of the most affluent countries in Asia, and attributes the causation of the city-state’s higher GDP per capita to the policy. Without natural resources, it is well known that Singapore capitalizes on her talent pool to encourage economic development. Undeniably, the immigrants play an important part in establishing Singapore’s economic strength.

However, West notes that the growing population complicates the integration of migrants. He cited incidents such as the “protest against the White Paper’s prediction”, “residential hedge”, and from the migrant workers, a “strike protesting discriminatory wages”. Clearly, the locals and foreigners could not reach a mutual understanding. As a beneficiary of the state-run transport system, I too have felt the impact of the population explosion. During the peak hour, it is inevitable to miss a train or two due to the congestion. The situation was further aggravated with the numerous train disruptions. It is hence easy to relate to the frustration that most citizens feel.

It is clear that the migration policy is necessary for economic growth albeit creating social frictions. But fine-tuning is required to find the sweet spot to fulfill both the locals and immigrants needs, without too much casualties on both monetary and social aspect.

Reference:
Singapore's Migration Dilemmas (2014)