The Negative Calculus of Foreign Talent

Shocking Fact: Only 1.7% of foreigners working in Singapore pay taxes.

The rest of the 98.3% are here freeloading off our economic infrastructure to earn a living without contributing a cent to the public purse.

These freeloaders are leeching off our transportation, healthcare, housing, education and national defence. Not only are they not paying a cent in taxes, they are the cause of massive negative externalities the economy and society.

The overloading of the transportation system is causing it to break down with alarming regularity, disrupting economic activity and being a drag on productivity.

The overloading of the housing system is causing living space to be more expensive, smaller and to be built in poorer locations than before.

Hospital queues and waiting times are longer, medical wards are packed, doctors are more stressed out, and healthcare costs are skyrocketing.

Foreign scholars are the worst in the negative calculus. They cost $175,000 a pop to subsidise their education. On top of that they deny locals a place in university. The taxes they pay after graduation hardly come close to paying for their education, and many of them leave for greener pastures at the first whiff of a better opportunity.

And don't even get me started about the cost of national defence. The personal cost ot each Singaporean male to defend this country can't even come close to the so-called benefits generated by foreign talent.

So tell me, how is this madness of an immigration policy justified, given that it scores a big fat F when you put the sums together?

In Defence of 'Xenophobia'

Much has been made about Singapore's growing aversion to the foreigners. Many PAP politicians have been quoted 'warning' Singaporeans against xenophobia, and various bloggers are writing about how Singaporeans are getting unreasonable in their attitudes towards foreigners.

But hold on a minute, are Singaporeans really xenophobic? Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange." Let's examine the behaviour of foreigners in Singapore and ask ourselves if there is reason to be fearful of foreigners.

Singapore in 2050 - A Chinese Protectorate

This coming August, Singapore will celebrate 47 years as a nation state. Many of us take for granted Singapore's autonomy as a sovereign nation. But in this post, I explain why I think that in 47 years time, there is a very significant probability that Singapore will no longer be an autonomous territory.

The last 15 years of economic and social mismanagement by the PAP Government have set the foundations for our eventual decline, and given the PAP's continued stranglehold over parliament and public policy, I fear that the necessary actions to arrest the dangerous prospects facing our society will not be implemented quickly or effectively enough.