Singapore woos immigrants to boost population

SINGAPORE, Mar 27 (Reuters) Millionaire entrepreneur Robert V Chandran is just the kind of man Singapore wants.

The India-born entrepreneur listed his marine fuel company Chemoil Energy Ltd in Singapore in 2006, created about 60 jobs in the city-state, and swapped his American passport for a Singaporean one.

Singapore's government is so worried about the low birth rate and greying population that it is turning to immigrants like Chandran to add another two million people to the island of 4.5 million over the next 40 to 50 years.

For ''new'' Singaporeans such as Chandran, who can afford to pick and choose where they live, the city-state has a lot to offer: clean air, affordable housing, good schools, reliable phone and internet connections, and an income tax rate of up to 20 percent that is one of the lowest in the region.

''Singapore has a great quality of life,'' Chandran, 57, told Reuters. ''Not to mention the taxes.'' Many countries -- such as Spain, Ireland and United Arab Emirates -- rely on immigration to boost a shrinking labour force. But Singapore's immigration plan is unique because it would boost the population by nearly 50 per cent, to the point where those born in Singapore would barely form a majority in their own country.

Such a huge influx of people is worrying many Singaporeans, who fear that they will lose their jobs to foreign immigrants.

They also worry about over-crowding and strained race relations.

Most of Singapore's 3.6 million citizens are themselves descendants of earlier waves of immigrants who fled civil war in China or followed the British in colonial times.

Ethnic Chinese make up 75 per cent of the population, ethnic Malays 14 per cent, Indians 9 percent and others 2 per cent.

But the island already has nearly one million foreigners, mostly low-skilled maids and construction workers from countries such as the Philippines, India and Thailand.

There are also some 110,000 professional expatriates, according to the Manpower Ministry, from Europe, North America, Australia, China and India -- and those are the ones that some Singaporeans see as a threat to local jobs.

Those hoping to become Singapore residents or citizens are judged on their qualifications, work experience and income, according to a checklist provided by the immigration authorities.

Given the kind of affluent foreigners the government wants to woo, Singaporeans worry they will become ''second-class citizens'' in their own country, at a time when many poorer Singaporeans already feel left behind because of a widening income gap.

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