Hi JunJun,
I will try to answer your original question about your chances for PR. Without knowing all the factors that the ICA likes to consider in granting PR, I'd say:
The positive:
- You have been working for four years
- You are MD of a successful business in Singapore
- Your business is the kind that can/does employ Singaporeans without the need for a degree
- You have paid 3 years of taxes
- You are young
The negative:
- You are Japanese and don't fit "desirable" demographic characteristics
- You are young and single and might be inclined to move on after a while
- Your salary is OK but not great
- You don't have a degree
Although Singapore seems to like to grant PR's to technical people with degrees, I still think you've got a good chance because you are running a business which may/might eventually become yours... in any event, it's a family business. It keeps you tied down in Singapore. You have a reason to stay.
My sense is also that having a small business is good... you are less likely to be made redundant by some large MNC when it cuts costs or moves operations. And again, running what is essentially your own business provides you an incentive to stay... it is less likely that you will be transferred out for a promotion.
I judge that the nature of your business is will also be considered to be beneficial to Singapore, even though it isn't a tech business. Not everyone in Singapore is a PMET and you offer "average" people a job. It's also the kind of business that will have staying power... the need for auto parts isn't going to go away.
Now, I could be completely wrong, and the only way to find out is to make application for PR and see what happens. Unlike a lot of people who post about PR on this board, you meet the minimum qualifications of time in country and minimum number of tax assessments. That's a positive right there.
If you do apply for PR, I'd make a point of putting together a business history and a business plan. It's what I did. If you can, emphasize the hiring of Singaporeans, and the use of Singaporean firms and banks in support of your business, for example, accounting firms, secretarial services, package delivery firms... you get the idea. The point is to strengthen your hand by showing that you know what you are doing, and that your business is viable, now and into the future.
Finally, ignore BBCWatcher's comments to you. He is simply wrong. You have a complete right to be a director in a company for which the EP has been issued to you. Your EP makes you ordinarily resident in Singapore. You don't need any other kind of rented director.
Also, ignore BBCWatcher's comments about being a "real director" versus a "Director of Sales". ACRA doesn't care what you call yourself... manager, CEO, president, chief grunt... if you have the primary management function within the company, you are a director for all purposes under the law.
Also, have a good laugh about BBCWatcher's comments about your work history, especially the part about "past 10 years of your Employment History." Clearly, at age 22, you graduated from high school at age 18 and have been working ever since. You don't need 10 years, and if you want you could list part time jobs as a youth to bolster yourself. Of course, if you've been a runner for the Yakuza since age 10, maybe BBCWatcher has a point.
Good luck... hope you are successful... let us know how things turn out.