Moving to Singapore and Long term prospects

[movetosg2]

Hi Guys,

Currently I am living in Melbourne as PR and was thinking of looking for a job in Singapore and moving there. I was also trying to understand how long term prospects are there like getting a PR.
I've been reading a lot of posts around PR's getting rejected and time and again the race of the person comes into discussion. I've seen replies like "being filipino doesnt help" etc which is appalling to me. Even more concerning is how members say these things as if its a normal thing to say and nobody seems to care about these comments.

Is this true. Is Singapore PRs given based on race and not on the merits of the person applying it? How is the justification that is given in these cases?

Cheers,

[ecureilx]

Hi Guys,

Currently I am living in Melbourne as PR and was thinking of looking for a job in Singapore and moving there. I was also trying to understand how long term prospects are there like getting a PR.
I've been reading a lot of posts around PR's getting rejected and time and again the race of the person comes into discussion. I've seen replies like "being filipino doesnt help" etc which is appalling to me. Even more concerning is how members say these things as if its a normal thing to say and nobody seems to care about these comments.

Is this true. Is Singapore PRs given based on race and not on the merits of the person applying it? How is the justification that is given in these cases?

Cheers,

Where are you from, if I may ask?

Merits matter in Singapore unless you are from over represented races

What justification you are talking about?

[sundaymorningstaple]

This is not a western country, therefore justification is never needed. No laws here saying they have to give a position to the most qualified person. They can base their decision on all/any of the things that are forbidden to even put on a CV., Race, Religion, age, gender, sexual preferences, marital status, you name it. Unless you a #1 Chinese of Malaysian stock #2 Chinese of Indonesian Stock, or #3 Malay of Malaysian stock or #4 Chinese of PRC/Indian of Indian stock your chances are less than 1 percent unless you have a tertiary education gotten in a Western University (on site - not distance) or possibly an advanced degree from NTU or NUS here in Singapore you are at a distinct disadvantage. In other words, if you are not one of the four recognized races in Singapore, you really have to be really head & shoulders above all the rest.

It sucks, but it is what it is....

sms

[movetosg2]

Thanks for the replies guys.

It sucks, but it is what it is....

I guess every one living in Sg has accepted this fact and live on.

No laws here saying they have to give a position to the most qualified person.

But Im sure that there must be some law or something in constitution which preaches no discrimination based on race, color, religion, etc etc.

I am wondering if the majority of Singaporeans have the same mindsets and how it affects the life of people who are from these undesirable races in SG? Do they face discrimination/looked down upon in general life like in work, public places etc. Is it hard for them to get promotions at work and are the desirable race given priority?

[Barnsley]

But Im sure that there must be some law or something in constitution which preaches no discrimination based on race, color, religion, etc etc.

When you have to give these details (highlighted) to prospective employers and the Govt when applying for things , why do you think they are asked for?

As SMS says , it is what it is

You play by the rules of the game , no point trying to play the game with a different set of rules , you will lose.

[ecureilx]

Thanks for the replies guys.

It sucks, but it is what it is....

I guess every one living in Sg has accepted this fact and live on.

No laws here saying they have to give a position to the most qualified person.

But Im sure that there must be some law or something in constitution which preaches no discrimination based on race, color, religion, etc etc.

I am wondering if the majority of Singaporeans have the same mindsets and how it affects the life of people who are from these undesirable races in SG? Do they face discrimination/looked down upon in general life like in work, public places etc. Is it hard for them to get promotions at work and are the desirable race given priority?

Are you even real?

Welcome to Singapore!

Discrimination at work? How do you extrapolate Singapore govt policy to work place discrimination?

Where are you from again?

[ecureilx]

But Im sure that there must be some law or something in constitution which preaches no discrimination based on race, color, religion, etc etc.

When you have to give these details (highlighted) to prospective employers and the Govt when applying for things , why do you think they are asked for?

As SMS says , it is what it is

You play by the rules of the game , no point trying to play the game with a different set of rules , you will lose.

Heck, when you volunteer for some programmes, you need to furnish your race and religion ..

Choose N/A and you don't hear from the organisers.

When asked the reply was, because the govt said to collect it.

Never bothered to ask why the govt wants it, because, when your IC is keyed in, won't they know it all?

[bro75]

Thanks for the replies guys.

It sucks, but it is what it is....

I guess every one living in Sg has accepted this fact and live on.

No laws here saying they have to give a position to the most qualified person.

But Im sure that there must be some law or something in constitution which preaches no discrimination based on race, color, religion, etc etc.

I am wondering if the majority of Singaporeans have the same mindsets and how it affects the life of people who are from these undesirable races in SG? Do they face discrimination/looked down upon in general life like in work, public places etc. Is it hard for them to get promotions at work and are the desirable race given priority?

There is very little public racial discrimination in Singapore. At the workplace, your race plays almost no role in your advancement especially in large companies. Immigration is different though as the government uses race to filter applicants to maintain the current social demographics.

[ecureilx]

There is very little public racial discrimination in Singapore. At the workplace, your race plays almost no role in your advancement especially in large companies. Immigration is different though as the government uses race to filter applicants to maintain the current social demographics.

+1

And race statistics help plan HDB ethnic quota

[sundaymorningstaple]

There is very little public racial discrimination in Singapore. At the workplace, your race plays almost no role in your advancement especially in large companies. Immigration is different though as the government uses race to filter applicants to maintain the current social demographics.

Your response really gave me a chuckle, I must admit. The really large companies here are shipyard and construction companies and you cannot tell me they are not racists. Additionally, you do realize that 70% of Singapore's workforce work for SME's (Small & Medium Enterprises). And race plays a very big card in SMEs. I know. I spent 10 years as a headhunter here and the last dozen+ years as the HR & Finance Manager of 4 companies here. You will do the bidding of your MD or owners (which often are one and the same). It public, but you just don't see it. (You do, but don't want to rock the boat because you could lose your job doing so).

The stink during the last GE was in the Banking sector (IT side). They get an Expat Indian in and within two years the whole back end is nothing but Indians from the Subcon. You could be a PHD coder/programmer and a local Indian and you wouldn't even get through the door. Racism and Nationalism combined. Local raised holy hell about it and it was in all the media. As I said, it is what it is.....don't be afraid to call a spade a spade.

[bro75]

I understand where you are coming from SMS but I believe it is not that bad. Some individual executives or managers for sure will have their biases but as a whole Singapore is still a go-to place to further one's career and the level of discrimination is not a deal breaker for many people.

[sundaymorningstaple]

But that's not what you said in the beginning. There IS rampant racism here. Whether it's a deal breaker for a person is up to the individual. If there isn't racism obviously it's not a deal breaker. If it's rampant, you will not get in the door if you aren't the right flavour, but you won't know why.

[movetosg2]

In my opinion what "sundaymorningstaple" makes more sense than people saying there is no public racism in sg.

So I guess you could conclude that sg is an openly racist and they do not care. So if you can live with it and you have more pros and cons then move there, otherwise move on.

And race statistics help plan HDB ethnic quota

What does this mean? is Gov controlling where you live?

[bgd]

In my opinion what "sundaymorningstaple" makes more sense than people saying there is no public racism in sg.

So I guess you could conclude that sg is an openly racist and they do not care. So if you can live with it and you have more pros and cons then move there, otherwise move on.

And race statistics help plan HDB ethnic quota

What does this mean? is Gov controlling where you live?

It isn't openly racist but it's definitely ingrained. Your average tourist wouldn't notice but if you live here it exists.

HDB (public housing) has racial quotas in line with the racial mix in Singapore. So there are restrictions on where you can live. But not with condos - private housing. If you have the money you can live anywhere.

[x9200]

A racism is a discrimination based on the claim that some races are more superior than the other. Something like this is practically non-existent in Singapore in any open form (individuals are individuals). More over, as far as I know, the gov actively fights it and playing any racial card in every day life, could end up a disaster for one who would like to use it.

Now, what is in Singapore can be seen as some form of institutionalized discrimination, but as far as I can comprehend it, this has nothing to do with the races, but more with some cultural/political status-quo. Preferences towards Malaysian and Indonesian Chinese, are not because they are some anthropologically distinctive species superior as the race, but because they share some specific culture. If this was based on the race, than PRCs should be on the same level of preferences, and they are not.