'Only Singaporean/PR need to apply'

notamused · Post by **notamused** » Sat, 10 Sep 2005 10:31 am

How can one get a job if the advertisements would only look for Singaporean/PR only? Singapore claims to have the least restrictive immigration rulings and yet it is not as transparent as the other countries with points system. I do want to work in Spore and is just getting nowhere. Any angels out there to help ?? Others care to share their experiences in their job search???

knnbeh · Post by **knnbeh** » Sat, 10 Sep 2005 1:15 pm

Dear Not,
Singapore has equal oppounity for all.
Just like any developed country, there is a need to protect jobs for their own citizens.
There are many jobs which preferred employing non-Singaporean.
for such job, Singaporean has the same complain as you: Why these post only for non-singaporean.!!!

I am not sure of your nation and education background, but believe me, here you have equal oppotunity.

Good Luck

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat, 10 Sep 2005 2:57 pm

Welcome to Singapore...probably the most racist country in the world. They don't believe in equal opportunity here and probably never will. And they call this place a "melting pot" where all nationalities get along?? Rubbish!! This is the only place in the world that I have lived where a Chinese national, who doesn't speak a word of english, has no formal education, can come here and be granted an immediate PR and be allowed to work. Then you take your highly qualified, Master degree educated, multi-lingual expat who happily comes here to work and gets turned down, all because the government wants to "limit" the amount of expats that are here. Nevermind they allow the Chinese to come in droves. This country is just an extension of China. The above is very true. I've seen it happen.

passingby · Post by **passingby** » Mon, 12 Sep 2005 8:41 am

To NotAmused, I can say the same things for Recruiters and companies in Australia and New Zealand. Have a look at those jobs forums and you'd read "Only people with the right to work in Australia may apply for this position. For advice on obtaining an Australian visa visit LIVE IN australia.com."

Now, isn't this similar to Singapore's companies stating "only Singaporean and Singaporean PR need to apply"?!

Post by **Strong Eagle** » Mon, 12 Sep 2005 10:00 am

notamused wrote:How can one get a job if the advertisements would only look for Singaporean/PR only? Singapore claims to have the least restrictive immigration rulings and yet it is not as transparent as the other countries with points system. I do want to work in Singapore and is just getting nowhere. Any angels out there to help ?? Others care to share their experiences in their job search???

It is really very simple. From the government perspective, they are torn between the twin needs of protecting local jobs from foreign applicants (Singapore would be completely overrun without some sort of restrictions on who can work here), and the need to attract needed skills and captial to keep the economy competitive with the rest of the world. So, you must be able to demonstrate that you are not taking jobs from Singaporeans and/or you are adding value to the economy before you can get in.

From the company perspective, hiring on an EP is a hassle. You have to pay fees, guarantee a bond, and demonstrate why you cannot find the talent you need locally. Hiring Singaporeans or PR is much easier, and only if they cannot find the needed talent locally will a company make application to hire an EP.

Singapore is actually quite liberal compared to other countries. Getting a work permit for the US is very difficult. Getting a work permit to work in EU countries is extremely difficult, close to impossible right now.

If you have a valuable skill set, then a company may offer you an EP. Otherwise, local talent makes more sense.

Cheers.

Xpaddy · Post by **Xpaddy** » Mon, 12 Sep 2005 10:11 am

How about those with: 'Mandarin speaking only'

Carpe Diem · Post by **Carpe Diem** » Mon, 12 Sep 2005 10:27 am

Xpaddy wrote:How about those with: 'Mandarin speaking only'

Well, well well....
By being "political correct" all the time we will end up in stupid situations!
I guess when such request is made by the employer, it means they need someone who can speak Mandarin??
Would you for example hire someone who doesn't speak Mandarin to look after your business in China?

Sorry, I believe the employer, since he is the one who is taking the risks to hire somebody, and has to pay him/her, has the right to decide on the profile and qualifications of candidates.

You are not obliged to apply for the job anyway.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon, 12 Sep 2005 10:41 am

Carpe Diem wrote:
Xpaddy wrote:How about those with: 'Mandarin speaking only'
Well, well well....
By being "political correct" all the time we will end up in stupid situations!
I guess when such request is made by the employer, it means they need someone who can speak Mandarin??
Would you for example hire someone who doesn't speak Mandarin to look after your business in China?

Sorry, I believe the employer, since he is the one who is taking the risks to hire somebody, and has to pay him/her, has the right to decide on the profile and qualifications of candidates.

You are not obliged to apply for the job anyway.

I wud hire sumone who cant speak mandarin to look after my business in China...as long as they speak Putonghua.

dot dot dot · Post by **dot dot dot** » Mon, 12 Sep 2005 3:33 pm

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to Singapore...probably the most racist country in the world. They don't believe in equal opportunity here and probably never will. And they call this place a "melting pot" where all nationalities get along?? Rubbish!! This is the only place in the world that I have lived where a Chinese national, who doesn't speak a word of english, has no formal education, can come here and be granted an immediate PR and be allowed to work. Then you take your highly qualified, Master degree educated, multi-lingual expat who happily comes here to work and gets turned down, all because the government wants to "limit" the amount of expats that are here. Nevermind they allow the Chinese to come in droves. This country is just an extension of China. The above is very true. I've seen it happen.

bit frustrated, aren't we?

I had my PR within 6 weeks, I am Dutch, not Chinese.

I guess it all comes down to individual differences, what do you think?
Maybe you should adjust your attitude?

Btw, statistics show there is more than 450.000 non-singaporeans working and living in Singapore, which is about 10% of the population. Seems quite 'healthy' to me.

Eric

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon, 12 Sep 2005 4:03 pm

It's strange when people who are looking for jobs blow up at you, a prospective employer, over the phone when they aren't what you're looking for. I had a guy shout at me for not specifying that I only wanted female workers. And the joke? SPH told me I couldn't discriminate between genders. I still had to tell applicants I only wanted female workers. I wouldn't hire a bad-tempered guy to serve my clients.

riversandlakes · Post by **riversandlakes** » Mon, 12 Sep 2005 8:41 pm

hmm, here a little me amongst the 450,000...

Hello, world!

Vaucluse · Post by **Vaucluse** » Tue, 13 Sep 2005 6:37 pm

. . . and a hello to you, little riversandlakes . . .

I think I ma having a problem deciphering some of the blatant and absolute bullsh!t here.
Every country has the right, nay - the responsibility, to look after their citizens first and foremost.
Singapore restrictive in their employment criteria?

Doubt it.

Do yourself a favour and look at the following countries an their working criteria and the possibility of landing a job there as a foreigner:

Malaysia
China
Japan
Korea
Australia
New Zealand
USA
Germany
France
UK
Iceland

oh, you get the idea, do you?

Here there is the possibility of arriving on a tourist visa and applying form jobs - getting one this way is definitely along shot, but you can do it. In almost every otehr country you cannot change your visa status once in-situ.

Singapore does not owe these people a living - it's bad enough that we are here.

brifusg · Post by **brifusg** » Tue, 13 Sep 2005 9:42 pm

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to Singapore...probably the most racist country in the world. They don't believe in equal opportunity here and probably never will. And they call this place a "melting pot" where all nationalities get along?? Rubbish!! This is the only place in the world that I have lived where a Chinese national, who doesn't speak a word of english, has no formal education, can come here and be granted an immediate PR and be allowed to work. Then you take your highly qualified, Master degree educated, multi-lingual expat who happily comes here to work and gets turned down, all because the government wants to "limit" the amount of expats that are here. Nevermind they allow the Chinese to come in droves. This country is just an extension of China. The above is very true. I've seen it happen.

I partly agree with you. However, what else we can expect when most of top leaders are all Chinese? If you don't speak Chinese, never ever think of coming to Singapore unless you're very talented. Believe me, those Chinese without any education and no single English word probably can do labour work (such as construction worker, sex worker, etc). Those Chinese with education, definitely, will have more opportunities than the same guys without Chinese. I think it's fair enough in Singapore where people prefer speaking Chinese most.

Singapore government is very smart, they only need talented foreigners or "low-class" foreigners. Don't come here if you think you aren't in any of these 2 classes.

Just my 2 cents

brifusg · Post by **brifusg** » Tue, 13 Sep 2005 9:50 pm

knnbeh wrote:
There are many jobs which preferred employing non-Singaporean.

Good Luck

Hi knnbeh,

Can you name a few? I'm quite curious about this type of job. And the next question is "Are these jobs really attractive?"

Vaucluse · Post by **Vaucluse** » Thu, 15 Sep 2005 3:07 pm

brifusg wrote:
knnbeh wrote:
There are many jobs which preferred employing non-Singaporean.

Good Luck
Hi knnbeh,

Can you name a few? I'm quite curious about this type of job. And the next question is "Are these jobs really attractive?"

Depends on what you see as being 'attractive'.

Singapore government is very smart, they only need talented foreigners or "low-class" foreigners. Don't come here if you think you aren't in any of these 2 classes

I guess you have just proven that Singapore has a more liberal work-immigration policy than most otehr countries by accepting 'low-class' workers. Well done . . . And now for the other foot . . .grgbnaadakk

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