By Tracy Quek
4 April 2004
Straits Times

Poor job prospects the major push factor now for those quitting S'pore

WHEN the going gets tough, Singaporeans want out.

For most quitting or planning to quit Singapore, it boils down to job prospects and job security, said five migration consultants.

And Australia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand are the favoured lands of promise.

Housewife An Tan, 31, is typical. She sees a bleak future for her two children aged three and five: 'There are signs that things are not so great here any more. When my kids are looking for jobs, I don't want them knocking on 200 doors and getting each one slammed in their face.'

Ageism is another big push factor. Discrimination against older people at the workplace has brought a flood of calls to Mr Phillip Sim, director of migration consultancy NTrust.

His office receives hundreds of calls every month. 'Many are older Singaporeans. They say they want a place that won't mind hiring older workers and that will give them more career opportunities,' he said.

The despair over work is a far cry from the search of a life less hectic that drove thousands away in the pre-1997 years.

Since the Asian financial crisis, Singaporeans have been hit by an almost unceasing wave of layoffs, shrinking pay and warnings about the economic threat of China and India. It appears to have undermined the confidence of many in the economic future of Singapore, said migration consultants such as Mr Joshua Koh, director of Agate Migration Centre.

He receives up to 20 enquiries a day, twice what he got when he started three years ago. Half are shaken by the gloomy job market.

'We get people in their 30s, holding good jobs but terribly worried about restructuring and retrenchment.

'They apply for a visa as insurance, so if anything were to happen, they can get out fast,' he said.

Last year, Australia gave permanent residency to 2,656 Singaporeans, up from 2,064 in 2002 and 1,786 the year before. Canada gave 991 people who were staying here residency visas last year, compared to 666 in 2001.

For the US, the number jumped from 671 in 2000 to 1,036 in 2002. With New Zealand, 369 got PR last year, up from 278 in 2002. The year before, PR was given to 437 people.

Six Singaporeans waiting to be PRs in Australia told The Sunday Times they will keep their citizenship.

Mr F. Mohamad, 31, wants to leave because he is feeling worn from the struggle to make a living since he lost his job as an IT technician in 2001. He began a small IT firm, but it's hard to find a niche market here not dominated by a big player, he said.

'Australia is a bigger market and not so saturated. If I have it so tough, I can't imagine how things will be for my children.' He hopes to go in three years with his wife, an office administrator, 26, and their two-year-old son.

Like others, he is not persuaded to stay by the revival in the economy. Latest official figures show unemployment falling to 4.7 per cent towards the end of last year, better than the 5.5 per cent predicted earlier.

The spike in migration numbers does not surprise sociologist Alfred Choi. 'Talk of increased competition from China, India, restructuring the economy, banking on bio-medical sciences and other wake-up calls from the Government have invariably scared some people. They feel out of touch with the new environment,' he said.

Agreeing, Bukit Timah MP Wang Kai Yuen, head of the Government's Feedback Unit, said the outflow 'is to be expected'.

While society can act to minimise the push factors, ultimately, emigration remains a personal decision, he said.

Mr Y.T. Lim, 30, embodies this. A former lawyer, he moved to Sydney to do his masters in public health. He said: 'I want out of the rat race. In Singapore, you have to work so hard to save up a retirement sum. By the time you manage to save that amount, will you be in any shape to enjoy it?'.