Should there be a waiting period before new citizens are allowed to vote?
February 18th, 2010 | 
Author: OPINION
For the second time in a year, the electoral rolls are updated again to include the immigrants who have become citizens in 2009, the exact number of which remains unknown.
According to the National Population Secretariat, Singapore welcomed 20,153 new citizens in 2008, up from 17,334 in 2007 and 13,000 in 2006.
With the number of new citizens increasing yearly, we should expect the number of new citizens in 2009 to be higher than that of 2008.
Assuming we have 24,000 new citizens in 2009 based on the average of an increase of 4,000 yearly since 2007, we will have a total of 74,487 new citizens eligible to vote in the next general election expected to beheld this year.
Since new citizens are more likely to vote for the ruling party which gives them the opportunity to start life anew in Singapore, the figure is sufficient to tilt closely-fought contests, especially in single-seat wards in favor of the incumbent.
Is it fair to allow new citizens who have resided in Singapore for only a few years to determine the collective destiny of native Singaporeans who are born and bred in Singapore all their lives?
They may not have spent sufficient time here to enable them to make an informed decision on their futures.
In some states like South Carolina in the U.S.A., a minimum waiting period is imposed on new immigrants before they are allowed to vote in the state elections.
While there is no such stipulation for new citizens in Canada, Australia and France, these countries have tighter immigration criteria than Singapore.
For example, a foreign worker must reside in Australia for a minimum period of two years before one can apply for PR. Citizenships typically take more than 5 years after which the newcomers will be familiar with the political situation in their adopted homelands.
In contrast, many PRs in Singapore are able to obtain their citizenships in a short period of time, ranging from one to five years which is too short for them to gain an in-depth understanding of Singapore’s political system dominated by the ruling party for fifty continuous years.
The ruling party also has state resources at its disposal to reach out to the new immigrants such as grassroots organizations which have been busy organizing events to make them feel “welcomed” in Singapore.
With the state media censoring news about opposition parties, it will not be a surprise if the new citizens are not aware of their existence at all.
Naturally, they will vote for the party with the “lightning” logo which is ubiquitous throughout the HDB estates in Singapore.
Due to widespread frustration, anger and resentment against the ruling party, it is expected to lose some votes from native Singaporeans unhappy with its immigration and housing policies which can be “made up” easily by votes from the new citizens.
Of course it will be foolhardy to expect the ruling party to impose a waiting period for new citizens to vote which is detrimental to their interests.
Unless the swing towards the opposition is huge, the ruling party is expected to ride on the wave of support from the new citizens to romp home to another overwhelming victory at the next general election.
Posted in Opinion
TO ALL BELOVED NETCITIZENS,
NO VOTING FOR NEW SINGAPORE CITIZEN UNLESS THEY HAVE SERVED FULL TIME NECESSARY SERVICE. ITS A MUST AND NOT NEGOTIABLE. GO AND MAKE IT AN ISSUE WITH PAP.
THANK YOU
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I truly agree there should be a waiting period before any new citizen is allow to vote in a general election. But, the government will let us wait long long !! Vote this government out for not protecting the interests of its people.
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some new citizens will be so blur..
they want to vote for PAP but don’t know which is the right diagram…
and mark the box for the opposition..
Can happen like that??
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Definitely Yes!
In my opinion, they have to be Singaporeans for at least 5 years before every General Election. On top of volunteering at least 2 years to NGOs that help the needy since they won’t be doing NS. This way they will learn to understand the true socio-political issues of Singapore from the needy; and we don’t need to spend millions of $ to ‘integrate’ them.
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if native singaporeans don’t wake up, we can’t blame new citizens for voting in PAP when they are still in a minority
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Because they know we are angry.
Because they scared it will not hit the 66.6 percentile track record.
Because they know that New Media is gaining foothold.
Because they know if they win this time round, it will be another 5 years of peace for them, at our expense.
Because they want to ensure victory.
BECAUSE of this, CNA come out with an article on satisfaction of HDB, as differ from TR
BECAUSE they do these, we know for sure that their policies are screwing its own citizens, and they know it..
Its really up to the citizens to think and understand. But then again, there will always be staunch PAP supporter.
I never believed the concept of “one is always right”, But i believe that one will always be susceptible to mistakes and failures.
Do the right thing..
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Lets stick to the 10 yr period.
Uncle Pape..if you got no confident, never mind..get as many New Citizen as you want within 2 yrs, 3yrs,5 yrs…who cares.
But..pse stick to your own rules…10 yrs later..than they can vote.
Such thing oso must play “below table”…why talk abt No Corruption…you ardy showing you own ” Chow Kar Chiew “.
What hypocrites you are !!!
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21 years of residency before new citizen can vote. If they want fairness, go and serve national service first then talk about it !!!
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Even if no waiting period, which i suspect might be the case,
what would singaporeans do about it?
I suspect singaporeans are not bothered enough to know whether there is or is no waiting period.
and that is the mother of all problems. All every problem.
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@opinion
Cannot, as spoken by GKY?
Wait they run away or dun come how?
haha all BS
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A DEFINITE YES.
They must also be able to sing the National Anthem and recite the National Pledge.
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I would rather go for serving NS as a prerequisite for voting rather than waiting for 5 to 10 years for eligibility for new citizens to vote.
Why?
Because one can become a new citizen and yet work and live in their own homelands while taking all the advantage of SG citizenships like subsidized HDB and than renting it out.
Many from HK had been doing this sort of hanky panky in Canada.Their chidren stays for education while their parents after getting a Canadian citizenships return to HK to continue their businesses.
I had met and talked to a high roller PRC who once said he is here just to ‘buy’ a SG passport.
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again the fact lies with how many of the younger generation singaporeans can vote. ever since i can vote, i got 2 walkovers, prior to that already walking over. also how many new citizens are in these walkover areas. they may not be significant at all. of course given the govt efforts to push up its votes, with gerry mendering and they already know where the new citizens are. that can happen.
in fact with the right gerry mendering, even with a minority, the govt can still be voted in. as for gerry mendering, if my govt is not the expert, i don know who is.
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they must at least speak engish . We must be the only country in the world to accept such low end workers . what to do , garman long term goal is to win election and hack care of its local 80% citizens .
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Are the PAP that stupid to let singaporean take back their power, so with all the new comers, they are planning a strong percentages of winning the parliament sit. NOthing can stop them with the money and power is on their side. Singaporean are going to be rule for another 50years or more. THE PAP is sure win. ONLY all singaporean can vote them out only.
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If a true blue citizen can have his citizenship revoked after 10 continuous years living abroad without coming back for a visit then more stringent regulations should be in place for NEW citizen.
IMO this law was intended for just ONE person only when it was enforced.
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PAP will allow the new citizens to vote.
The later the election is held, the more new citizens are converted, the more mandate the incumbent government gets.
What is there to discuss beyond this? Discussion without action is pointless lei
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ha ha, there shoud be a cooling off period before new citizens can vote.
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When one is born here and has to wait for the age of eligibility which (i think) is 21, why should foreigners who have obtained citizenship be allowed to vote without any waiting period. it is only fair that they wait (3 to 5 years would suffice) excepting those who have served national service lar. Also, those who stay away from Singapore for a number of years (as mandated by the constitution, oops, no lar, ours is a sham, an ersatz one written for only PAP and always one that favours them) are disallowed voting or their citizenship(s) revoked, one can only, if new citizens are allowed to vote w/o a waiting period, conclude that it is self-serving and doublespeak and doubletalk lor from the incumbent govt.
However, knowing PAP for what it is all about – they would throw up falsities and mind-boggling reasons to allow new citizens to vote so as to perpetuate their stay in power. All these talk of replacing population – utter rubbish. Makes me one to puke cos it is EMPTY when the real intention is TO CHANGE THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IN THE FAVOUR OF THE RULING PARTY.
Well, if that is how it is going to be played out – simple lar – it is NOTHING MORE THAN PROSTITUTION!
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21 years
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If elections are free and fair, run by an independent elections commission and the media is not controlled by the government, sure the new citizens can start voting within 1 or 2 years.
But the reality is otherwise.
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how come no need cooling off period this one ha? PR can vote immediately once citizenship given overnite?
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How many of these new citizens upon granted citizenship will remain in Spore? As most of the new citizens are from China & India, do you think they will stay here or return to their homeland to start their own businesses since operating cost is so cheap there?
Take eg Gong Li, she got her Spore citizenship last year, BUT she does not reside in Spore but in HK.
Speculating that among new citizens, probably about 30 to 40% may have returned to their homelands for good. Getting Spore citizenship is just like buying insurance policy for them to ensure that they have safe passage to many visa free countries to do business. As Spore citizens residing overseas, it is NOT compulsory to vote, it becomes a choice, you can choose to vote or not. Most would not bother as their heart is not in it.
The new citizens do not make a significant ballpark figure to cause a swing if 30 to 40% of them return to their homelands.
Who counts are the native Sporeans who are the DAFT ones who continue to faithfully vote in the PAP. They never for once think beyond their own generation, they do not want to know what will happen to their kids, and their grandchildren if PAP continues to be the major party governing Spore. Their brains just cannot process it.
So yes, Spore will be destroyed by our own native Sporeans becos they fail to see that PAP has outlived its usefulness to its own people. Will they wake up? NO WAY. LKY is right all along, DAFT, DAFT to you native Sporeans.
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Papaya: Are u kidding – U want “freak” election results to appear???
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The problem is not with new citizens per se but the fact that citizenship is easy to get.
As such, the criteria to become citizens should be stringent.
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If cannot get enough PR to vote , the garman will allow anyone from any country to vote via the net . If vote for papaya , got chance to win $1000 . You can also vote as many times as possible but only for papaya . Lucky winners will be informed by post and can become singaporean citizens .
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btan, which of the 2 will change first?
The electoral system, or the policies on immigration/citizenship?
Perhaps neither?
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If i am a new citizen, i would vote for the party that has helped made my dream a reality and it wudnt take much to guess that most if not all will do the same as well. So, will we be flooded with new citizens soon? Hmm… a 6 million population would sound very nice, but more is better. ok.
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In the first place, there should be a minimum period of stay in S’pore before a foreigner is allowed to apply for PR or citizenship. This is the case for most developed countries.
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If opposition wins, i hope they change the rule to 10 years later than only they vote. Its for their own good. I care for them. I want them to learn enough about this place and system then they vote. I love them and care for them. So, i suggest this.
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The problem is not only with the government, it’s the people as well.
So you wanna blame, must blame both…
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this is political rape of our rights as natural-born citizens!!!!
I AM SO OUTRAGED I COULD THROW A CHAIR OR IMMOLATE SOMEBODY
TIME FOR REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!!
TAKE TO THE STREETS, SPREAD THE MESSAGE, VOTE PAP OUT
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cooling off period please…. this is necessary as they have not yet been sufficiently integrated into our society to be entrusted with such a serious responsibility…. give the $10 million integration fund time to work.
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In the first place……citizenship should not be given so quckly and easily…the PAP have cheapen and denigrated the importance and value of Singapore citizenship….shame on them.
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wait till the papies win again by using the new citizens effort, then after that these new bred will start to feel the pain and suffering of the local ones when the ruling party will start implementing all the new tax hikes to milk everyone, just you see, it will come true.
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keep in mind that this will be the last game for MM so he will vow to do just anything to keep his familees in power over $$$$$$$$$$$.
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NATIVE CITIZENS, please do the RIGHT thing on election day!!!
Otherwise, there will be more and more of these NEW CITIZENS on our shores!
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There should be a cooling off period of 10 years if they want to vote! Plus serve NS first!
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“Should there be a waiting period before new citizens are allowed to vote?”
case closed. I believe most singaporeans do not give a dime about it. its called apathy. a disease.
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Defintely, the new citizens are on a honeymoon period with the incumbent party, so the voting is not fair!! Must wait for 5 years, wait till honeymoon period over, before they can vote.
Our brillian PM who can think of cooling-off day cannot be so ignorant of this honeymoon effect right?
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Can Singapore get 24000 baby’s per year extra than normal B.Rate..Then you are getting excess singaporian’s and that rate have to continue another 20 to 30 years to get mature singaporian’s born,grown, and live in Singapore with Original Singapore way.
Till that Singapore need ex-pats. if this not happen stop wasting time blaming foreigners and governments. because IRAS smart enough to collect all the tax in time from all the foreigners. 5% 10% 15%. Up charge in schools,health etc etc..
What’s the secret that still foreigners can stay on hold?
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how shameless can some politicians get!
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PAP is dealing with a potential dangerous move in converting so many new citizens. Imagine the next GE suddenly there are PRC candidates for vying against the PAP, who will the new PRC citizens vote for?
After these PRC candidates get into the parliament, and if there enough of them, they might stage a coup and sell Singapore to China. What shall we do then?
PAP are like Wu San Gui (Ming/Qing dynasty), traitors who will sell Singapore for a bit of money. People will have to vote the PAP out since there is a lot of new citizens who will vote the PAP out of gratitude and fear of trouble.
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Alas Rainnix, I fear even the local-born PAP MPs will sell sinkapore out to China.
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Given the author’s analysis, shouldn’t political parties (other than PAP), as a strategic move, start focusing on new citizens. I’m sure there are issues that are close to their hearts as well.
If we can’t change the fact of the electoral roll, we should start focusing on how to get a piece of that pie and eat it.
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Uniquely Singapore – Where the lowliest of foreign workers are accorded more rank and privileges than a locally born citizen.
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Waiting a few years would be ideal as it is the best form of Cooling Off period.
When they are new, what kind of insights can they have?
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One of the tacts of the regime to increase their vote counts…
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