Singapore Expats

Hi people! Can you people contribute some constructive answers on this question?: What is the underlying benefit/reason that people would want to get citizenship?

This question seems easy, but it requires quite a bit of thought in my opinion. Feel free to post!

Wow, your first line sounds very unfriendly. Is it for a school project?

vickievicvic wrote:can you people contribute some constructive answers on this question?: What is the underlying benefit/reason that people would want to get citizenship?

This question seems easy, but it requires quite a bit of thought in my opinion. Feel free to post!

This has been discussed many times before. For your ease and leisure reading type "Singapore Citizenship" into the Search box and it will give you a lot of information and viewpoints both pro and con.

sms

joop wrote:Wow, your first line sounds very unfriendly. Is it for a school project?

oops i apologize! not really, it is for a discussion which is to be presented in class

Personally, I can't see any benefits other than some small savings here and there, eg:

a) you no longer have to pay for re-entry permits - very small saving
b) you avoid paying higher fees when using public health system (the higher fees introduced by government as a ploy solely for the purpose of making citizenship 'attractive')

A big saving is in leasing HDB property, as a citizen if you lease a flat in the same area (or within 2km) as your parents you get $30000 grant. Downside, most new citizens parents are still overseas in their country of birth, making it a rather empty incentive for some.

Disadvantages:
My wife who is a citizen has a much higher % of her pay going to cpf than I do as a PR.

A huge disadvantage is that Singapore doesn't allow duel citizenship. In other words, you have to give up the citizenship of your country when you accept Singaporean citizenship.

It's a disadvantage when you put into perspective what the advantages are of having a citizenship in other countries outside Singapore, for example, where I'm from, Australia, there is a welfare system in place so that if you are too elderly to work or too sick, or unemployed, the government will pay you an allowance to survive. Singapore has no such welfare system.

They also will pay a subsidy towards your housing cost if you are low income.

There is subsidised healthcare system whereby the poor or pensioners see the doctor for free, and get their medicines at a concession price of $4.60.

Pensioners get 50% off taxi fares, all public transport and one free travel on interstate train per year. 50% discount also when registering a vehicle. As well as other discounts on other expenses such as gas, electricity, phone.

I can go on, but you get the picture...

Splatted wrote:Disadvantages:
My wife who is a citizen has a much higher % of her pay going to cpf than I do as a PR.

This is a temporary thing. CPF rates are graduated for the first 3 years so that you pay less than a citizen but after that citizen and PR rates are the same.

If Singapore permitted dual citizenship I would think about it; otherwise unwilling to give up other citizenships.

Good Morning SE.

Dual-Citizenship? In your case it would need to be changed to Multi-Citizenship wouldn't it?

But Yeah. That's always been my reality check. Quarter of a century here but I'm not giving up the Blue Passport for a single red one.

I thank you all for your excellent replies ! I think i have phrased my question wrongly. I think what i wanted to ask is, why do people value citizenship? The underlying reason that is, is it for protection, human rights etc.?

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Good Morning SE.

Dual-Citizenship? In your case it would need to be changed to Multi-Citizenship wouldn't it?

But Yeah. That's always been my reality check. Quarter of a century here but I'm not giving up the Blue Passport for a single red one.

Yes, I would have to give up British, Canadian, and US citzenship in order to become a Singapore citizen. Not the best of trades.

Even for a one-on-one change I seriously can't answer the question, "Why will I do that?"

vickievicvic wrote:I thank you all for your excellent replies ! I think i have phrased my question wrongly. I think what i wanted to ask is, why do people value citizenship? The underlying reason that is, is it for protection, human rights etc.?

The most likely answer will be nothing other than a sense of "belonging" somewhere. Nobody wants to be "stateless".

Oh, you don't own citizenship.You cannot buy and sell citizenship. It is conferred on you by the government where you were born provided that at least one parent was also born there.

vickievicvic wrote:I thank you all for your excellent replies ! I think i have phrased my question wrongly. I think what i wanted to ask is, why do people value citizenship? The underlying reason that is, is it for protection, human rights etc.?

Hi Vickie,

If you don't mind me saying so, I really think that for your own sake you should try to do some of your own thinking rather than hoping to get some easy answers here. Although it's a good idea to post on an expat website, perhaps you could list down what you think are the advantages based on your own analysis, then ask people here to comment on whether your conclusions are accurate.

Not trying to be difficult, just worried that you'll be at a disadvantage when applying for university or a job and competing against people around the world who have learnt to think for themselves.

vickievicvic wrote:I thank you all for your excellent replies ! I think i have phrased my question wrongly. I think what i wanted to ask is, why do people value citizenship? The underlying reason that is, is it for protection, human rights etc.?

Why do they value "citizenship"? Or why do they value "Singapore Citizenship"? For the former, others have answered. No one wants to be stateless.

For the latter, Singapore citizenship is not terribly appealing if you already hold US, Australian, New Zealand, or European citizenship (along with a handful of others). The reason is that these countries already enable a person to travel to a maximum number of countries with a minimum amount of hassle and citizen protection abroad is good.

On the other hand, if you are coming from developing countries Singapore citizenship can be a godsend. It is a well respected country and passport. It protects its citizens. Singaporeans can travel anywhere with about the same requirements as any of the countries mentioned above.

So, while I am certainly not putting down any other country, the fact is that you are in better shape, internationally, with a Singapore passport than one from say... Myanmar, Iraq, Tanzania, Pakistan, etc.

Of course, there is one other thing. If you will make Singapore your permanent home then there is something to be said for loyalty. While I find it unfortunate that a number of democratic principles are absent in Singapore, it is also a very good place to live for everything else that it is... many US cities could learn much from how Singapore does it.

I became a US citizen because I ended up in the US and wanted to be a full part of it. I have my other citizenships because the US did not force me to renounce them. Were Singapore to do the same thing I would most certainly consider citizenship here. It is a good place.

Hmm, dual-citizenship. Does any Asian country (AU, NZ excluded hehe) allow this?

riversandlakes wrote:Hmm, dual-citizenship. Does any Asian country (AU, NZ excluded hehe) allow this?

I think Hong Kong, but HK/Macau anyway are very special cases.

It's just that the Chinese Government won't recognise the non-Chinese citizenship within the borders of China.