Singapore Immigration - Prime Minister insists foreign workers essential

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said that whilst high levels of immigration have caused some problems in Singapore, that overall, immigration is good for Singapore.

Speaking recently to reporters after recording a Chinese language forum at MediaCorp the Prime Minister had the following to say:

"First, we'll continue to do what we think is the right thing for Singapore. We have to adjust it, we have to soften it where we can, we have to take measures to take care of the consequences," said Mr Lee.

"So you want the foreign workers but at the same time you don't want too many and an uncontrolled flow, which can cause problems," he added. "Politics is about choices, government is about making decisions, and accepting these trade-offs."

The Singapore Peoples Action Party PAP which has dominated Singapore politics since 1963 has pursued a liberal pro-immigration policy. Fourty percent of Singapore's population were born overseas. This compares with the situation in 1990 when about fourteen percent of Singapore's population was foreign born.