Population n People

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Aug 1, 2008    
Population grows to 4.59 million
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SINGAPORE'S population now stands at 4.59 million.

It grew by almost 200,000 between 2006 and last year, with foreigners accounting for the bulk of the increase.

The number of foreigners - professionals, workers, students and their family members - rose 14.9 per cent over 2006 to hit 1,005,500 in June last year.

It was the first time the population of foreigners here has crossed the one-million mark.

The population of Singaporeans and permanent residents also rose, to about 3.58 million, up from 3.52 million in 2006.

The figures were given in the Yearbook of Statistics 2008, released yesterday.

Women outnumber men slightly - 1.80 million to 1.77 million.

The statistics also showed a marginal increase in the number of births and marriages.

The number of births last year went up by over 1,100 to 39,490.

The number of marriages was up 260 from 2006.

The 23,966 marriages registered were the highest number in five years.

TAN WEIZHEN

read it via : http://forums.delphiforums.com/sammyboymod/messages?msg=186122.1

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Foreign workers to reduce 
PM expects numbers to stabilise or drop in most sectors because of slowing economy


   
[SIZE="1"]PM Lee speaking to members of the Fuchun Malay Activity Executive Committee after his dialogue with Malay grassroots leaders. During the dialogue, he touched on the Government's policy on the ethnic balance of the population, saying drastic changes are not carried out as they are unsettling for people. -- ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM [/SIZE]



SOME Malay grassroots leaders worry that the large pool of foreign workers in Singapore will compete with lowly skilled Malays for scarce jobs as economic growth slows.

They are also concerned over a possible shift in the population's ethnic balance, given the large number of Indian immigrants.

These were among the issues that came up at Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's dialogue yesterday with 350 Malay grassroots leaders.

He acknowledged that the number of foreigners here had gone up very quickly in the past two years.

'Maybe a bit too fast, and then they become very visible. You see them in Sheng Siong, in supermarkets. So people feel unsettled,' he said.

But now that economic growth has slowed, Mr Lee said he expects the number of foreign workers to stabilise or fall in most sectors.

He also reiterated the Government's consistent stand that foreigners help the economy and Singaporeans.

They do jobs that many Singaporeans shun.

They help keep jobs here because their lower wages mean lower costs for companies. To protect Singaporeans, there are quotas in place.

In factories, for example, the Government requires employers to hire one Singaporean for every foreign worker.

Mr Lee said the wrong thing to do in the current economic climate would be to tell companies that they cannot hire foreign workers.

Many firms are already in financial difficulties, he noted.

'Costs will go up and the company may close. So even the...Singapore workers who now have jobs will lose them.' he said.

'So, I don't think it's that simple - you send out the foreign workers and the Singaporeans will take over the jobs and you get paid more.

'I think our interest is to protect the Singaporeans and look after the Singaporeans, but we must do it intelligently, we cannot just react and just do something without thinking.'

Instead, people should upgrade themselves through training programmes so they can find better jobs, he said.

The Workforce Development Agency and the labour union are preparing a new training programme to help such workers, which will be released soon.

On the ethnic balance of the population, Mr Lee said that overall, the proportion of the different races has not changed much.

Although there is Chinese immigration, the birth rate of the Chinese is low. Hence, the share of Chinese in the population has not gone up.

Currently, Chinese make up 74.7 per cent of the population, while the proportion of Malays stands at 14 per cent.

Likewise, Indians now make up 8.9 per cent of the population, up from 7.9 per cent in 2000.

'If you take all things into account, the immigration and population replacement rates, the change is not very drastic.'

The Government's policy is not to have major changes in population distribution as it is unsettling for people.

'So, we cannot guarantee that the Malay proportion is 15.125 per cent, as from year to year it goes up and down a bit, but big changes are not our policy,' he said.

He added that he hoped well-to-do educated professionals would have more children, while those with fewer resources should have fewer children and focus on giving them the best opportunities in life.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_300227.html

via : http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=350016

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Jan 20, 2009
Foreigners in S'pore
200,000 may leave

SINGAPORE'S population may shrink in the next two years as 'sizeable' job losses amid the city- state's deepest recession force 200,000 foreigners to leave, Credit Suisse Group said in a report on Tuesday.

About 300,000 jobs may be lost by 2010,[COLOR="Red"] two-thirds of which are held by foreigners and permanent residents[/COLOR], economists Cem Karacadag and Kun Lung Wu wrote in the report, according to Bloomberg news.

The number of people in Singapore may fall to 4.68 million by 2010 from 4.84 million now, Credit Suisse said.

Companies in export-dependent Singapore are firing workers as demand for goods and services ebb. More than 10,000 people were retrenched last year and a worsening economy may result in job losses tripling in 2009, reaching numbers not seen since the Asian financial crisis a decade ago, the government said.

'The contraction in exports and output and consolidation in financial and business services could lead to sizeable job losses, which, in turn, may drive as many as 200,000 foreigners and permanent residents out of Singapore,' the economists said.

'These levels of job losses and population decline would be unprecedented.'

[COLOR="Red"]Singapore's economy may shrink 2.8 per cent this year, Credit Suisse predicts, making it the nation's worst annual contraction in its 43-year history.[/COLOR] The government says gross domestic product may decline as much as 2 per cent.

Last week, the National Wages Council, which represents government, employers and union groups, advised companies affected by the deepening economic slump to freeze or cut pay rather than fire workers.

Fewer births

About 30,000 workers were retrenched in 1998 and some 26,000 lost their jobs in the 2001 downturn, acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong said in Parliament on Monday.

Immigration is a key component of Singapore's population strategy, as incentives offered since 1987 to arrest a declining birth rate by offering tax breaks, subsidies and cash bonuses failed. Singapore, a quarter the size of Rhode Island, has no natural resources and the government relies on the skills of its populace to generate economic growth.

The nation's population jumped 17.6 per cent in the five years to June 2008, and foreigners made up three-quarters of the increase, the Credit Suisse report said. Foreigners and permanent residents filled 61 per cent, or 484,700, of the 796,000 jobs created between 2004 and the third quarter of 2008, the analysts estimated.

Singapore's employers added more than 435,000 workers to their payrolls in the seven quarters to September 2008, according to the Ministry of Manpower.

'Harsh assumptions'

'As harsh as our assumptions may seem, they only imply that the economy gives up all of the jobs it created in 2008 and a portion of the new jobs in 2007,' the economists wrote.

About 160,000 positions in the services industry may be lost, while manufacturers may fire 100,000 workers, Credit Suisse predicts. The construction industry may cut 40,000 workers, it said.

'The potential drop in employment and population would have far-reaching implications for the economy,' wrote Credit Suisse analysts Sean Quek and Kwee Hong Ching. 'Private consumption could contract in both 2009 and 2010.'

The unemployment rate, at 2.2 per cent as of September 2008, may rise to 5.6 per cent by 2010, the highest in more than two decades, they said.

Job cuts rose 'significantly' last quarter, and both unemployment and layoffs are expected to be 'substantially higher' in 2009, the National Wages Council said last week.

via : http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2242365

[Kelly]

*clap clap* MRT, hospital, foodcourt, shopping mall won't be so crowded anymore.

And if I lost my job also, less one ppl.

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Recession-hit Singapore still needs foreigners



SINGAPORE — Singapore, which relies heavily on foreign workers, will still need overseas labor despite a recession, a minister said in comments released Tuesday.

With Singapore in recession, the inflow of foreign workers will slow, Acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong said in a written response to an MP’s question in parliament.

"However, even in a slow-down, our economy still needs foreign workers. Many of them take on jobs that Singaporeans may not want to do or are unable to fill, like in construction and marine," Mr. Gan said.

Almost 25% of Singapore’s population were estimated to be non-resident foreigners last year, the statistics department says.

Mr. Gan said that foreign workers allowed Singapore companies to remain globally competitive and contributed to keeping jobs within the country.

"If companies become uncompetitive in Singapore, they may decide to relocate to other countries and we will lose more jobs. This will be a lose-lose outcome," he said.

Singapore in October became the first Asian economy to enter recession.

Singapore will for the first time tap its vast financial reserves to help fight what is likely its worst-ever recession, the finance minister said yesterday. The reserves will fund $3.26 billion worth of relief measures. — AFP

Source: http://www.bworldonline.com/BW012309/content.php?id=086

via : http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=383751

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

he has a 'gold' word... can reap more with more foreigners, since they won't get tax incentives.

[zuoom]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1007789/1/.html

Singaporean 3.2m
PR 0.53m
FW 1.25m

3.2m vs 1.78m

out of 3 people we see 1 is FT/FW in this island.
Song bo!

via : http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2515037

http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/population2009.pdf



PR population increased 11.5% over the past yr, very soon they will become s'poreans :s8:

SG citizenship only increased 1.1%! :eek:
and don't forget that 3.2mil of s'pore citizens also consists of unknown number of 'new citizens'.

govt is very efficient to churn out another 1-2mil of worker bees over the past few yrs

[zuoom]

via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=39249

[tags] PR PRs Permanent residents

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make it 5.08 million. 

What a joke? While the Government claims Singapore population growth slows, people cannot even get standing space in trains and buses!!! And the situation is getting worse by the day. :confused:

www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1078173/1/.html

Singapore population growth slows
Posted: 31 August 2010 1333 hrs
 
SINGAPORE: The Department of Statistics (DOS) said Singapore registered a lower population growth this year due to the slower growth in the number of permanent residents and non-residents.

In the advance release of the 2010 Population Census, DOS said Singapore's total population grew 1.8 per cent to 5.08 million as at end June.

The number of permanent residents grew by 1.5 per cent, down from at least six per cent growth annually, between 2005 and 2009.

Growth in the number of non-residents also slowed to 4.1 per cent, down from the peaks of 15 per cent in 2007 and 19 per cent in 2008.

The number of Singapore citizens increased by 0.9 per cent between 2009 and 2010.

DOS said the resident population has grown older, with the median age going up to 37.4 years this year from 34 years in 2000.

The inflow of permanent residents has reduced the pace of ageing.

In 2010, the old-age support ratio for the resident population was 8.2, higher than the old-age support ratio of 7.2 for the citizen population.

The old-age ratio is the number of persons aged 15 to 64 years per elderly persons aged 65 years and over.

The decline in the old-age support ratio among the resident population between 2000 and 2010 was also slower than that for the citizen population.

The Chinese formed 74 per cent of the resident population, while the Malays and Indians took up 13 per cent and 9.2 per cent of the population share.

Bedok has the largest group of Singapore residents with 294,500, followed by Jurong West with 267,500 and Tampines with 261,700.

Sengkang recorded the largest growth in the number of Singapore residents, with an increase of 105,800 Singapore residents between 2000 and 2010.

Bedok also had the largest number of elderly residents aged 65 years and over.

Other relatively older estates such as Bukit Merah and Ang Mo Kio had larger populations of elderly residents.

The advance report is the first release of data from the 2010 Population Census.

-CNA/wk

S’pore population tops five million, one in three are foreigners
By Faris – August 31st, 2010Email  Facebook  Twitter  Print



Agence France-Presse

SINGAPORE, Tuesday 31 August 2010 (AFP) – Singapore’s population crossed five million this year and more than a third of the total are foreigners, the statistics department said Tuesday.

The city-state’s total population stood at 5.08 million people at the end of June, it said in a statement.

Of the number, 3.23 million are citizens, 540,000 are foreigners with permanent residency and 1.3 million are foreign professionals and workers along with their dependents, resulting in a 36% share for foreigners in the general population.

The population growth rate was 1.8% in 2010, reflecting a slowdown in the number of permanent residents and foreign workers being admitted into the country, the department said.

The number of permanent residents rose by 1.5%, down from at least 6% growth per year between 2005 and 2009, it said.

Growth in the number of non-residents, or those on professional employment passes and shorter-term work permits, slowed to 4.1%, off from peaks of 15% in 2007 and 19% in 2008, it added.

Because Singaporeans have not been producing enough babies, the government had for years rolled out the welcome mat for foreigners, whose numbers rose drastically during the economic boom from 2004 to 2007.

But after the 2008 global financial crisis, the government has taken a fresh look at its open-door policy following complaints from citizens that foreigners are competing for jobs, housing and medical care.

Singapore, which polls well in global surveys for quality of life, is also showing symptoms of urban stress, with rush-hour traffic gridlock, packed subway trains and recent cases of flash floods in some areas.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong acknowledged the problems in a speech on Sunday and vowed to review immigration policies, cap new foreign hiring this year and enhance benefits accorded to citizens.

Thank you for the incredible, amazing response to Yahoo!’s Fit-To-Post blog so far. We continue to welcome your views and comments but please don’t abuse this opportunity. Be nice. Be courteous. Be sensible. Respect the feelings of others and refrain from using any kind of offensive language.

via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=72536

[zuoom]

Aug 31, 2010
S'pore population at 5.08m

SINGAPORE's population now stands at 5.08 million as at end-June, according to official data released by the Singapore Department of Statistics on Tuesday.

There were 3.77 million residents, of whom 3.23 million were Singapore citizens and 540,000 permanent residents.

Singapore's total population growth registered a lower growth rate of 1.8 per cent, reflecting the slower growth in the number of permanent residents and non-residents over the past year. The number of permanent residents grew by 1.5 per cent in 2010, down from at least 6 per cent growth per year between 2005 and 2009. Growth in the number of non-residents also slowed to 4.1 per cent in 2010, down from the peaks of 15 per cent in 2007 and 19 per cent in 2008.

Meanwhile, the number of Singapore citizens grew by 0.9 per cent between 2009 and 2010, comparable to the annual growth rate of 0.8 to 1.1 per cent registered between 2005 and 2009.

Singapore's resident population grew older as well, with the median age of the resident population rising from 34.0 in 2000 to 37.4 this year.

However, the data shows that the inflow of permanent residents 'slowed' the pace of ageing.

The old-age support ratio (number of persons aged 15-64 years per elderly aged 65 years and over) for the resident population is 8.2 for this year, higher than the old-age support ratio of 7.2 for the citizen population. The decline in the old-age support ratio among the resident population between 2000 and 2010 was also slower than that for the citizen population.

As for ethnic composition, Chinese formed 74 per cent of the resident population this year, while the Malays and Indians took up 13 per cent and 9.2 per cent of the population share respectively.

via : http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2900223
source : http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/census2010.html

5.08 - 3.77 = 1.31
*3.23 citizen, 0.54 PR = 3.77

that's the number of non-PR here. most highly mobile. in and out in a flash.

[zuoom]

and add 1. (The One)

Jet Li confirms he's Singaporean
http://www.celicasg.org/index.php/topic,7212.msg84260.html#msg84260

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Foreign wives face dilemma in S'pore
By Esther Ng, TODAY | Posted: 11 July 2011 0729 hrs

   
SINGAPORE: Some foreign wives on long-term visit passes are finding that life is fraught with uncertainty and anxiety. Putting their Singapore-born children through school, food on the table, a roof over their heads, or even just staying in the country - these are just some of daily battles they face.

Family Service Centres (FSCs) which MediaCorp spoke to are seeing an increase in the number of foreign wives seeking assistance.

According to the FSCs, the husbands of some of the women seeking help have either died or are in jail. Others have been abandoned by their husbands.

While these woman can find employment as work permit holders, many are not equipped with the skills or qualifications to meet the requirements.

There are no official statistics but their increasing numbers are a concern.

Voluntary welfare organisation Yong-En Care Centre has seen 11 such cases this year. There were none last year.

Yong-En Care Centre's executive director Trevor Tan said: "Education (for the children) becomes very challenging because these families are poor. Language is (also) an issue. I've seen some of them ... and when you speak to them in English, they don't understand what you're saying."

Mr Tan added: "The child could be five or six years old. They should be in preschool and they could be learning English to start off with. Otherwise, when they start school, they will be greatly disadvantaged."

Apart from giving the foreign wives who come to the centre for help up to S$60 each month, Yong-En Care Centre offers English classes for them and free tuition for their children.

When contacted, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports said that it does not require FSCs to track the number of such cases. Still, the ministry works closely with agencies to "keep abreast of developing trends and ensure that vulnerable groups receive the necessary assistance".

Social workers told MediaCorp that more men were marrying foreign brides and some do not have the means to support their wives and children. They noted that a greater awareness of assistance at FSCs could also have contributed to the increase in the number of such cases.

'Cases are just tip of the iceberg'

Sociologists Tan Ern Ser and Paulin Straughan point out that the lack of cross-cultural understanding between the woman and her husband and in-laws can severely strain the marriage.

The language and cultural barriers could result the foreign wives feeling isolated and make them totally dependent on their husbands. When the relationship sours, these women have no choice but to turn to formal channels for assistance.

FSCs typically offer emotional support and counselling, sourcing for crisis shelter and alternative accommodation as well as education on legal rights on matters such as immigration, housing, divorce and personal protection orders.

But sourcing for financial assistance is limited as financial aid goes mainly to citizens or Permanent Residents, said Mrs Sara Tan, director at Hougang Sheng Hong FSC.

Nevertheless, these women can seek financial help through their Singapore-citizen children but "often times, the assistance period is not long", said a PPIS Family Service Centre West spokeswoman.

The spokeswoman added: "We believe that what we see at FSCs is just the tip of the iceberg. There may be many more who may not want to seek help from agencies due to various reasons."

For instance, some of them worry that their difficulties could result in their permanent residence application or social visit pass extension being denied, said PPIS.

Others worry that their husbands may be annoyed with them for seeking help. And if their husbands divorce them, they may have to leave the country and be separated from their children, said PPIS.

Social workers believe that allowing these women to work would provide a long-term solution towards financial independence.

Associate Professor Straughan urged that PR be made an option for foreign wives with children.

She said: "When a foreign bride stays in a marriage long enough to have kids, we should also give them the necessary support to grow a stable family."

When contacted, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) reiterated that marriage to a Singapore citizen "does not automatically qualify a foreigner for long-term stay, permanent residence or citizenship in Singapore".

It added: "Foreign spouses of Singaporeans may still submit an application for long-term stay in Singapore for the ICA's consideration even if their Singaporean spouses pass away.

"Each application for immigration facilities is carefully assessed on its own merits and ICA will advise the applicant accordingly."

- TODAY/fa

SOURCE: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1140139/1/.html

via : http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=3314761

[zuoom]

http://www.ted.com/talks/geoffrey_west_the_surprising_math_of_cities_and_corporations.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2011-07-26

Physicist Geoffrey West has found that simple, mathematical laws govern the properties of cities -- that wealth, crime rate, walking speed and many other aspects of a city can be deduced from a single number: the city's population. In this mind-bending talk from TEDGlobal he shows how it works and how similar laws hold for organisms and corporations.

[zuoom]

here's something food for thought. 
especially those as an employer.

Can Singapore wean itself off cheap foreign labour?
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/singapore-wean-itself-off-cheap-foreign-labour-011454837.html

Banyan Tree executive chairman Ho Kwon Ping has been voted as the most influential thinker in Yahoo!'s Singapore …

Singapore has room to wean itself away from reliance on cheap foreign labour in construction and other industries, top local businessman and hotel magnate Ho Kwon Ping said in an interview on Tuesday.

"I think we have a dichotomous society," said Ho, who was recently voted as the country's most influential thinker in Yahoo!'s Singapore 9 project. "In the high knowledge-based industries we are competitive, but in the local industries such as construction, skill levels and productivity are quite low."

However, the founder and executive chairman of Singapore-listed Banyan Tree Holdings was also quick to caution against Singaporeans turning "xenophobic".

Ho was speaking to Yahoo! Singapore about his reactions to the National Day Rally Speech of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, freedom of speech in the Internet age and the competitiveness of Singaporeans.

Renowned for launching the Banyan Tree global chain of luxury spa and hotel resorts from a single troubled hotel in Phuket that his family built, and having once owned a construction business, the 59-year old understands the construction industry very well.

Ho noted that in Australia, a builder gets a salary several times the salary of a construction worker in Singapore, although both countries have about the same per capita income.

"We've had construction development experience in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and so on. When we built our hotel in New Zealand we were shocked because the number of workers we engaged there was about 10 percent of what we would get in Thailand -- because they are well trained," he said.

"We haven't bitten the bullet here. We are still addicted to cheap foreign labour in industries like construction," Ho pointed out.

"Our low-skilled workers are at a disadvantage today because salaries are quite low with the influx of foreign workers, so I think we need to ratchet that up a bit," he added.

He recalled that in the 1980s, Singapore was a low-cost, low-wage economy, but the government then pushed wages up high. That prompted many low-cost industries to leave the country, but the policy also attracted younger Singaporeans to join higher technology industries.

Now, the phenomenon of several thousand semi-skilled young women from Malaysia working at electronics factories in Singapore is gone, and, as PM Lee cited in his speech, the city-state can now produce the machines that manufacture semi-conductors, Ho noted.

The executive stressed that he is not saying Singapore should close off the construction industry to foreigners but that the costs and skill levels for workers should be raised.

"If you are a foreigner, if you have XYZ skills, you should be allowed in, but we should phase out the unskilled labourers, largely from South Asia," he said. "There will be transitional pains and should be phased over even a decade, but we must have targets so that our firms can prepare themselves."

Reactions to PM Lee's speech

Touching on the government's plan to raise the bar for employment passes, Ho said the move would bring temporary relief to Singaporeans, but the longer-term answer would lie in making citizens more competitive and productive.

"I think the policies announced in the National Day Rally are very responsible because they have responded to the sentiments on the ground -- and if they did not it would have smacked of arrogance --  but at the same time they did not give in to populism," said Ho, who is married to former Nominated Member of Parliament and prominent businesswoman Claire Chiang.

Regarding the 'Singaporeans-first' policies unveiled in housing and education, he noted that the PM has had to tread a very thin line on the "explosive" issue of foreigners, which many political leaders around the world have to grapple with.

"Any serious person will tell you that the advanced economies are not going to be able to grow or be able to get the talent they need if they are going to listen to the purely populist notion of protecting your people only," he said.

"On the other hand, you have to be aware of populist sentiments and make people feel their concerns are being addressed," he pointed out.

He agreed that issues such as overcrowding on buses and trains need to be tackled and corresponding policies rectified.

Nevertheless, Ho, who is also chairman of Singapore Management University, the country's third national university, warned that it is "very necessary for Singaporeans not to be xenophobic".

His view is that diversity in itself is a plus point and benefits everyone, including the majority. "If SMU students did not have the benefit of foreign students, they would be such a narrow bunch of people," he said.

In his NDR speech, PM Lee said that places for Singaporeans students at local universities would be raised by 2,000, the equivalent of another SMU, by 2015.

There is currently a 20 per cent quota of foreign students at the national universities, but some members of the public have questioned why some Singaporeans students should be turned away at all to allow foreign students in.

Ho acknowledges that there is a legitimate economic argument to putting a cap on the number of foreign students at the universities. "Our schools, our universities are heavily subsidised, so it's justifiable that taxpayers' money should go towards the children of taxpayers," he said.

Yet, he believes that there is a qualitative argument for retaining a significant number of foreign students at the schools. "A society that does not welcome diversity is going to be a very brittle society," he said.

Beyond the policies, Ho observed that the PM was trying hard to connect with young people.

"You can see from the examples he gave, the little things like the young guy who took photos of the flats, the Bowen cafe. I think he was trying to tell people that there are many ways for them to take initiative, to have a sense of ownership in Singapore," he said.

"Young people nowadays in this generation won't find fulfillment just by joining the civil service and feeling empowered by writing policies that will affect millions of people. They want to do things that affect people's lives directly, and PM has tapped into that sentiment" he said.

Freedom of speech

As a former student activist and journalist who had been detained under the Internal Security Act in 1977 for articles written for the Far Eastern Economic Review, Ho also acknowledges that the Internet has allowed much wider access to information than ever before.

"No one controls knowledge any more," he said. "But technology by itself is apolitical. It is simply an enabler of processes, so I think we have to see the Internet in that perspective." He cited how Blackberry phones were equally used by dissidents in the Middle East as well as by criminal gangs in London.

While social media led to the Arab spring revolution, the lack of control of knowledge also has its negative side, he pointed out.

"No government in the world, including China, can control knowledge, but does it mean it is going to lead to a flowering of democracy or that the Internet is only good for the world? That's not the case. Paedophilia has risen enormously now because paedophiles all over the world are now connected," he said.

Asked whether it would now be futile for governments to control the Internet or the flow of information therein, he said he agreed with what former Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo once said: "That even if we know it is futile, it is important for a society to come together and decide what we accept and don't accept."

"I think it is important to have values in the society and these values should be expressed through positive encouragement as well as negative sanctions," he argued.

"For student groups you shouldn't cut down on them, but for paedophelia groups you should," he said.

In Europe, he noted, it is completely normal to have anti-semitism outlawed because they had gone through the Holocaust, but other than that, religious hatred is tolerated in society.

"We have to examine our own history, where we're coming from. Given our own history, the freedom of expression about religion clearly needs to be controlled," he said.

"If you don't have negative sanctions, you don't create the boundaries for society nor for young people when they grow up about what is acceptable or not acceptable," he said. "But these negative sanctions should not be simply dictated by a government; they should reflect the values of the whole society and be widely debated."

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

in any development country, you can't run away from cheap foreign workers. they do the job that many shurn.