I took a course about Biodiversity in Singapore the first time it was offered. We were told that the National Parks Board prefers to plant species that are asthetically pleasing, thus introducing many non-indigenous species imported from overseas into Singapore. This is understandable from economists’ and capitalists’ point of view, as these introduced species can ‘work’ for Singapore by beautifying the environment, thus giving Singapore its Garden City nickname.

These introduced species can pose problems for indigenous plants, such as displacing them to eventually become the dominant species in a habitat. Also, by preferring foreign species to local ones, the latter are not given enough opportunities to propagate and in serious cases, this can lead to extinction when there is simply not a wide enough gene pool left to effectively breed them.

Apparently, at the time when I took the course, conservationists in Singapore were having a hard time convincing the relevant authorities of the advantages of propagating local species, and that local species are just as attractive as foreign ones, in their own unique ways.

Compare this to the state of population management in Singapore. Singapore prefers to bring in foreign talent, indiscriminately planting them at all levels of society to compete with native Singaporeans, and in many cases, often displacing Singaporeans from jobs that they would have gotten if not because of the lower pay that foreigners are willing to settle for.

Will this eventually lead to the permanent displacement of native Singaporeans as the main component of SIngapore’s population? Even before this happens, have we already lost our unique, Singaporean identity? Are Singaporeans facing an identity crisis? What makes Singaporeans unique today as compared to our foreign talent counterparts, besides the fact that we have a responsibility to protect the country in the long run (which actually gives foreigners an additional advantage over us)?

Today, from newborns to retirees, we have a significant population of foreigners enjoying the fruits of native Singaporeans’ labour over the last few centuries. In fact, according to ICA’s data, only 59% of babies born last year had both parents who are Singaporeans. That’s including those FTs who received Singapore citizenship, so the actual figures for children of native Singaporean parents can be lower. With this in mind, what benefits do Singaporeans get for being Singaporeans, besides the very essential and basic subsidies for housing and education?

In fact, these benefits are actually available to foreign talents as well - foreigners are already receiving very generous education subsidies courtesy of the Government, and PR and citizenship statuses are given out at record levels in recent years, making FTs eligible for the same benefits as all native Singaporeans are. The only difference, then, is that our parents and grandparents built Singapore, while FTs today are being treated cordially by the Government, at Singaporeans’ expense.

I shudder to think about what will eventually happen to native Singaporeans - will we become extinct and displaced because of the Government’s pro-foreigner policies? Have we, or will we end up like a resort island, where the rich and powerful are mostly foreigners and native people mostly work in lowly positions, such as  cleaners, taxi drivers and hawkers?

Or will we end up becoming such an ‘endangered’ and marginalized population that policies have to be drawn up to protect us, just like indigenous people in Canada (called First Nations people), and minority groups in China, etc? It will be too late to change anything by then.