Foreign Workers and Social Systems

social maturity: As Singapore has reached economic and social maturity, cracks have begun to appear in the country economic and social systems, and there is a growing movement to review the existing economic model to address these problems, according to Asahi Shimbun. One aspect of this trend is the change in policies with regard to inviting foreign workers into the country. This is being done in an attempt to address public discontent, as well as to reduce the country excessive dependence on foreign labor and improve labor productivity. As a result of Singapore traditionally positive stance in accepting foreign workers, foreigners made up 42.9 percent of the total population in 2013. In particular, since the economy slumped to negative growth due to the impact of the global financial crisis in 2009, there has been growing dissatisfaction among the public that the increase in foreigners has brought such problems as social instability, rising real estate prices and congestion on the city roads and subways. This situation, where four out of 10 people are foreigners, has contributed significantly to Singapore economic vitality, but it has also caused the public welcoming attitude toward foreigners to wane. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.