NON-SINGAPORE CITIZENS (Entry into Singapore)

Mr Ho See Beng asked the Deputy Prime Minister if he will consider permitting the entry into Singapore of non-Singapore citizens over the age of, say, 60 years whose sponsors can adequately provide for them.

Dr Toh Chin Chye: Mr Speaker, Sir, the existing rule is that widows of 65 years and above and widowers of 70 years and above will be considered for admission into Singapore. I am prepared to revise this rule by including widowers who are 65 years and above. However, the Government has examined the question of whether the age limit should be lowered to 60 years and has come to the conclusion that, for the moment, it would be inadvisable indeed to permit immigration of aged people below 65 years.

Mr Speaker, the House is aware that as a little island State, it is very necessary indeed that we should exercise a firm immigration policy. Otherwise, faced with our own population expansion together with an influx from other territories, we might in the near future be encumbered with considerable social problems.

I would like, for the information of the Member, to tell him that last year a total of 26 applications were approved and this year, from January to September, a total of 39 applications have been approved. The majority of applications which were rejected were mainly because the applications referred to those who were below 65 years old. Another major reason was that the applicant was living with other children either in China or in India, and therefore could not be considered.

I may also further emphasise that this regulation concerning admission of aged parents into Singapore refers expressly to widows or widowers and that these persons should provide full evidence that they have no other means of support if they are not permitted to enter Singapore. I can assure the Member, as I have done at the last sitting, that all applications are considered on compassionate grounds but, at the same time, we have also got to be fair not only to ourselves but to the State so that we do not see that Singapore is encumbered with unnecessary social problems.

Mr Teong Eng Siong (Sembawang): (In Mandarin): A supplementary question, Sir.

I would like to ask the Minister concerned this question. In my constituency there is a resident who is a citizen of Singapore and who has a mother of over 60 years of age in China. Several years ago he made a request for her to come to Singapore but it was not approved. The reason was that he had a relative in China to support her. The complaint of this resident is that this relative of his mother in China has already been transferred to another place in China. So I would like to ask whether the Minister will reconsider this application.

Mr Speaker: I do not know whether the Minister can answer that without notice.

Dr Toh Chin Chye: Yes, Mr Speaker. If the Member will give me the name of the applicant, the reference number of the letter which he received or which his constituent received from the Controller of Immigration, I will look into the matter. But I must emphasise to him that there must be absolute proof that there is nobody in China who could look after the applicant. The Member has forgotten that the ruling applies only to widows who are 65 years old and above, and if she happens to be 62 years old, then I am afraid she is not covered by this regulation and therefore cannot be granted admission.