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SINGAPORE: Some overseas Singaporeans feel excluded from Singapore because there are few efforts by the embassies and consulates to keep them connected, said MP Michael Palmer.
The MP for Pasir Ris-Ponggol GRC, who spoke during Thursday's debate on the Budget, made this point when giving feedback from overseas Singaporeans he had met at a recent dialogue.
Saying a good budget could only achieve its maximum desired effect if the implementation process was the best that it could be, Mr Palmer asked if enough was being done.
He cited two anecdotes.
One was a family's frustrating experience when trying to register their child as a Singapore citizen despite having returned to Singapore to do so.
During the registration process, they were told they had to provide their local address in order to register the child.
But they were unable to do so because they were living overseas and no longer had a local address.
Mr Palmer said: "They obviously felt rooted to this country and demonstrated their emotional connection to Singapore by wanting their child to be a Singapore citizen, yet they felt hindered, rather than helped, in their quest.
"At a time when we are trying so hard to boost our population with measures like the Baby Bonus and the wooing of foreign talent, is it not ironic that a "ready-made" Singaporean right at our door-step should face an impediment in formalising his citizenship?"
And there were those who had personally gone to the embassies or consulates to register their addresses.
Mr Palmer said this group was rebuffed and told to do so online instead.
Yet after their registration, there was no acknowledgement or follow-up, nor was any effort made to keep them engaged or connected.
The MP added: "One lady told the forum that she had difficulty understanding the rationale for such registration when government bodies in Singapore flatly refuse to send mail to Singaporeans at their overseas addresses. And the one government body that is happy to send mail to them overseas? - the IRAS, at income tax time! "
Mr Palmer said although the Overseas Singapore Unit has been set up for a year now, it is clear the policy objectives behind it still have some way to go to be realised.
The Unit was officially launched in March 2006, and its role is to plan and coordinate multi-agency programmes and initiatives to engage the overseas Singaporean community to ensure that they stay connected with Singapore, and ultimately return home.
- CNA/so
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