Singapore activist leads rare anti-immigration rally as vote looms

Some of the city state’s 5.7 million people are frustrated with the number of immigrants, who they accuse of competing for jobs, housing and schooling

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A view of Singapore’s financial business district. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:07pm, 3 Nov 2019Updated: 11:07pm, 3 Nov 2019

Some 300 to 400 Singaporeans held a rare rally in a park on Sunday against the government’s immigration policies, a hot-button issue likely to figure in a parliamentary election expected in the first half of next year.

The People’s Action Party (PAP), which has ruled since independence in 1965, suffered its worst showing ever in the 2011 elections, in part because of voter concerns over immigration.

Around 40 per cent of the 5.7 million people living in the small city state are foreign and some Singaporeans are frustrated with the number of immigrants, who they accuse of competing for jobs, housing and schooling.

“Singaporeans, it is time to stand up for your rights to a reasonably good job in our own country – we must always adhere to the Singaporean-first slogan and that employment must be given to a local first before we ever consider a foreigner,” Gilbert Goh, the organiser of Sunday’s protest, said in a Facebook post for the event.

Posters reading messages including “We want a Singapore first labour policy” were placed around Speakers’ Corner, a designated site for people to air their views in Singapore.