From Kompas:
More Indonesians Choosing To Become Singaporean Citizens
Statistics from the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore shows a growing number of Indonesian citizens choosing to change their citizenship to Singapore over the last two years. According to the data, the number of people who changed their citizenship increased from 630 in the year 2010 to 870 in the year 2012. However, that number figure is still far below its peak of 1180 in the year 2008.
Most of them who chose to become residents of this neighboring country are Indonesian citizens who are married to a Singaporean. They come from various ethnic groups such as Java, Chinese and Sunda. One of the Singaporean residents, Eggy Laxmi, explained that she had decided to “strip off” her Indonesian passport because she had trouble finding a job in Jakarta. She is currently married to a Singaporean man.
Yoga Dirga Cahya, president of the Indonesian Community in Singapore, explains that Singaporean citizenship is in hot demand due to its superior levels of security, education, and promising employment prospects. However, Yoga also added that there are still many Indonesian citizens who wish to maintain their Indonesian passports. Strong family ties in Indonesia is determined to be a major factor for them for refusing to change their nationality.
This Nanyang Technological University Biological Sciences graduate also said he believes there will be no big wave to change citizenship in the next few years. “Our economy is improving rapidly so there will be more opportunities for self-employment [in Indonesia],” he explained.
Following more protests against the increasing number of foreign immigrants, the Singaporean government plans to further tighten the requirements to become citizen and Permanent Resident (PR). “It would not be surprising if many Indonesian citizens will rush to apply for citizenship before Singapore further changes its regulations,” explains Professor Hoon Chang Yau, an expert on Chinese ethnic cultures in Indonesia.
Comments from Kaskus:
Kamendun:
It might be better to get an Australian citizenship rather than Singaporean if you want to change citizenship… =)
Baware:
We don’t need to worry about a shortage of residents since there are 200 million other people in Indonesia!…
Ice Man:
If you are not very rich then you shouldn’t apply to become Singaporean… Otherwise you’ll work as a janitor when you’re older, like those aunties/uncles seen working at Singapore’s food courts.. It’s sad to see them working so hard like that. =(
Galuhsuda:
Let them move [to Singapore] to reduce our population density. Haha…
Opa.parmadi:
I sad reading this news, since I’m sure our country will become a developed country too one day. =(
Ma_79:
There is surely something wrong in Indonesia… The Indonesian citizens who moved are usually those who have high education and wealth… Most of them received scholarships from the Singapore government so they eventually got a job and ended up living there after graduation… This means we have to worry about an intellect and capital drain from Indonesia… It would be nice if the ones who changed citizenship were those people who live under the bridges and have lots of kids… but, would Singapore accept them if that were the case?
Sof1na:
It’s really much better [to live in Singapore], Boss! You even get money from the Singapore government when you have kids! =)
SunLink:
I prefer to live here [Indonesia]… In Singapore, the cost of living is very expensive and the work environment is very stressful… I read an article that Singapore is one of the top three most stressful countries in the world…
Lang2bwana:
I’ve worked in Singapore since 2001 but how come I’ve never heard of this president of the Indonesian Community? Is he the president of the Indonesian workers who work in Geylang [prostitution area]?
Baex.plastic:
Most of them who changed citizenship are smart people… They are smart because they’d rather move out now rather than wait another 100 years of living in Indonesia without any purpose… hahaha…
Rapagen:
When Jakarta is flooded, we can still move to other islands. Where would you run to if Singapore is flooded? You’d need to build a big ship in that case LOL…
Kabei:
It’s better to live in Indonesia because there are lots of beautiful places for sightseeing… Would you be content seeing only the lion monument and the durian building every single day in Singapore?
Realrhasta:
It’s okay… Indonesian citizens will move there slowly so eventually Singapore will also become part of the Republic of Indonesia. Hehehe…
INCUBATOR:
Where’s their sense of nationalism???
What do you think? Is Singaporean citizenship that desirable?
