Is there preferential treatment between PR and SGPrean?
Context: There are 2 colleagues of mine, both doing admin in the same team in govt sector, A is a chinese lady PR from Malaysia; B is sgprean chinese guy.
A joined the team earlier than B.
Both did similar projects and both performed ok. B get promoted but A didn’t.
We talked a bit today and A mentioned because B is SGPrean, thats why he got promoted even though he is junior.
I personally don’t feel any difference in how our common manager treats them both.
But what do u guys think? Is there preferential treatment between when you are a PR vs when you are a SGPrean when working for public sector?
For those that have converted from PR to SGPrean, aside from the visa, housing, etc, do people actually treat u differently? career wise in local company, do people treat u better?
Netizens’ comments
- It is true, singaporeans tend to be promoted first. In education systems, e.g. psle/ olvl/ alvl they will always accept singaporeans first before prs. I know this because when I applied for NUS, mine and almost every other PR who got an average score got our offers during the appeal window. Even though we scored better, e.g. VJ 85 rp(PR) vs ACJ 81rp (singaporean) and both got direct admissions to the same course. When I attempted to appeal to my JC, first question they ask is ” If you not Singaporean don’t waste time trying”
In terms of the job sector, my father works for a reputable MNC but all his Singaporean collegues get promoted before him. And ironically the company asks my dad to train them. Really made him ‘foreign talent.’ For public sector, they tend to hire people who are Singaporeans before PR and there tends to be a wage gap usually.
Quite unfair ngl, considering how PRs, who probably lived here their entire life get treated worser than people who just came to Singapore and got their citizenship. Personally, this unfair treatment, yet expecting PRs to serve NS is what makes me dislike SG. And the discrimination and racism that comes with this, haiz really need to change.
So yes, A was right. Singaporeans don’t really see this discrimination unless they witness it first hand. When I told my chinese boyfriend about this, at first he thought I was just making up things and did not believe me. But after a while, when he saw his own people giving us the eye, and my personal experience of applying to uni and getting offers much later than normal, that was when he started realising.
So I am glad you asked to be more self aware 🙂
My family always gets offered to be a Singaporean but we just decline it. (My brother in ns rn has converted to being a singaporean though)
Reason being, we owe alot of residential and non residential properties back in India, which gives us an additional income and will continue to do so even when my father retires years later. But if we were to convert, I think Singapore asks us to sell off the additional units, which we are not keen on doing. Singapore market is also much saturated and expensive compared to India’s and we have more relatives there who can help maintain this finances.
Becoming Singaporean also makes us ineligible for certain compensations and purchases in India so it is better if he remains an Indian citizen and Singapore PR- You know, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Please understand every country prioritizes their own citizens, and I’m sure India does something similar too. It’s not unfair that Singaporeans are prioritized by the government because they are the ones who vote. And also, SG is a very small country with limited resources so most benefits will not be enough once shared with foreigners.
The government has given you and your family chances to enjoy the benefits you crave for but you guys rejected them due to financial greed so you won’t find many sympathizers to your situation, even from foreigners like me, I’m sorry to say. - You just self-owned yourself. If you don’t consider Singapore your home, don’t expect to get the same benefits that others who do.
- You know, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.