SINGAPORE - The Government is moving to encourage more permanent residents in the country to take up citizenship. And in some cases, their PR status "will not be renewed" should they decline to swap for the red passport, said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong yesterday.

Mr Goh was speaking at a dialogue session with Marine Parade residents to gather feedback on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech last month.

Responding to a suggestion from a participant who said Employment Pass holders should take up citizenship, Mr Goh noted that such a move would discourage foreign talent from working in Singapore. Moreover, Employment Pass holders serve as buffers - their numbers can be reduced, during a downturn, said Mr Goh.

But Mr Goh added: "Moving forward, we are going to approach some (PRs) to take up Singapore citizenship. If they don't, then their PR (status) will not be renewed. That's a better way. We now have quite a few PRs, 500,000 in Singapore, so hopefully maybe, 50,000 can be selected to become Singapore citizens, the rest can be PRs, contributing to Singapore's economy."

However, Mr Goh did not elaborate on how the process would work.


入籍本是应该发自心底的一件事，如此强迫是否有些不妥？建议政府给每个pr发一封信，想入籍的签个字寄回去，再在这些想入籍的里面选五万，此五万人一定对ZF的英明决断感恩不尽，必然去做ZF想要的事情；而我等不想入籍的P民也不必到时候纠结（就算有人纠结之后入籍，未必会给ZF投信任票，这样岂不是失算？）。