Daily Lessons from Life 14 November 2009

"Japan should embrace migrants
PM says country is battling low birth rates and an ageing population. -Sat, Nov 14, 2009 AFP

SINGAPORE - Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Saturday that his country, which is battling low birth rates and an ageing population, should make itself more attractive to migrants.
Japan has some of the world's strictest controls on immigration, and Hatoyama admitted that he was broaching a "sensitive issue".


But he said that as well as introducing pro-family policies, Japan should attempt to encourage migrants to live and work there.

"I am not sure if I can call this 'immigration policy', but what's important is to create an environment that is friendly to people all around the world so that they voluntarily live in Japan," he said.

Japan has relatively few resident foreigners, although in recent years it has cautiously opened up its job market to nurses and care workers from some Southeast Asian countries.


"First, we will improve support for child-rearing by offering cash allowances for families with children," before thinking about immigration to address the country's low birth rate, the premier said.

Japan's population has been shrinking since 2005. Despite efforts to raise the birth rate, a woman's average number of offspring now hovers around 1.3, well below the 2.07 needed to maintain the population. Japan rejected the prospect of mass immigration under the conservative government led by the Liberal Democratic Party. Hatoyama's centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ousted them in September.


Some politicians have argued that an influx of immigrants would lead to lower wages for Japanese workers and a higher crime rate.

Hatoyama's DPJ has not detailed its immigration policy."

It is interesting that Mr. Hatoyama made this comment in Singapore. A country in similar situation as Japan in terms of 'below replacement rate and rapidly ageing'.

Lessons for me are:

1. while Japan is notoriously jealous of its own unique culture, Singapore is not. It is far easier for foreigners to live and work in Singapore;

2. Having said that, Singapore has probably been overly eager to attract Foreigners to Singapore and, if I dare suggest, being careless in letting in too many too fast and without any regards to the 'lower wages' situation created now - a condition the Japanese law makers rightly concerned with. As to higher crime rate - that will only happened if a lot of foreigners are out-of-job and unable to sustain themselves or that the screening process leaked criminal elements in, otherwise this should not be the case!;

3. when a nation cannot replace itself, it has to seek foreign helps. This is logical and natural. At the same time, it must be carefully controlled and choreographed. A complete system has to be put in place right from the word 'go'! Singapore is guilty of these mistakes as we see middle aged PMETs out of jobs due to the industrial structural changes and we have foreigners who take on whatever jobs are left behind that these PMETs cannot compete. Of course, there are jobs that no Singaporeans want to do and these can go to the foreigners - no complaint or no basis for complaining anyway!

So, let's see how Japan will solve their ageing and 'below replacement' challenges in the next 5 years. Maybe Singapore government can be an advisor to them - good or bad we should know a bit more by then!