Q&A: Returning to Singapore as an ex-Singaporean

Hi there, I am just going to deal with a question that was raised on Hardwarezone.sg where I was pointed out as an example - it is all about returning to Singapore as an ex-Singaporean after you have renounced your Singaporean citizenship upon taking up another citizenship. Ooh boy, there's so much misinformation and bullshit going on out there, geez. That's the problem with the internet, it allows people who don't have the right information to voice an opinion and spread misleading/inaccurate information bullshit!

What is it like for ex-Singaporeans returning to Singapore? 

This is some of the crazy bullshit that you Singaporeans on Hardwarezone have come up with and I quote:

"can we come back as FT? i was told we can't."

"if you terminate your citizenship before completing your reservist stint, pls don't dream of getting even an EP. you can come as tourist though."

"sorry, singapore govt is like a jealous ex-girlfriend. she will remember and blackmark you, so once you leave, no chance of coming back to sg for work. work application will likely be denied."

"to add on, if you are male, MINDEF also got power to deny you renouncement of citizenship."

"once u renounce your citizenship and leave the country, you can never be allowed to step in here even (torch wood) your family member is dying."

Oh boy. Aiyoh. Where do I even begin?! First the typo: Torchwood is the brilliant BBC Dr Who spin off - if you like your sci-fi TV, you will love Torchwood. I think this person meant "touch wood" - LOL. Like serious people, if you are not sure about the rules, please don't offer a calculated guess - you could be totally wrong like these people who posted all this bullshit on Hardwarezone. Good grief. Let me deal with these points.

Are you forgetting the most important factor here: MONEY? 

Yes you can come back as an FT as a male Singaporeans who has renounced his citizenship - the only issue the government has with you is your NS obligations. As long as you have served your NS and paid your dues, you're off the hook. Reservist obligations are not part of the issue here - you're simply focussing on the wrong issue here! I know some of you may raise the example of Melvyn Tan - the pianist. Now in his case, he had been studying in England from the age of 12 and had already acquired British citizenship but his parents made a silly mistake - he turned 16 whilst still holding on to his Singaporean citizenship and the moment you turn 16, that's it: you're liable for national service. His parents should have helped him renounce his Singaporean citizenship before he turned 16 (I know the rules are different today, but those were the rules then).

Such is the case in Singapore: there are rules, follow the rules and you won't get into trouble. In Melvyn's case, I feel sorry for him as all this affected him at a time when he was a teenager and a student - back in the 1970s, it wasn't like he could just look all this information up on the internet. He probably should have made the trip down to the Singapore High Commission in London to find out what the rules were concerning his NS obligations but he didn't - he trusted his parents to take care of things like that (hey, he was a teenager) and they let him down. Yup, they messed up - hence the whole fiasco. If they had gotten the paperwork right the first time, then there would've been no issue whatsoever over his NS liabilities should he have renounced his Singaporean citizenship before his 16th birthday.

The issuing of any kind of work permit for Singapore is closely related to the route one wishes to take to come and work in Singapore. Let me analyse two very different scenarios for you to illustrate my point. Meet Mr A and Mr B - both have completed their NS but have not completed their reservist cycles before they have moved abroad.

Mr A: Ex-Singaporean, went to Harvard on a scholarship, super genius, migrated to America as a skilled migrant and has renounced his Singapore citizenship. He now works for an American investment bank JP Morgan. His employer JP Morgan decides to move him from the New York office to the Singapore office - ie. an internal transfer within the company, for Mr A to run a department in the Singapore branch of the bank. JP Morgan applies for a work permit for him to take up his post in their Singapore branch - it is a job that pays over S$100,000 a month. Yeah, Mr A earns over a million a year and he is oh so rich!

Mr B: Ex-Singaporean, no degree, secondary school drop out but migrated to America because he married an American citizen and subsequently renounced his Singapore citizenship. He was retrenched two years ago and cannot find a job in America. He decides to try to return to Singapore to look for a job but needs the Singapore government to give him some kind of status (other than a tourist visa) to start job hunting in Singapore. Currently, he is broke and has no money, having lived off his savings for the last two years.

Mr B is broke - oh dear. He's in trouble. No money no honey. 

Now Mr A would get his visa/work permit approved instantly, no questions asked - the red carpet would be rolled out for someone like him faster than you can say "foreign talent". Whereas Mr B would probably be denied a visa (though he would most certainly be allowed to visit as just a tourist with no right of employment in Singapore). The mistake that these Singaporeans made on Hardwarezone is that they have made absolutely no distinction between Mr A and Mr B - not all men are treated equally and there is a reason why Mr A will have the red carpet rolled out for him but Mr B will probably have the door slammed in his face. Not all men are equal! Oh, but credit where credit is due - one guy on Hardwarezone did understand this, "Mazatsushi" wrote: "The system here don't care whether or not you got finish one lah, got money the legs will open." 

Too darn right Mazatsushi! Spot on! As for the allegation that the Singapore government is like a jealous ex-girlfriend, good fucking grief. It couldn't be further from the truth. Jealous ex-girlfriend? You've gotta be kidding me, please don't flatter yourself. That's making the assumption that this ex-girlfriend actually does still give a shit about you.

Let me use an example to try to break this down for you... hands up those of you who have had a messy break up? You will be able to understand this point a lot more quickly. After our relationship ends, we want our exes to miss us, to regret their mistake, we want them to feel pain and anguish as a punishment. Then guess what happens? The next time you run into your ex, you see him/her on a date with a beautiful person (probably a lot more good looking than you, damnit), looking oh so happy and you think, "WTF, I am still angry with you - yet you have the nerve to move on and start dating someone else already?!? How dare you? I want you to sit at home, alone and cry over memories of me for the rest of your life!" 

What if you spotted your ex on a date, looking totally happy? 

Yeah, welcome to real life, it's a bitch. I did wonder if the Singapore government would miss me, I would've at least wanted them to have been angry with me for leaving after having taken so much money from them in terms of training grants and scholarships when I was a student. Don't get me wrong, the system treated me well as a student and was extremely generous with me - humanities scholarship, SSC scholarship, loads of training grants & freebies care of the SSC (Singapore Sports Council). Yet I turned around and left, moved to another country the moment I ORDed. But no, no drama. The Singapore government, my "ex", didn't even miss me one bit - instead she is way too busy courting new citizens from China to even realize that I had left. I guess I was shrewd enough to milk the system for money whilst I was a student, but there were no hard feelings when I left. 

So all this talk about MINDEF acting vindictively or even the Singapore Immigrations & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) acting vindictively is pure bullshit. It's completely untrue. One thing that I do always take with me when I pass through Singapore is the paperwork to prove that I have indeed renounced my Singaporean citizenship. After all, even on my British passport, it does state my place of birth as Singapore. I was never asked to produce prove of it anyway and the ICA staff members were either totally disinterested in my nationality (especially if there is a long queue). Though they have chatted with me in the past and some of the questions they've asked me include the following: 

Are they really interested in my life in England?

"So you have a good job in England? Got earn a lot of money there?"
"What are working hours like for you in the West?"

"Do you have a nice big house in England?"
"What is it like to live & work abroad?"
"Is it easy to find work in the England?" 

"Do you miss the food in Singapore?"

"Is it very cold in the winter in England? Does it snow?" 

"Do you still have family here in Singapore?"

"Do you still keep in touch with your old friends in Singapore?"
"Do you think Singapore has changed much since you've left?"

"Do you still remember how to speak Chinese?"

"Do you come back and celebrate Chinese new year?"
"Are you going to see the 2012 London Olympics?" (I will probably encounter this question now in the past tense: "Did you go see the 2012 London Olympics?")

Sometimes I think they're just plain bored when they come up with some odd question like that - but they're clearly harmless questions. There was never any question about denying me access to Singapore nor were there ever any questions pertaining to my decision to emigrate to he UK. In fact, some of them are genuinely friendly and curious. Quite simply, they're not interested in anything more than making casual conversation (which is not always possible if there are 20 people waiting impatiently in line behind me).

Yes they do wanna chat to me about life in England - I have no idea why!

Lastly, allow me to deal with this question raised on Hardwarezone in the same forum:

"Friend's husband, age mid-30s:
- Born in SG
- Served NS
- Went to AU
- Got his AU citizenship, renounced SG citizenship (not necessarily in that order, but I never asked)
- Married my friend, who is an SG citizen
- Now an SG PR
So it's possible I guess?"

In short, yes totally. A lot of it would depend on how much money this guy earns, it makes a big difference whether he is a highly skilled professional who earns big bucks or if he is an uneducated unemployed bum who is totally broke (ref: the Mr A & Mr B story at the beginning of this post). If this guy can get Australian citizenship, then he must be highly skilled and earn a lot of money as Australia sets the bar very high for skilled migrants (unlike Singapore, where the bar is set ridiculously low). I note that this person in question gained his Aussie citizenship as an independent migrant - rather than simply marrying an Australian citizen; hence that's why I know he is probably probably a highly skilled professional. As Mazatsushi explained, "The system here don't care whether or not you got finish one lah, got money the legs will open."  Oh and you need to prove that you have already acquired citizenship of another country before you're able to renounce your Singaporean citizenship - otherwise, you will be left in limbo or 'stateless'. 

Glad to see that at least one Singaporean out there understands how the government works, well done Mazatsushi! And as for the rest of you, oh dear some of you are oh so totally salah. Alamak. Aiyoh. Any other questions, leave a comment below. Nandri, terima kasih, kum siah.