Singapore’s government has attempted to solve a labour shortage and economic growth problem by importing foreign labour and encouraging immigration. In the last election in 2011 the topic of immigration became a serious issue. Singaporean’s faced with overcrowding and competition for jobs diverted votes away from the PAP. In response, the PAP acquiesced and slowed the pace of immigration and import of foreign labour.
Yet constantly we hear of plans for an ever increasing population in Singapore. The PAP’s economic plan apparently cannot see a way forward without immigration and foreign labour. As a result I expect they will engineer a means of getting Singaporeans to accept more immigration.
Here is how I think they will do it. They will build more housing in preparation for a greater population. This they have already done creating an oversupply of housing. This is uncharacteristically poor planning on the part of the government unless it is an intentional strategy to create oversupply. The government will also cool the housing market. This they have done. They may choose to lift some of the curbs on property investment or speculation but I suspect they will be more vigilant than expected in order to maintain soft property prices.
When vacancy rates rise and house prices drop they will present a solution to the people, namely importing foreigners to shore up the real estate market.