Singaporeans under 21 residing in Singapore with non-PR parent
Parliamentary Question, 5 March 2020
Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many Singaporeans who are under 21 years of age reside in Singapore currently with a foreign parent who has not been given PR status; and (b) since 2016, how many of these non-PR foreign parents are (i) women (ii) sole supporters of their Singaporean child, having been separated, divorced or widowed from their citizen spouse and (iii) persons who have left Singapore with their Singaporean child to reside elsewhere following the expiry of their Long-Term Visit Pass or other visit passes.
Mr K Shanmugam: As at 31 December 2019, about 13,400 Singapore Citizen (SC) children under the age of 21 had foreign parents who were residing in Singapore on either a Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) or a Work Pass.
Based on ICA’s records from 2016 to 2019, there were around 14,400 unique non-PR foreign parents with SC children under the age of 21 who applied for LTVPs.
Of these 14,400 parents, around 12,100 of them were female. Among this group, only 1.5% or 177 of them were widowed, divorced or separated. Seven did not eventually qualify for long-term stay through an immigration or employment facility. As at 24 February 2020, the SC children of these seven were still residing in Singapore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Anthea Ong is a Nominated Member of Parliament. (A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a Member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the President. They are not affiliated to any political party and do not represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in Parliament.)
The multi-sector perspective that comes from her ground immersion of 12 years in different capacities helps her translate single-sector issues and ideas across boundaries without alienating any particular community/group. As an entrepreneur and with many years in business leadership, it is innate in her to discuss social issues with the intent of finding solutions, or at least of exploring possibilities. She champions mental health, diversity and inclusion — and climate change in Parliament.
She is also an impact entrepreneur/investor and a passionate mental health advocate, especially in workplace wellbeing. She started WorkWell Leaders Workgroup in May 2018 to bring together top leaders (CXOs, Heads of HR/CSR/D&I) of top employers in Singapore (both public and private) to share, discuss and co-create inclusive practices to promote workplace wellbeing. Anthea is also the founder of Hush TeaBar, Singapore’s 1st silent teabar and a social movement that aims to bring silence, self care and social inclusion into every workplace, every community — with a cup of tea. The Hush Experience is completely led by lovingly-trained Deaf facilitators, supported by a team of Persons with Mental Health Issues (PMHIs).
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