On July 8, Director General of Immigration on the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Silmy Karim, revealed that numerous Indonesian students are selecting to develop into Singapore residents. He made this in the course of the Gen Z Festival 2023, a youth community that goals to enhance human resources, especially amongst Gen Z. Karim said that about 1,000 Indonesian students in Singapore develop into Singapore residents yearly.
The variety of Indonesian residents becoming Singapore residents reached 1,091 in 2022, up from 1,070 in 2021, in accordance with a detikFinance report released on July 10.
This number indicates a major increase in comparison with previous years. In 2020, it was 811 people, while in 2019 – 940 people. As of April 2023, 329 Indonesian residents have already emigrated to Singapore, which exceeds the variety of 286 in the identical period last 12 months.
On the opposite hand, Suryopratomo, Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore, noticed the phenomenon of migration of Indonesian residents to Singapore. However, he identified that the variety of 1,000 people per 12 months continues to be relatively small in comparison with the overall variety of Indonesians in Singapore, which incorporates 5,000. students and 160 thousand domestic staff.
Several aspects contributed to this migration trend. Many young Indonesians struggle to search out limited employment opportunities, difficulties in obtaining capital, high costs of living and a big wealth gap. However, exact data on material and intangible losses attributable to this phenomenon will not be yet known.
According to Anthony Budiawan, director of political economy and policy studies (PEPS), the longer term prospects in Singapore are promising for college students who need to work there on account of the income stability they seek. Budiawan explained that salaries in Singapore are much higher than in Indonesia, so the high cost of living isn’t an issue.
Singapore, as certainly one of the developed ASEAN countries, is a small area and has roughly 5.5 million inhabitants. The average monthly salary in Singapore in 2022 is S$5,070 (roughly Rp 57.5 million), which is a comparatively great amount.
In Indonesia, then again, the minimum wage varies significantly depending on the province and city. For example, in 2023, the provincial minimum wage (UMP) in Jakarta is about at 4,901,798 rupees per thirty days, while the best provincial minimum wage (UMR) in Indonesia in 2023 will likely be 5,176,179 rupees within the Karawang region of West Java . for a month.
In response, Indonesian Center for Economic Reform (CORE) executive director Mohammad Faisal said there have been more employment opportunities within the formal sector in Singapore than in Indonesia. Especially in the sector of science, Indonesia has a major gap in laboratory equipment in comparison with other countries.
This is an urgent task for the Indonesian government. The government must create a more attractive labor market in order that expert human resources (HR) will not be further interested in other countries.
Universitas Airlangga sociologist Tuti Budirahayu Dra Msi said the migration of Indonesian students to Singapore is a natural phenomenon influenced by push and pull aspects. Tuti explained that opportunities to search out higher jobs, profession advancement and a greater quality of life in Singapore are attractive aspects for Indonesian residents who should consider changing their citizenship. She also emphasized that migration is a component of human rights.
While migration can have a positive impact on Indonesia’s global popularity, there are also potential negative consequences. If migrants don’t contribute to the event of their home regions, various regional sectors may face stagnation on account of lack of human resources.
To prevent brain drain, the Indonesian government has taken several measures, including a scholarship program offered by Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP). This program requires scholarship recipients to return to Indonesia and work for no less than two years after completing their education abroad.
