Should the Govt hold exit interviews for Singaporeans who renounce their citizenship?

Or should it just quietly respect their decision, since they have made up their minds to leave?

This was raised yesterday in Parliament by Mr Lim Biow Chuan, MP for Marine Parade GRC, who suggested that the Government consider conducting exit interviews for Singaporeans intending to emigrate to find out why they want to do so.

Mr Lim, 45, who has friends who are planning to migrate, said: 'I wanted to know in principle whether the Government cares why people are leaving the country... What can they do to make these people reconsider?'

Companies have exit interviews to find out why employees are leaving and to gather feedback to improve the working environment for existing employees.

Mr Lim said: 'An exit interview can provide a good feel of the reasons why some Singaporeans decide to renounce their citizenship. They are likely to be more honest about their gripes with living in Singapore.'

He said that an exit interview may help the Government find out which specific policies that people are unhappy with. It might also help them identify policies which they may wish to refine.

The Government's answer, delivered by Senior Minister of State Ho Peng Kee, is that it does ask why people want to renounce their citizenship. (See report at right.)

Mr Lim said he was 'reasonably satisfied' with this answer, adding: 'I don't have any concrete suggestions right now, but I just wish we could do more to encourage people not to renounce their citizenship.'

Most Singaporeans interviewed by The New Paper felt exit interviews would not help to find out why people choose to emigrate.

Unlike career switch

A human resources director, 41, who did not want to be named, said: 'Leaving a country permanently is a very different decision compared to changing careers or switching to another company.

'In a corporate situation, we can try to accommodate them, such as giving them more suitable working hours or putting them in a different department.'

'But people leaving the country would have already made up their minds, so there is no way to retain them.'

Mr Daryl See, a polytechnic lecturer in his 50s, said it might be difficult to interview people who want to leave.

He said: 'The decision to emigrate is a long-term one. Usually, a person only decides to renounce citizenship after living in another country. So it's difficult to interview them.'

Other Singaporeans criticised Mr Lim's proposal as taking the wrong approach to the issue of emigration.

Political observer and businessman Zulkifli Baharudin, 48, said: 'If people have made up their minds, let them be. I'm not going to try to convince them to stay.'

He said exit interviews would not help uncover the gripes of Singaporeans because 'they will just give a politically correct answer'.

'They probably will have discussed the real reasons with their friends and family. Those reasons are not something you can get from an interview.'

For Mr Baharudin, the battle is already lost once a Singaporean decides to renounce his or her citizenship.

'People shouldn't even think about leaving. You take Singapore for what it is. If you are unhappy with something, then stay and find a way to fix it.

'If you start rationalising and negotiating your loyalty, then I think the country will have no future,' he said.

'Citizenship is a privilege, and it should be treated with honour.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on September 17, 2008.