“It makes sense”: Why SM Lee Hsien Loong supports immigration into Singapore

Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong dominated the local news headlines for his speech yesterday (March 9, 2025) at the Teck Ghee Citizenship Ceremony, where he congratulated and welcomed 200 new citizens to the city-state.

In his speech, he spoke about immigration and the benefits it brings to Singapore’s growth as a country. We’ve watched the full speech, and here are the most important (and in our opinion, juiciest) bits.

Why is Singapore pro-immigration?

SM Lee started his speech by saying it “makes sense” for the city-state to welcome new citizens due to the country’s geographical limitations.

Immigration is essential—even existential—for Singapore’s survival.

We are a small island with no natural resources. We can only rely on our people—our skills, our enterprise, and hard work—to make a living for ourselves. While larger nations may have the population, resources, and hinterland to fall back on, Singapore does not.

SM Lee explained that new citizens bring “something extra that is vital” and that new experiences, perspectives and connections are catalysts for Singapore to thrive as a regional hub and a global node.

He recounted a visit to tech giant Google’s headquarters at the Silicon Valley in San Fransisco two years ago, where 10 presenters showcased the company’s projects on Artificial Intelligence and robotics.

During his interactions with the presenters, he observed that only two were from the United States, and the others came from all around the world. He deemed this diversity as America’s “enormous advantage”—the country “draws top talent from every continent,” enabling it to continue innovating.

Creating better opportunities for all

While SM Lee emphasised the importance of sharing the same sentiment in Singapore, he also acknowledged the competition that comes with immigration and said that it’s a “sensitive issue in every country.”

Yes, it is true [that] immigration will bring more competition and will put pressure on us to work harder and meet higher standards. But it will also create a more vibrant economy, spur us to become stronger and more capable, and generate better opportunities and brighter prospects for our children and grandchildren.

If Singapore closes ourselves up, opportunities will pass us by. We will fall behind and become just like any other city in the region, and our descendants will be the worse off for it.

Singapore sees strong “inflows,” given that about 30,000 citizen babies are born each year, and the city-state takes in around 22,000 new citizens; however, SM Lee emphasised the importance of keeping it “measured and balanced”.

He explained that in other continents like Europe, where immigration efforts have “not kept pace,” it has triggered strong nativist pushback and xenophobia—ultimately deepening the divisions in society.

Addressing Singapore’s low birth rate

As Singapore grapples with a declining birth rate and an aging population, SM Lee called for a need to “top up the numbers” for the economy to grow.

Previously, it was reported that Singapore will potentially see more deaths than births by the 2030s, to which the government has ramped up the increased immigration of foreign workers.

The declining birth rate and aging population mean that there’s greater strain on the sandwiched working class, and this has indirectly aggravated bread and butter issues, notably the cost of living and amenities.

As such, the city-state has announced measures and incentives to “encourage” Singaporeans to have more children in their annual Budget statement delivered in February.

However, would those measures be effective enough to not only alleviate these issues but also grow the country? Only time will tell.

Featured Image Credit: Terence Tan, Ministry of Digital Development and Information of Singapore