Following a research report by wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth, the company’s head of research Andrew Amolls said that between 3000 and 3500 high-net-worth individuals are expected to be given Singapore citizenship in 2023, with most of them coming from China.
This statement has been disputed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which called the reported projection “highly misleading, with no credible basis.
MHA said on Tues (24 Apr) that Singapore citizenship applications for the rest of 2023 “have not even been decided yet” and that “having high net worth does not guarantee citizenship.”
“The figures cited were from a person working in a private research firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa. We do not know how he or his company arrived at this figure.”
New World Wealth proved disturbing for many Singaporeans grappling with affordability of big-ticket items such as housing and motor vehicles.
Aside from global inflationary and tax hikes by the government, many have attributed the current state of affairs to wealthy foreigners parking their money in Singapore.
Singaporeans have taken to social media to criticise the Home Affairs Ministry’s statement, calling it evasive and doing nothing to quell local anxiety.
As a set of concrete numbers has not been disclosed, many are waiting to see just how many high-net-worth individuals are granted Singapore citizenship once MHA has made up its mind.
Taking a dig at Manpower Minister Dr Tan See Leng, some have snidely commented that these numbers may never be revealed because the revelation might “hurt” Singapore’s “social compact”.
