Pilot evicted from Singapore

A foreign pilot who infuriated Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew by leading a rare union revolt has been told by the government he can no longer live in Singapore as a permanent resident.
Captain Ryan Goh Yew Hock, a Malaysian citizen, was singled out by Lee as the main instigator in a November vote by pilots to sack their union leaders for caving into wage cuts and layoffs imposed by state-controlled Singapore Airlines.
In a statement on Monday, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said Goh, who has lived in Singapore for 26 years, had been told on Friday that his entry and re-entry permits that are necessary for permanent residents would be cancelled.
The leaders of Singapore’s government have said “confrontational industrial relations” are a threat in a country where the government, employers and unions traditionally co-operate closely and where industrial action is rare.
Lee had warned in December there would be “broken heads” if the union-management dispute was not quickly resolved.
The ICA said it took action after Home Affairs Minister Wong Kang Seng “decided that Mr Goh was an undesirable immigrant” as defined by Section 8(3)(k) of the Immigration Act.
The legal definition of that is: “Any person who, in consequence of information received from any source or from any government through official or diplomatic channels, is considered by the Minister to be an undesirable immigrant,” the Straits Times newspaper reported, quoting Singapore’s Immigration Act.
The case underscores the fine line walked by foreign workers in Singapore, which has opened its door to thousands of immigrants in a “foreign talent” policy aimed at bolstering domestic industries such as the arts, manufacturing and aviation.
Foreigners deemed to have meddled in national politics have felt the sting of the government in the past. Famously, Singapore expelled US Embassy First Secretary Mason Hendrickson in 1988 for allegedly interfering in Singapore’s internal affairs.
Lee, modern Singapore’s founding father, said last month Goh had helped to craft a petition to oust the executive committee of the Air Line Pilots Association and had “surreptitiously” taken actions “that would undermine industrial peace in Singapore Airlines and also put Singapore’s economic interests at risk.”
After a tumble in tourism in the wake of an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome from March to May last year, Singapore Air cut wages, slashed capacity by a third, and cut nearly 600 staff, the largest lay-offs in its 56-year history.
After suffering a loss in the June quarter, it posted a profit of SGD$305.8 million (USD$179 million) in the three months to September, as numbers recovered and the cost savings took effect.
In November, the pilot’s union elected new leadership and the government, which owns 56 percent of the airline, hit back by threatening to amend its Trade Unions Act so union executives could sign collective agreements without approval from members.
Heng Chee How, secretary general of the National Trades Union Congress, said foreign workers were still welcome in Singapore and could join unions. Goh, 43, has said he would appeal the decision.