We are 4.8 million strong nation!!

Was pretty amazed that Singapore's population is just 0.16 mil short of 5mil! Nope, it's not the instant results of the recent baby bonus boost.. but according the yahoo news article (which quoted source from the Govt stats board) "...The number of non—residents grew by 19 per cent, while the resident population went up by a mere one per cent."Gee.. no wonder the need for the baby boosters..
Some other statistics quoted from the article:

• Most come from neighbouring Asian countries.

• There are also more new Permanent Residents (PRs) and citizens. In the first half of this year, 34,800 were granted PRs. That’s up by some 20 per cent from the same period last year.

• Meanwhile, 9,600 were granted citizenship, up by some 30 per cent, compared to the year before.

• And nearly seven in 10 new PRs aged 20 and above had post—secondary qualifications.

Moving forward, the Secretariat said integration would be a key challenge..."

Well said.. integration is certainly a challenge.. else why would the proposed idea of building a dormitory to house the influx (alright, may not be that many but still quite a number...)  of foreign workers in Serangoon Gardens create such big hoo-ha?  Personally, I'm glad I don't stay in the semi-atas area.. Hmm guess staying in public housing (aka hdb flats) since day I was brought out of hospital.. used to the multi-racial typesy environment, though I must say.. the "elite-mentality" do prevails at time.. yeah, I'm quasi-atas at times.. Trying to expand the organ that pumps blood.. (i.e. the heart..)  - yep, i repent..