[Article edited by TRS as the writer is not a english speaker]
Dear The Real Singapore,
I have been following your website for quite sometime and I would like to praise you guys for doing so much for the better of your fellow Singapore citizens,
Forgive me for saying so, but "Singapore...does not allow dual citizenship" is a meaningless statement. Singapore's government cannot adjudicate a person's citizenship in another country. It may rule that, in accepting Singaporean citizenship, that person has given up all others, but whether that is true in fact depends on the other countries of citizenship.
To take a specific example, suppose that as a Frenchman I seek naturalization as a Singaporean citizen. The Singaporean government may rule that, once naturalized, I am no longer a Frenchman, and may even so notify the French government, but that declaration will be politely ignored, and the French government will continue to regard me as a Frenchman residing overseas, because that is what French law says that I am, and because it is French law that determines French citizenship. All that one can truly say is that the Singaporean government does not RECOGNIZE foreign citizenship as applying to Singaporean citizens, but as a practical matter even that is difficult to apply in real life. The best proof if this is the US government, which for most of my life did not recognize dual or multiple citizenship, but now (implicitly) does. Pretending that Americans could not also be citizens of other countries caused such a mishmosh of administrative, diplomatic and even military conflicts that it simply had to be set aside in favor of a more realistic view. Around twenty years ago, the biographic forms that candidates for sensitive positions fill out to renew their security clearances began asking about foreign citizenships, manifesting de facto recognition of those citizenships.
My wife is a Fillipino and the same thing also applies to her Phillipine government. Phillipine government understands that a lot phillipine want to experience the life of being another country citizen. But once they misses their home, they can return to phillipine anytime they want and can convert back to phillipine citizen instantly.
Which comes to my last point which will hurt a lot of Singaporeans. The Singapore government no dual citizenship rule is only discriminating Singaporeans but not to foreigners around the world. Singaporeans once given up their Singapore citizenship will not be allowed to even obtain a Singapore PR and can only visit their home country on a tourist visa. This type of policy is to instill fear in Singaporeans such that they will think twice before giving up their Singapore citizenship. Furthermore, having served 2 years of national service, most of them would think is a waste to actually give up their citizenship and would thus remain a Singapore citizen.
I am not sure why would your government do such things to their citizens but I feel sad for you all.
Sincerely,
Pepe
Frenchman Living in Singapore
Editor's Note: Article has been forwarded to ICA for comments. No response from them so far.