Researcher says he was misquoted in media reports on 3,500 high-net-worth individuals becoming Singapore citizens: Shanmugam

SINGAPORE — Media reports about 3,500 high-net-worth individuals being granted Singapore citizenship in 2023 were misquoting an interview with a researcher, who “never said anything about citizenship”, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Monday (May 8).

Mr Shanmugam told Parliament that after those media reports had been published, Mr Andrew Amoils, head of research at South Africa-based wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth, had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to say that he had been misquoted by the media.

"He said, and I quote, 'This was simply untrue and not at all what was said in the interview'," Mr Shanmugam said. "He said he had never said anything about citizenship... He said that he did not track citizenship in his research, and that his projection referred to high-net-worth individuals moving to Singapore in general."

Most of these high-net-worth individuals may be expatriates and work transfers, and not necessarily people who applied for and became citizens, he added.

Mr Amoils was quoted by Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao in an April 20 article claiming that 3,500 high-net-worth individuals are expected to become Singapore citizens in 2023, and that most of these people were from China. 

The Business Times and The Online Citizen republished Lianhe Zaobao’s report that same week, while Mothership website ran a similar story the week after that. 

On April 25, MHA released a statement refuting the claims made in these news reports, stating that they were "highly misleading and had no credible basis".

"We do not know how the researcher arrived at these figures and the grant of Singapore citizenship for the rest of 2023 has not been decided as yet," Mr Shanmugam said on Monday, adding that having a high net worth does not guarantee someone Singapore citizenship. 

He said that each Singapore citizenship application is assessed on a broad range of factors, such as the ability to contribute to the country, the number of jobs that the applicant or his business may be able to create in Singapore, the special skills and or education that the applicant may possess, the applicant's family ties to Singaporeans, the ability to integrate, and the commitment to sink roots here.

"Different criteria may apply to different applicants depending on their background and circumstances," he said. 

For instance, an applicant applying as a spouse of a Singapore citizen will be considered differently from someone applying on the basis of having stayed in Singapore for a period of time and contributed to employment creation in Singapore.

Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh asked if MHA had reached out to the publication that first reported the researcher's findings, Lianhe Zaobao, on why the piece was "published as it was", given the sensitivity of the subject.

"I do not keep track of whether my ministry reaches out to the media to find out," Mr Shanmugam replied. 

"What's factual is that we issued a statement categorically rebutting the report and the person who was supposedly quoted has written to us to say all these things." 

In response to TODAY’s queries, Lianhe Zaobao pointed to its original article on the researcher's comments with an editorial note appended at the end.

The note states that when the reporter asked the research company about the number of new high-net-worth individuals expected to come to Singapore this year, the company replied that it was estimated that 3,000 to 3,500 people would migrate here.

Lianhe Zaobao said its report stating that these individuals are expected to become Singapore citizens was wrongly written.

TODAY has reached out to Mr Amoils for comment.