Further to Anak Malaysia's comment in the letter 'Dismantle immigration controls on Malaysians in S'wak' (Nov 2), I would like to point out that Singapore practises the exact opposite policy to Sarawak's by welcoming foreign talents to contribute to the development of Singapore. The closed-door policy of Sarawak will be detrimental to the state in the long run.

With a population base of only about four million people (a significant portion of the population still live in the rural area) and a state as big as the whole Peninsular Malaysia, there is simply not enough human resource to develop the state to the level Singapore has achieved.

The progress which Sarawak has made in past decades relied heavily on its natural resources which may either dry up or become redundant in the future. The closed-door policy also merely encourages mediocrity and complacency among the people of Sarawak.

Even now, in the midst of a recession which saw Singaporeans losing their jobs, Singapore has adopted a far-sighted and committed approach in maintaining its open-door policy to foreign talents.