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Outside of the corporate expat-package bubble Singapore is a terrible place to work anyway.

Virtually all of the hiring managers I talked to were clueless about technology and were content to pay shitty wages for substandard work.

The nature of their 2 year military service also has the effect of turning the locals into servile yes-men.

I was looking at relocating to South East Asia but Singapore's wages are really low compared to the cost of living.

Median salary for software engineers are a measly SGD$48,953 (34,360 USD). Average rents being SGD$1,971 for a one bedroom.

Technically the H-1 visa is already "hire Americans first". This would only change the salary requirement.

Ah, that is also pretty similar to the policy changes in Singapore:

http://www.mom.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/2016/0726-upda...

Every country has some version of this law. Your employer needs to provide some kind of proof (they have to do a song and dance everyone knows is BS) that a local cannot do the job.