'I call them quitters,' Mr Goh said, contrasting their unwillingness to stick it out with the staying power of older generations who built the country after independence.

Prosperity had made some younger Singaporeans soft, Mr Goh said. 'Having benefited from Singapore, [they] will pack their bags and take flight when our country runs into a little storm.'

The response was not slow in coming - at home and abroad - as many either recoiled at the remarks or praised them as a post-recession wake-up call.

'I am baffled by the prime minister's National Day speech about 'stayers' and 'quitters',' Francis Lim Khek Gee wrote from London. 'It might just further justify the dominant feeling of those attracted by the greener pastures: that Singapore, though very wealthy, is like a very strict home with cane-wielding parents, from whom children would want to run away.'

Opposition figure Joshua Jeyaretnam told Mr Goh that 'it is not confidence in themselves or in their country that the people are losing. They are losing confidence in your government'.

Locals appeared particularly upset that while those who left Singapore were 'quitters', the government continued to insist that foreign workers be made welcome.

There is also the tricky issue that 19th century Singapore was made up of thousands of immigrants from across the globe, especially China. Were these the 'quitters' of their day?

'If our forefathers had stayed in their native lands and never quit for Singapore shores, where would we be as a nation today?,' columnist Ong Soh Chin asked. 'You might even say Singapore was built on a strong foundation of noble and brave quitters.'

Other contributors moved the debate beyond an assessment of those who left the country physically and focused on people's sense of engagement, wherever they were.

'It is not a question of who stays on in Singapore or who leaves. It boils down to who cares,' argued the tabloid Today newspaper.

Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said: 'Some Singaporeans may be physically here, but have quit in their mind set.'

Cherian George, one the country's most astute writers, suggested the heart of the matter was all in the mind.

'There are Singaporeans in Singapore who are not engaged in their society, and who only care about themselves,' he said. 'In a sense they are quitters too. In fact, I suspect that there may be more quitters within Singapore than outside.'