By Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh | Yahoo! Newsroom – 10 hours ago
COMMENT
China-born Feng Tian Wei’s Olympic table tennis bronze medal has sparked an outcry in this country about what it means to be a true Singaporean.
Yet
the problem is not so much that Ms Feng has failed to integrate into
Singapore. It is that the people who grew up in Singapore, myself
included, have failed to integrate into Ms Feng’s Singapore—the
Singapore of the future.
For better or worse, the era of Singaporean national identity, the one that our founding fathers tried to establish, is fading.
In
many countries, national identity develops from a common tribal base,
whether stemming from ethnicity, as in Japan, or religion, as in
Pakistan. In some other countries, national identity is nurtured
initially through a shared values system—for example, freedom and
opportunity in the United States.
On August 9th 1965, Singapore had neither.
“Some
countries are born independent. Some achieve independence. Singapore
had independence thrust upon it, “says Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first
prime minister, in his memoirs.
UNIQUE TRIBAL BASE
Singapore
hence tried to establish both a unique tribal base as well as a shared
values system. The unique Singapore tribe comprises Chinese, Indians and
Malays, who speak English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil and worship at
temples, mosques and churches.
Almost every other person from
outside this polyglot tribe was welcomed into the new Singapore of 1965,
but was stuck with the rather uncharitable, amorphous label of
“Others”.
Singapore also ingrained a common set of values in
people—hard work, tolerance, the importance of meritocracy, and the
belief in pragmatism both in day-to-day behaviours and national
policies.
While the economy grew rapidly, Singaporean identity
always remained in flux. Meanwhile, from the mid 1990s till today, a
dramatic experiment in mass immigration as a means to counter low birth
rates has made identity formation all the harder.
In 1990, more
than 86% of Singapore’s population was made up of citizens. By 2011,
this had dropped to below 63%. More telling, given the high number of
new citizens from abroad, is the fact that perhaps less than 50% of
Singapore’s total population was actually born here.
Put another
way, Singapore is possibly the only country in the world where there
are more migrants—including temporary workers, permanent residents and
naturalised citizens—than native-born people. Some like to call the US a
country of migrants. Singapore is much more—it is a country for
migrants.
'ASIAN JACK-OF-ALL TRADES'
Proponents
of high immigration in Singapore point to the demographic make-up of
global cities such as London and New York as exemplars. This argument is
somewhat defensible from an economic point of view, but it also reveals
the fundamental problem with Singaporean identity.
London and
New York are global cities that are connected to much larger heartlands.
Singapore, largely because of history and politics, is untethered from
our most obvious heartland, the Malay Peninsular. We have tried to
position ourselves as the Asian jack-of-all trades, a developed world
hodge-podge that is both all of Asia and yet not Asia at all. Again,
while this may work economically, from an identity standpoint,
contradictions abound.
This combination of globalisation, low
birth rates and high immigration has essentially overturned the very
essence of Singaporean identity that our forefathers tried to build. The
traditional notion of “tribe”—Chinese, Malay and Indian—has been
disrupted.
So have our values. Singapore’s meritocracy has long
promised that as long as individuals work hard, they will enjoy the
fruits of their labour, with the best workers rising to the top of the
ladder. Here, again, mass immigration has undermined this contract.
At
the top end, the perception is that the global elite has moved here
with containers of cash in hunt of lower tax rates, and is creaming off
the spoils of Singapore’s growth. At the bottom end, a seemingly endless
stream of low-cost migrants from neighbouring countries has allowed
businesses to keep wages low, squeezing out hardworking Singaporeans who
face spiralling living costs.
Finally, mass migration has dented
Singapore’s attempts at inter-ethnic integration. Ethnic enclaves have
now formed, including a rather posh Indian one in the East Coast and a
more humble Vietnamese one in Joo Chiat.
With birth rates
unlikely to rise rapidly, and immigration likely to continue, albeit at a
more moderate clip, it will be interesting to see what happens to this
fragile, embryonic, 47-year old Singaporean identity.
Perhaps the
reality is that Singapore cannot build both a national identity and a
global city identity. We are actually in the midst of a transition from
the former to the latter. A global city identity is much more fluid,
less rooted, than a national identity. The migrants of today will
probably never integrate like the migrants of yesterday. For them,
Singapore is just one of a patchwork of identities they hope to stitch
together as they journey through life.
MODEL OF THE FUTURE
And that, strangely,
represents the optimism in this identity story. There are few countries
in the world where race, religion and language are depoliticised to this
extent, where it is so easy to set up a business, where people from all
over the world can visit so seamlessly.
By unwittingly
de-emphasising national identity, and ultimately nationalism, Singapore
is creating a model for a future where nationhood, ethnicity and
religion should not matter.
This transition from a solid albeit
nascent national identity to the more fluid global city identity will
have implications for mindsets, personal interactions and national
policy.
For instance, if we embrace this global city identity,
Singaporeans should not care if Ms Feng never learns any English. She
does not have to sound like us to be one of us.
There are also
many policy implications. In a global city, it makes little sense, for
example, to maintain ethnic quotas in HDB housing estates, when all over
the country little ethnic enclaves have formed.
But there
remains one major problem with this transition from a national identity
to a global city identity. Many have been left behind. Social inequality
has risen rapidly over the past two decades.
The only way for
all Singaporeans to accept the pros and cons of living in a global city
is if we can actually participate in it. Addressing inequality—including
in education, employment and income—remains this global city’s greatest
priority.
So, the end of (national) identity, but the start of something new?
This is an excerpt of an essay published on IPS Commons.
I met an old friend of mine and we were chatting over coffee... He remarked that nowadays Singaporeans in the train very rude, in which I replied and asked whether are they even Singaporeans in the first place...
Wat identity do we have if our thick heritage and culture gets dilute with FTs "integration" and flooding?
U may have the best soup in the world but if I keep on adding water to the soup, it wont be as good... ministar might call them ingrident to add more flavour to the soup, I would call them water instead...
waaa....acid deep thinker!!!!!surprised and impressed!
Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:I met an old friend of mine and we were chatting over coffee... He remarked that nowadays Singaporeans in the train very rude, in which I replied and asked whether are they even Singaporeans in the first place...
Wat identity do we have if our thick heritage and culture gets dilute with FTs "integration" and flooding?
U may have the best soup in the world but if I keep on adding water to the soup, it wont be as good... ministar might call them ingrident to add more flavour to the soup, I would call them water instead...
suppose if the water is engineered to taste like meat and feel like meat with all the high quality and science attached to it.would the soup still be the watery diluted soup ?no,currently spore seems to be like getting the avearage ingredients and not the watery ingrediants with no substance.they are also not getting real meaty stuff because the spore cant afford it all the time.
all these is meant to propel industries and whatever in spore to be the first in the world.
Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:I met an old friend of mine and we were chatting over coffee... He remarked that nowadays Singaporeans in the train very rude, in which I replied and asked whether are they even Singaporeans in the first place...
Wat identity do we have if our thick heritage and culture gets dilute with FTs "integration" and flooding?
U may have the best soup in the world but if I keep on adding water to the soup, it wont be as good... ministar might call them ingrident to add more flavour to the soup, I would call them water instead...
I would say they add not only water but saffron and saffron don't taste good in soup. What is lacking is the cook not the ingredients. We need to change the cook.
Originally posted by Clivebenss:I would say they add not only water but saffron and saffron don't taste good in soup. What is lacking is the cook not the ingredients. We need to change the cook.
Problem is the cook claims got track record... simi simi simi de track record...
When cannot perform, blame the customer, say customer taste picky, say customer dunno how to appreciate the taste, say freak accident, once in 50 years, soooo many excuses...
When every 4 years job apprasial come, they will cry, say sorry blah blah blah, after apprasial, back to old ways...
Edited: We need a cook that actually listens to the customer's preference...
Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:
Problem is the cook claims got track record... simi simi simi de track record...
When cannot perform, blame the customer, say customer taste picky, say customer dunno how to appreciate the taste, say freak accident, once in 50 years, soooo many excuses...
When every 4 years job apprasial come, they will cry, say sorry blah blah blah, after apprasial, back to old ways...
Edited: We need a cook that actually listens to the customer's preference...
Yes, a restaurant boss can cook retired but then the son sucks...
the signboard is as good as nothing...
Haiz... I won't eat the shit they cook.
it ended when we open our arse for this type of people to cum in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhVuWnO75DI
@ 2:42 - 'singapore got the old auntie very saheful arh - listen old man f-stop 2, shameful arh our ancestors.
Yesterday I watch a mexican performance they are damn proud of their history lor.
I... erm.. feel sad that I dont feel anything about Singapore at all.
It's just a money making place/base for alot of people - and there is seriously nothing for citizens to be proud of. High GDP per capita is non of our business anyway, not like it affects our bonus. Yes, we are a first world country - but it's all glitz and glam without any soul.
No culture, no rich history, no nothing.
olympics win - cheena win for us, and that tony guy wave so happy like 'yippy singapore wins some medals". do you as president feel proud?
i rather play marble 'long hand short hand no kissing'.
Originally posted by FireIce:did we ever have a national identity?
I have NRIC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnoQtS-DjLQ&playnext=1&list=PLBD12F6B3F8BB6DC7&feature=results_video
yeh this video tells all.
What is Singapore?
this is fact..?
is that true?
jibai chinaman true your hole
Originally posted by mancha:I have NRIC.
Some people have driving license.
But they can't drive for nuts.
there is one identity though...Pay or Fine, nothing else matters.
The national identity is to be proud of your country and stand forward when your country need you.
It is to feel proud and emotional when you see the Singapore flag flying oversea and be proud to be Singaporean.
That is National Identity for me.
As the foreigners are born in their homeland, it is very hard for them to dump their homeland and adopt the new identity.
They will eventually go home to spend their price money as they are only here to obtain false glory and honour for their adopted wayang country.
So, I am not expecting any integration from them as they are only here for the money and not here to stay.
Only people with their wishful thinking would expect them to integrate.
don;t pichaik their lobang lah
Like a Malaysian scholar, who received the bond free scholarship, commented that the one who gave them the scholarship is stupid.
So are the one who expect the players to integrate.
I am just stating human nature.
They trained hard every day to win the medal and price money so that they can retire back home.
It is as simple as that.
It is a business deal.
cheena - loyalty? see they can event challenge their own people. beat their own country people. so they can also do the same against sg anytime!
stupid.
Originally posted by Clivebenss:I would say they add not only water but saffron and saffron don't taste good in soup. What is lacking is the cook not the ingredients. We need to change the cook.
If only we have the means to change the cook.