Immigrant Integraton in Contemporary Singapore

Solutoning Amidst Challenges

Mathews Mathew Insttute of Policy Studies, Natonal University of Singapore, Singapore

Melvin Tay Insttute of Policy Studies, Natonal University of Singapore, Singapore

Key Features

• Structured and signposted to encompass a wide variet o perspectves vis vis the issue o immigrant integraton in Singapore

• imel publicaton or the perusal o academics and polic practtoners, given the prevailing socio politcal climate and heightened interest in immigraton and natonalit

• Provides a contemporar re resh on the topic o immigrant integraton in Singapore, incorporatng more practcal and ground oriented chapters over and above traditonal academic pieces

Descripton

Singapore’s success as a global city is in no small part atributable to its stance on foreign labour and immigrants, illustrated by a largely welcoming but discerning immigraton regime to fulfl vital socio-economic needs. However, this airl liberal polic on immigraton has been met with substantal dis uiet over the last decade. enophobic tendencies have sur aced periodicall and have been compounded b the Covid 9 pandemic.

his edited volume spotlights these contemporar issues on immigrant integraton in Singapore, and adopts a unctonal approach b e plicitl bridging academic and practtoner perspectves. he chapters are organised into three sectons. he frst secton on Challenges discusses various dominant trends obstacles to immigrant integraton based on ethnicit , culture and religion, and the ear and associated emotons that characterise reactons to immigraton. he second secton ocuses on Communites, their perspectves and lived e periences in Singapore societ . he la er di er substantall depending on migrant statuses and are contngent on social capital defned in relaton to locals in the cit state. he last secton seeks to illustrate the various Solutoning endeavours in tandem with the contentous nature o immigraton. hese concrete e orts range rom ground up initatves, communit based collaboratve approaches and polic shi s all seeking to advance immigrant integraton in Singapore.

Editors

Mathew Mathews is Head, PS Social Lab and Principal esearch ellow at the nsttute o Polic Studies ( PS), atonal Universit o Singapore. He has conducted over 50 research pro ects e amining social cohesion, identt and inclusion issues. hese have spanned the substantve areas o race, religion, immigrant integraton, povert , ageing and amil .

Melvin Tay is esearch ssociate at the nsttute o Polic Studies Social Lab, atonal Universit o Singapore ( US). His research interests lie at the intersecton o politcs and societ , with a ocus on societal ault lines, their signifcance and their management via polic instruments and communit pla orms. He has scoped, managed and contributed to several public sector commissioned pro ects on race, religion, immigraton, class, se ualit , age and educaton ke ault lines in the Singapore conte t.

January 2023

£95 | HARDCOVER 978 98 26 752 9

Imprint: World Scientfc Publishing Compan

Extent: 350pp

Type: eview olume

Main Subject: Asian Studies

Sub-Subjects: Singapore Collecton sian Politcs Societ Social ssues

Human Securit Politcal Science Polic Studies Public Polic Southeast sia

Keywords: mmigraton ntegraton Singapore dentt igraton igrant Cit enship ultculturalism

Readership: cademics and polic practoners in the feld o migraton, with a special ocus on migraton issues in Singapore

Contents

• cknowledgements

• Pre ace Primer to mmigrant ntegraton in Contemporar Singapore

• Challenges:

Impact of Covid-19 on Immigrant Perceptons and Relatons (Mathew Mathews and Melvin Tay)

Viewing Ourselves and Others: Diferences, Disconnects and Divides among Locals and Immigrants in Singapore (Lai Ah Eng)

Regional Similarites and the Illusion of Unity: Asian Foreign Talent and the Lack of Integraton in Singapore (Catherine Gomes)

Fearing the Foreign: Dissectng Dicey Discourses of Local Emotonal Responses towards Immigrants (Teo Kay Key and Yap Jia Hui )

• Communites:

Integraton of Migrant Labour in Singapore (Danielle Hong)

Birthplace and Belonging: Negotatng Local-born and China-born Chinese Identtes in Immigrant Integraton (Teo Kay Key and Alicia Wang)

What do the Masses Think? Themes of Immigrant Integraton in Chinese Forum Leters (Clara Lee)

Contemporary Issues of Integratng New Indian Immigrants in Singapore (Ritu Jain and Shanthini Selvarajan)

Perspectves of High Net-Worth Indian Immigrants on Natonal Integraton (Chitra Rajaram)

Cultural Stress and Ethnic Identty: Korean Adolescents in Singapore (Chung You Jin)

• Solutoning:

The Journey to Citzenship: Civic Integraton and Multculturalism in the Singapore Citzenship Quiz (Debbie Soon)

Making Singapore Feel Like Home: The Role of Grassroots Volunteers in Facilitatng Migrant Integraton (Rebecca Grace Tan)

Migrant Workers Colabs: Convening and Empowering the Ecosystem (Gloria Arlini, Brian Theng and Melissa Kwee)

Immigrant Associatons in Singapore and their Role in Promotng Integraton (Mathew Mathews and Zhang Jiayi )

The Way Forward: Engagement, Dialogue, and Ground-up Initatves Integral to Integraton (Melvin Tay and Mathew Mathews)

• bout the Contributors

• bout the Editors