Xenophobia in Singapore : understanding the causes and nature of negative attitudes towards foreign professionals

• Main Author: Chew, Jing Rui
• Other Authors: Sulfikar Amir
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/73686
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Over the past few years, the Singaporean-foreigner divide has increasingly come under the spotlight, with certain high profile incidents and assemblies occurring, signifying xenophobic sentiments brewing locally. While tensions and anxiety levels have risen especially in times of economic setbacks, it is undeniable that foreigners are here to stay as Singapore relies heavily on foreign labour for both low wage and high value work due to its small population size. Amidst such tensions, this paper focuses the unit of analysis on foreign professionals alone, in an attempt to explain the causes and nature of negative attitudes of Singaporeans towards foreign professionals. Interviews with Singaporeans will provide detailed accounts on their experience in terms of their economic, social and cultural considerations and in so address which considerations are merely perceived rather than true. Pursuant to that, the paper explores the social interactions between locals and foreign professionals and address if certain nationalities of foreign professionals are subjected to more adverse attitudes.