Troublesome women and the nanny state: Drawing boundaries and legislating bifurcated belonging in patriarchal Singapore

• Main Author: TAN, Eugene K. B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2014
• Subjects: Asian Studies; Law and Gender; Law and Society
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/2386; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4344/viewcontent/Women_NannyState_Intersections_2014.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Singapore was and remains an immigrant society. The immigration of newcitizens and temporary workers has become the primary means by which thepopulation is replenished and right-sized for its economic and demographicrequirements. More than one in three persons (or 38.6 percent) living inSingapore are foreigners (non-citizens, including permanent residents) in2013.[2] Of the 3.45 million working population in Singapore, about 38 percent(or about 1,296,800 persons are foreigners.[3] The vast majority of theseforeigners are transient workers (migrant workers) on short-term work permits.Of these, about 211,000—all women—are employed as domestic help (or ‘maids’ inlocal parlance) as of June 2013.