Multiculturalism on its head: Unexpected social boundaries and new migration in Singapore

• Main Author: ORTIGA, Yasmin Y.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Singapore; Multiculturalism; Race; Class; Immigrants; Super-diversity; Boundaries; Sociology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2749; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4006/viewcontent/Ortiga2015_Article_MulticulturalismOnItsHeadUnexp.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This study investigates how discourses of multiculturalism shape publicdebates surrounding new migration in Singapore. Singapore’s immigration policiesled to the influx of Chinese and Indian professionals, many of whom share race andclass identities with local Singaporeans. However, Singaporeans of Chinese and Indianbackgrounds rejected these presumed similarities, using discourses of multiculturalismto differentiate themselves from co-ethnic migrants. Based on a content analysis ofnews reports and online forums, this study shows how local actors portrayed newmigrants as too prejudiced or bigoted to adapt to Singapore’s multiracial society,thereby creating a paradoxical application of multicultural ideals. This example high-lights how contemporary immigration is creating diverse forms of inclusion andexclusion within migrant-receiving nations, challenging models, and policies of mul-ticulturalism based solely on ethnicity and race. This paper also demonstrates howindividuals can utilize the discourse of multiculturalism in forwarding their owninterests and concerns. Scholarly debates have often portrayed multiculturalism as anideology or policy imposed by state institutions, where local actors are left to eitherresist or accommodate such ideas. In the Singapore context, individual Singaporeanstransform discourses of multiculturalism, creating a counter-discourse that challengesstate immigration policies.