Differentiation from above and below: Evolving immigration policy and the integration dilemma in Singapore

Abstract

Singapore is known for differentiating highly skilled and low-skilled migrants by regulating their social rights, employment, and pathways to permanent residency and citizenship. Since 2009, the city-state has made further differentiation between highly skilled migrants and natives, that is, native-born citizens. Existing studies on migrant differentiation mostly adopt a state-centric perspective. We argue that differentiation is also driven by forces from below. We introduce the concept of differential fairness to capture natives’ justification for differentiation between themselves and migrants, particularly the highly skilled. Drawing on survey data and in-depth interviews with natives and Chinese and Indian migrants, we show that natives demand for preferential policies to protect their interests. We further reveal that the measures of differentiation have created an integration dilemma, in which natives and migrants hold divergent views on fairness and expectations of migrant integration.

Keywords

differentiation differential fairness integration Chinese migrants Indian migrants Singapore

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abrajano

Hajnal

(2015) White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Andrews

(2018) Moralizing regulation: the implications of policing “good” versus “bad” immigrants. Ethnic and Racial Studies 41(14): 2485–2503.

Ang

(2016) Chinese migrant women as boundary markers in Singapore: unrespectable, un-middle-class and un-Chinese. Gender, Place & Culture 23(12): 1774–1787.

Boucher

(2020) How 'skill' definition affects the diversity of skilled immigration policies. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 46(12): 2533–2550.

Castles

De Haas

Miller

(2014) The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World. New York: The Guilford Press.

Chung

(2020) Creating hierarchies of noncitizens: race, gender, and visa categories in South Korea. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 46(12): 2497–2514.

Channel News Asia (CNA) (2012) Community Approach Key to Strengthen Social Cohesion, Says Grace Fu. Channel News Asia, 13 August. Available at: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/community-approach-key-strengthen-social-cohesion-says-grace-fu-1910056

Collins

Lai

Yeoh

(2012) Introduction: approaching migration and diversity in Asian contexts. In: Collins

Lai

Yeoh

(eds) Migration and Diversity in Asian Contexts. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, pp. 1–28.

Cook-Martín

(2019) Temp nations? A research agenda on migration, temporariness, and membership. American Behavioral Scientist 63(9): 1389–1403.

10.

Department of Statistics (DOS) (2021) Population in Brief 2021. Singapore: Government of Singapore.

11.

Ehrkamp

(2006) “We turks are no germans”: assimilation discourses and the dialectical construction of identities in Germany. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 38(9): 1673–1692.

12.

Ellermann

(2020) Discrimination in migration and citizenship. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 46(12): 2463–2479.

13.

Erel

(2011) Complex belongings: racialization and migration in a small English city. Ethnic and Racial Studies 34(12): 2048–2068.

14.

Faulconbridge

Beaverstock

Hall

, et al. (2009) The ‘war for talent’: The gatekeeper role of executive search firms in elite labour markets. Geoforum 40(5): 800–808.

15.

Gomes

(2014) Xenophobia online: unmasking Singaporean attitudes towards ‘foreign talent’ migrants. Asian Ethnicity 15(1): 21–40.

16.

Housing and Development Board (HDB) (2019) Do HDB’s housing policies put Singaporeans first? Available at: https://www.hdb.gov.sg/about-us/news-and-publications/publications/hdbspeaks/housing-benefits-for-singapore-citizens#:∼:text=As%20HDB's%20mission%20is%20to,households%20with%20Singapore%20Citizens%20can%3A&text=Enjoy%20housing%20schemes%20and%20grants%20to%20finance%20their%20flat%20purchase

17.

Hewitt

(2005) White Backlash and the Politics of Multiculturalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

18.

EL-E

Kathiravelu

(2021) More than race: a comparative analysis of “new” Indian and Chinese migration in Singapore. Ethnic and Racial Studies 45(4): 636–655.

19.

Jamal

(2015) The “tiering” of citizenship and residency and the “hierarchization” of migrant communities: the United Arab Emirates in historical context. International Migration Review 49(3): 601–632.

20.

Joppke

(2010) Citizenship and Immigration. Cambridge: Polity.

21.

Könönen

(2018) Differential inclusion of non-citizens in a universalistic welfare state. Citizenship Studies 22(1): 53–69.

22.

Lim

(2019) Hefty Subsidies in Education to Help All Level up. Singapore: The Straits Times, 1 March.

23.

Liu

(2014) Beyond co-ethnicity: the politics of differentiating and integrating new immigrants in Singapore. Ethnic and Racial Studies 37(7): 1225–1238.

24.

Ministry of Culture Community and youth (MCCY) (2021) National integration council. Available at: https://www.mccy.gov.sg/sector/initiatives/national-integration-council

25.

McKenzie

(2017) Update from the ministry of manpower on changes in qualifying salary requirement. lexology. Available at: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6bf5cdfc-1ac4-4b69-b160-ee7a3891cbe6

26.

Menjívar

Lakhani

(2016) Transformative effects of immigration law: immigrants’ personal and social metamorphoses through regularization. American Journal of Sociology 121(6): 1818–1855.

27.

Ministry of Manpower (MOM) (2021) Fair consideration framework (FCF). Available at: https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/fair-consideration-framework

28.

Money

(2010) Comparative immigration policy. In: Denemark

Marlin-Bennett

(eds) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 1–19.

29.

Morris

(2003) Managing contradiction: civic stratification and migrants’ rights. International Migration Review 37(1): 74–100.

30.

Ong

(2021) Singapore’s Total Population Falls 4.1% to 5.45 Million as Covid-19 Hits Foreign Workforce Numbers. The Straits Times, 28 September. Available at: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/spores-total-population-falls-41-to-545-million-as-covid-19-hits-foreign

31.

Ortiga

(2015) Multiculturalism on its head: unexpected boundaries and new migration in Singapore. Journal of International Migration and Integration 16(4): 947–963.

32.

Paul

(2021) Asian Scientists on the Move: Changing Science in a Changing Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

33.

Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) (2010) Speech by Mr Lee Kuan Yew, minister mentor, at the indian new year celebrations. Available at: https://www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/speech-mr-lee-kuan-yew-minister-mentor-indian-new-year-celebrations-17-april-2010-700-pm

34.

Rhodes

(2010) White backlash, ‘unfairness’ and justifications of british national party (BNP) support. Ethnicities 10(1): 77–99.

35.

Sainsbury

(2012) Welfare States and Immigrant Rights: The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

36.

Schrag

(2010) Not Fit for Our Society. Oakland: University of California Press.

37.

Seow

(2016) It Pays for Firms to Develop Human Capital. Singapore: The Straits Times, 17 November.

38.

Seow

(2020) Minimum Salary for Employment Pass to Rise to $4,500; Even Higher Qualifying Salary of $5,000 for Financial Services. The Straits Times, 27 August. Available at: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/minimum-salary-for-employment-pass-to-rise-to-4500-from-3900-even-higher

39.

Söhn

(2014) How legal status contributes to differential integration opportunities. Migration Studies 2(3): 369–391.

40.

Stasiulis

(2008) Revisiting the permanent-temporary labour migration dichotomy. In: Gabriel

Pellerin

(eds) Governing International Labour Migration: Current Issues, Challenges and Dilemmas. Abington: Routledge, pp. 95–111.

41.

Tan

EKB

(2008) A union of gender equality and pragmatic patriarchy: international marriages and citizenship laws in Singapore. Citizenship Studies 12(1): 73–89.

42.

Tan

Bhaskaran

(2015) The role of the state in Singapore: Pragmatism in pursuit of growth. The Singapore Economic Review 60(3): 1550030.

43.

Tan

(2021) Tan See Leng's Ministerial Statement: Balancing Need for Foreign Manpower and Opportunities for Locals. The Straits Times, 6. July. Available at: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/ministerial-statement-by-manpower-minister-tan-see-leng-in-parliament-on-july-6

44.

Teng

(2017) School Fees Going up for Foreigners and PRs. The Straits Times, 18 October.

45.

Teo

(2015) Differentiated deservedness: governance through familialist social policies in Singapore. TRaNS: Trans-regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia 3(1): 73–93.

46.

Thompson

(2014) Immigration, society and modalities of citizenship in Singapore. Citizenship Studies 18(3–4): 315–331.

47.

Tong

Jiang

(2020) Much ado about nothing? Do foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong benefit from capital accumulation? American Behavioral Scientist 64(6): 823–840.

48.

Vertove

(2015) Diversities Old and New: Migration and Socio-Spatial Patterns in New York. Singapore and Johannesburg: Springer.

49.

Xiao

(2020) The labor contract law and the economic integration of rural migrants in urban China. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 29(4): 532–552.

50.

Yang

Zhan

(2017) Immigration, population, and foreign workforce in Singapore: an overview of trends, policies, and issues. HSSE Online 6(1): 10–25.

51.

Yang

(2018) Desiring ‘foreign talent’: lack and Lacan in anti-immigrant sentiments in Singapore. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 44(6): 1015–1031.

52.

(2017) Managing urban diversity through differential inclusion in Singapore. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 35(6): 1033–1052.

53.

Yeoh

BSA

(2006) Bifurcated labour: the unequal incorporation of transmigrants in Singapore. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 97(1): 26–37.

54.

Yeoh

Lam

(2016) Immigration and its (dis) contents: The challenges of highly skilled migration in globalizing Singapore. American Behavioral Scientist 60(5–6): 637–658.

55.

Zhan

Aricat

Zhou

(2020) New dynamics of multinational migration: Chinese and Indian migrants in Singapore and Los Angeles. Geographical Research 58(4): 365–376.

56.

Zhan

Zhou

(2020) Precarious talent: highly skilled Chinese and Indian immigrants in Singapore. Ethnic and Racial Studies 43(9): 1654–1672.