Not Singaporean Enough? Migration, History and National Identity in Singapore

Abstract

Situated along an important maritime corridor, Singapore's modern history has been defined by its openness as a port-city, and its connections to global networks of people, trade and ideas. Today, it positions itself as a global city, attracting new waves of visitors and settled and transient migrants. Singapore is, however, relatively unique amongst global cities, in that it is has for the last half century existed as a sovereign nation-state. The island therefore operates within two distinct discourses that have also influenced its migration and development policies , its recent politics, as well as the writing of its history. On the one hand, Singapore is a nation with territorial borders, a body politic of citizens, and it has attempted to consolidate a defined cultural identity. Yet, its economic and strategic interests also dictate that it retains its historical character as an open and fluid cosmopolitan city. One area in which these two paradigms have been in tension is in the state's recent immigration policies. On the one hand, immigration is described as necessary in order to overcome the negative repercussions of Singapore's low birth rates and to ensure economic competitiveness. (eds.), History, Historians and the Immigration Debate, https://doi.