Singapore’s Quest for Foreign Talent, Chinese Migrant Workers and the Growing Citizen-foreigner Divide

• In Event: 452 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 06. Race and Citizenship

Abstract

Singaporean state authorities adjusted their recruitment of foreign talent in the post-Asian Financial Crisis era in order to re-position the city-state as a knowledge hub and talent capital. Highly skilled Chinese migrant workers from Southeast Asia and East Asia are privileged in this immigration scheme due to their cultural similarities to local Chinese populations, and their ability to maintain Singapore’s racial ratio. Their increased presence and visibility in Singapore over the last 20 years has also produced and exacerbated a growing citizen-foreigner divide. In this chapter, I explore how Chinese foreign talent supports the various priorities of state authorities, while also worsening tensions in Singaporean society. I focus on the stories of three Chinese foreign talents from Malaysia, Hong Kong and Mainland China and argue that they navigate local ethnic politics as foreign talent in Singapore differently based on their specific Chinese ethnicities and national backgrounds. Alongside other key identity markers, such as gender, age and occupation, these markers shape their engagement with the city-state, their relationships to their home societies and relationships with various community actors in different ways, while providing unique perspectives on the limitations of the city-state’s foreign talent policy.

Author

• Jean Michel Montsion, York University, Glendon Campus