I’m in Singapore this week for the first time. Cognitive Edge have invited me to assist with training the Civil Service in narrative and complexity-based techniques. Singapore is a fascinating city, oops, wait … it’s a country. The misconception is easily made. No bigger than 30km by 40km, Singpore is more of a city than a country.
In reading Prime Ministers Lee’s National Day Rally speech (as prep for the training) I get the sense that Lee is more of a mayor than a Prime Minister. The issues this country faces are so localised e.g. identifying particular bus and train routes that are congested. One of the biggest challenges that Singapore faces is that of immigration. Coming from a country with it’s own immigration issues I tend to look at the issue through the lens of xenophobia …
Being a closed-system of sorts, the influx of foreigners is putting pressure on all parts of society. Singaporeans are worried about their wages, jobs and spirit of the nation. These grumblings are the beginning phases of xenophobia that need to be monitored very carefully.
The difference in South Africa is that our immigration pressure of of the illegal type. “Refugees” escaping despots like Mugabe have come to South Africa in search of freedom, work and safety. Sadly, our frustrations with these foreigners has turned into violence. Just after the world cup xenophobic violence reared it’s ugly head once again. Just when we were thinking that the threat had dissipated we realised that the xenophobic ructions are still very real.
My hope is that Singapore is dealing with the potential problem early, dampening the emotions that could so easily take the frustrations to the next level.
The grumblings are more at the administration than the foreigners, especially if they’re rich and white. That would be the post-colonial inferiority complex at work. Then of course, there is the superiority complex which manifests in contempt towards foreign workers on the lower end of the pay and social scale.
Wanting to increase the population from 3 million to 7.5 million in less than a generation is no laughing matter – not only are there very painful size and resource constraints but also that of foreigner outnumbering locals possibly 5 to 1 in the future. I suppose it is fitting; for our great-grandparents Singapore was a port of call to begin with and it looks to be nothing more than a port of call again. I grew up in the Singapore of the 80s and 90s, but I will be out of here before that 7.5 million happens.