English Commentary

'No magic wand to integration'
Section: Singapore
Publication: Tabla 10/07/2009
Page: 17
No. of words: 436

HOW to get new immigrants integrated into Singapore society? Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who is also Second Home Affairs Minister, said the Government cannot be the "total solution" to this.

Rather, the tricky problem takes three parties to solve – Singaporeans, who have to be welcoming; new immigrants, who have to adapt to a new culture; and the Government, which has to provide a framework for people to bond.

Mr Shanmugam stressed this three-way partnership at an hour-long dialogue with Punggol Central residents on July 5, in response to a question from a resident who wanted to know what could be done to integrate the growing pool of new immigrants here. Last year, 20,513 foreigners became Singapore citizens, while 79,167 took up permanent residency.

It is the people themselves – Singaporeans and new residents – who have to mingle and forge friendships with one another, said Mr Shanmugam. Singaporeans, he said, should welcome "newer residents with an open heart and help them integrate, bring them in". This is already taking place in housing estates, he noted.

He met many new residents during his visit to the constituency and also watched a game of cricket played by a team hailing mostly from India (above).

Mr Shanmugam, who is a member of the National Integration Council, noted that there is no such thing as instant integration. "You can't just wave a magic wand and say, 'okay, integration'. It takes many years," he said.

Noting how Singaporeans and new residents have come together to be involved in the programme for his ministerial visit, Mr Shanmugam added: "That is a way integration takes place, at the ground level." As for new settlers, his advice was that they should "take the attitude that they want to integrate".



How to get immigrants to integrate into Singapore society?

Basically, in this article, Minister or Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam discusses about the issue of how to get new immigrants to Singapore to integrate into their new society. The number of immigrants in Singapore is increasing, now totalling 1.8 million. As a student of Raffles Institution, I get to meet with many students who were born in immigrant families, and so I feel that this topic is especially pertinent to me as well as Singapore.

I realize that it is not easy for new immigrants to integrate into Singapore society because they have to live in a society with different cultures and possibly different languages. Furthermore, some Singaporeans have a negative view of these immigrants, as they feel that they are here to compete for the already limited resources of Singapore, such as education and jobs, and are threatening their livelihood in Singapore.

So how can Singapore get immigrants to integrate into Singapore society? Instead of looking at what different groups can do to help them, I will instead be looking at the qualities that all parties involved must have in order to improve the current situation.

Firstly, I believe that having an open mind is an important step to help immigrants integrate into Singapore society. To begin with, the local population must understand that they stand to gain from immigrants and vice versa, as immigrants bring along their talent into Singapore’s workforce and improve it as a whole. They also can get a better living in Singapore than in some other countries. Thus they should learn to accept immigrants in Singapore as part of globalization and aim to help them as much as possible to integrate into Singapore society. On the other hand, new immigrants should also bring along an open mind as well. Since they have chosen to make Singapore their home, they should also learn to accept the country and the people that they are in.

Secondly, I believe that being sensitive to others’ needs can also help immigrants integrate into Singapore society. In my opinion, the local population can aim to be more involved in the needs of immigrants through simple methods such as paying visits to neighbours who are immigrants and being genuinely concerned about their lives. Also, on the part of immigrants, they could also be more pro-active and volunteer their services to society, helping to make a difference in the environment that they live in. These are small actions, but actions that go a long way in helping immigrants to integrate into Singapore society. Through such methods, I believe that there will be more trust between immigrants and local Singaporeans and a stronger sense of belonging to Singapore, building a more cohesive society, one where immigrants have fully integrated into Singapore society.

I believe that the way to help new immigrants integrate into Singapore society should not be one which is led by the government, but one led by the people. The local population in Singapore can do a lot to help the people through many initiatives, but what is more important that they must have open minds and the sensitivity to others’ needs. If they have open minds and the sensitivity to others’ needs, I believe that they can do much better in helping new immigrants integrate into Singapore society. However, even that is not enough. I hope new immigrants also have the above two qualities as well so as to become willing participants in integration. I hope that through this way, the question on how to help new immigrants integrate into Singapore society will be answered.

(600 words)