Oh yes the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP). Not as well known as “chewing gum” and “littering ban”. It may take some explaining to understand why the EIP exists:
Already from Stamford Raffles founded Singapore as a British Colony the different races and ethnic groups have been living in separate enclaves (Divide & Rule) as can be seen on the Plan of the Town from 1822:
As migrants from China, India, Malaya and different islands in modern day Indonesia (and many other) arrived they settled in Kampongs around the island:
These were ethnically divided, with little intermingling. Even different Chinese Clans were living in separated Kampongs, had their own schools and temples and spoke different “dialects”.
The nearest to a common language was “Bazaar Malay”, while a small elite went to English schools and spoke English, even between themselves.
The Colonial Masters lived in splendid isolation in their bungalows, with a staff of servants (called Boys and Amahs) numbering at least 6-7, even for junior officers.
The better hotels, like Raffles, Adelphi and Goodwood Park and their clubs did not allow locals to join, as can be seen by the Cricket Club on one end and the Recreation Club on the other end of the Padang. One was purely “white” and the other for the Eurasian and Indian elite.
The Chinese Clans had their clubs in Club Street, Chinatown. The Chinese Swimming Club at Tanjung Rhu was open to all Clans. The Ceylonese Sports Club catered to the Jaffna Tamils that served the British Colonials all over the world.
This system functioned until the Japanese occupation in WWII, but when the British returned in 1945 they were no longer seen as invincible and the clubs etc. slowly opened up for local members of the English educated elite
Singapore got internal self-government in 1957 and formed Malaysia, together with the Malay Federation and the British colonies of British North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak in 1963.
Singapore became an independent country when thrown out of Malaysia in Aug. 1965.
But the British Armed Forces were the largest employer of Singaporeans until they withdrew from East of Suez in 1971.
The ethnically divided Kampongs last until the mid-1970, when most had been moved into HDB flats that was racially and ethnically mixed by the EIP. By then the schools were all common and the language of instruction was English. National service was also compulsory for all male Singaporeans and permanent residents.
This was also when Singapore changed from being short of jobs to being short of laborer.
It also changed from being an overgrown village and backward ex. colonial backwater to being a vibrant modern metropolis.
I watch much of this transformation, from my first visit in 1959, when it was still a British Colony, thru the period as part of Malaysia and it’s progress as an independent country, with no resources and little industry from when I started to call Singapore home, in 1967 and until the Singapore you see today.
I have no illusion that everything in Singapore is perfect, but compare the conditions the average Singaporean lived under when I first got there and the way they live today, it has been an amazing progress.
As has been pointed out in another thread today; to put Western measures on everything doesn’t help “knowing Singapore”, or any other country in Asia.
The “Western model” isn’t necessarily right for Asian (or other non-Western) countries.
PS> Looking at the mess in the West today, I’m not even sure if it is right there any longer either. Maybe time to look at how the Western model can be improved. (Singapore by the Themes, or Potomac??)
