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What’s holding back migrant integration in Singapore and ways to break the barriers
Both new migrants and locals can help in the process.
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Migrants, in many ways, respond to the socio-political conditions they encounter while adapting to a new society, says the writer.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Mathew Mathews
There is a strong economic imperative for a steady infusion of migrants into Singapore, given the nation’s need to maintain workforce competitiveness. Nonetheless, as President Halimah Yacob highlighted in a recent speech, it is paramount that new migrants integrate into Singaporean society.
Failure to do so risks undermining our social cohesion and stability. As President Halimah said in her speech at the Institute of Policy Studies’ (IPS) 35th anniversary gala dinner, new migrants “must recognise that they are part of our society too, and in Singapore, we interact with, and live among, people who are different from ourselves”.
