Adapting to a changed S'pore

After 1965, the newly sovereign government worked to flatten class and colour barriers and dismantle economic niches. As education standards improved and other Singaporeans could better access English-language schools, Eurasians began to lose their cachet. This concerned the community as it meant the loss of long-held vocations, especially those in the civil service.

Mr W. H. Mosbergen, on his election as president of the association in 1964, called upon Eurasians to learn local languages, to relinquish their expectations of white-collar jobs and to be prepared to "soil their hands".

Eurasians now had to compete on the same playing field with their fellow citizens based on the new nation's meritocratic laws and no longer had a special consideration by a British colonial patron, noted Dr Antonio L. Rappa.

Other sweeping changes, in sync with the ruling regime's de-communalisation and ethnic equality policies, were also afoot. For one, the People's Action Party (PAP) sought to deliberately enforce integration among people of different ethnicities. For example, the SRC (Singapore Recreation Club) was asked to abandon its Eurasian-only policy and the former Eurasian stronghold was opened up to all Singaporeans.

The government also required individuals with other citizenships to relinquish them for Singapore citizenship.

The government's priority was social stability, essential for economic growth and national survival. It wanted to develop, among its people, allegiance to this newly formed nation, which had historically never been independent, having functioned only as part of an empire or a country.

The concept of Singaporean nationhood was new and the immigrant populace of Singapore was expected to shed their allegiance to their hometowns.

Some Eurasians took positively to these changes. For instance, they viewed the opening up of the SRC as a contribution and gift to the Singapore sports scene. They were largely optimistic about the future of Singapore as a nation and eager to embrace their new Singaporean identity in unison with the rest of the multiracial populace.

A number, however, despaired. Like many other outsiders and naysayers, they did not think the resource-deficient island of Singapore had much chance of survival. They did not take well to the slew of changes, and were uncomfortable with the rapid developments after the war. Underlying all this was a sense of displacement, which culminated in an outflow of Eurasians who could afford to emigrate to distant shores in Commonwealth countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia. Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore, noted in his speech, Where Integration Comes Naturally, that it was the great political changes of the 1950s and 1960s that caused many to emigrate. "They felt uncertain of the future, and insecure in the nationalistic fervour of new independent countries," he said.

The departures from Singapore came swiftly despite the EA's calls to stay with the country. Mr W. H. Mosbergen, who was at the association's helm from 1964 to 1969, affirmed that Eurasians were "part and parcel" of this country and that "we should give it the best we can".

As a result of the exodus, the EA's membership figures between the 1960s and 1970s hovered between 400 and 800 or so. Sometimes, annual general meetings were postponed because the association could not fill the quorum.

The situation continued to be dismal on the EA's membership front. The association was missing an entire generation of young Singaporeans - especially those born after 1950 who grew up in the post-colonial era and were beginning to think of themselves as Singaporeans first.

Singapore's first cut of its multiracial policy and nation-building message appeared to be rather effective on much of the populace. In fact, the government's values of meritocracy and equality diminished the purpose of ethnic-based associations, which had been set up and designed to champion issues of injustice and racial discrimination in colonial times. Eurasians could generally eke out a decent living without having to identify themselves as Eurasian, so there was no longer any economic impetus or value in being Eurasian in post-independence Singapore, noted Dr Alexius A. Pereira in Singapore Chronicles: Eurasians.

This situation persisted into the mid-1980s. During this period, the EA's offerings of programmes and activities were limited.

Another wave of Eurasian migration, which occurred in the 1980s, compounded matters...

By and large the Eurasian community of Singapore was "invisible" for most of the 1980s.

Interest in the Eurasian identity, history and culture was lacking or non-existent among those who had chosen to stay on in Singapore. As a result, the EA - as an association - struggled. It was only when new social forces in Singapore came into play... that the destiny and trajectory of the Eurasian community and the EA changed unexpectedly.

• Standing The Test Of Time costs $50 and can also be downloaded at www.eurasians.sg/books