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Immigration and integration
Picking up Singlish for 'camouflage': Life as an immigrant in Singapore
Fifteen years ago, Singapore liberalised its immigration policy. It was reversed in 2009 following widespread unhappiness. The National Integration Council was set up the same year to help the newcomers ease into society. A decade on, The Sunday Times finds out how those young immigrants who arrived at the height of anti-immigration tensions are doing.
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Yuen Sin
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As a pupil in Yung An Primary School in Jurong, Ou Ningfei was bullied. "If we played games like basketball or football in school, I would always be the last to be picked. Or people would call me 'Chinaman'," recounted Mr Ou, now 30.
As an immigrant from Ningbo, China, who arrived with his parents who worked in shipping, it did not help that negative stereotypes of Chinese nationals were rife. Mr Ou swung to the other extreme so as to blend in with his classmates.
