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...housing, the more money they have to buy cheaper houses in Australia. Will Singaporeans be rooted to Singapore? Will enough Singaporeans stay here, to ensure the country's long-term survival?
--Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, National Day Rally Address 2002
The question of national identity and national belonging amongst Singaporeans is an ongoing concern both in official and academic discourses in Singapore. Over the last decade this question arose repeatedly in government discourses and policy initiatives: beginning with Singapore: The Next Lap (1991), Singapore 21 (1999), and Remaking Singapore (2003) and also throughout the late 1990s during Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's annual National Day Rally addresses.
In this paper, I examine the ways in which Singaporeans articulate their experiences in relation to the state-constructed narratives of national identity. Public debates on globalization and the nation-state in Singapore are limited (see Tremewan 1994; Ho 2000). (1) Nonetheless, over the last few years Singaporeans have begun to participate in various news polls and Internet bulletin boards to express their opinions and views. The views expressed in these forums offer an insight into the way in which the participants respond to government policies and rhetoric. It is also worth pointing out that the absolute anonymity that Internet bulletin boards provide generates a more candid dissenting evaluation of People's Action Party (PAP) policies than other media. More broadly, these views are a sample of the current mood, especially of young Singaporeans, on some of the issues that I wish to explore in this paper. (2) I draw extensively on messages posted on the Straits Times Interactive Chat (STIC) discussion board which I monitored between August 2000 and December 2002; reports in the Straits Times newspaper; and feedback from fifty participants in an e-mail survey that I conducted between June and December 2001 to examine the question of national identity and sense of belonging. (3)
I want to argue that Singaporeans relate to the "national" question in practical and material terms and as such this mode of belonging is highly individual-oriented and is not conducive to developing a sense of collective identity. This, I argue, is a direct outcome of the government's approach to nation-building based on economic developmentalism and the ideology of pragmatism. So far the government has attempted to instil and create a sense of national identity and belonging by giving its citizens a material stake in the country. However, despite Singapore's remarkable economic and social achievements and the government's impressive record of "delivering the goods" (in areas such as employment, housing, education, and health care), there still remains a consistent obsession with survival as a small nation with limited resources. And so when national fortune and private destiny are always presented by the state as intimately fused, as Yao (1996, p. 351) points out, "the real and imagined dangers to national order inevitably darken the glow of middle-class perfection". And so, while Singaporeans take pride in and strongly identify with what I would call the "material furnishing" of the nation, given the anxiety over Singapore's uncertain future, their emotional stake in the nation is somewhat half-hearted.
Another key argument I wish to make is that while Singaporean social modernity is characterized by a high level efficiency, cleanliness, and the presence of all modern conveniences within its borders, these elements are not sufficient for Singaporeans to have a deep emotional stake in the country. Without this affective connection, Singaporeans seem more drawn to new opportunities abroad. These desires are as much influenced by the high cost of living in Singapore as the attraction of better opportunities and more pleasant lifestyles offered elsewhere.
In the final analysis, I argue that the structure of mutual obligation that exists between the government and its people is built upon an ambivalent relationship. In providing the gift of social life to Singaporeans, the government expects in return their commitment and loyalty to the nation. For an ethics of mutual obligation to emerge, the government needs to recognize and honour not only the moral worth and contributions of its citizens but also their mere presence.
Singapore as Home
At the start of my research, I was interested in finding out how Singaporeans relate to and identify with the Singapore nation and indeed, whether they experience the nation as home. By "home" I do not mean the physical or the domestic household but, following Morley (2001, p. 425), home as "spaces of belonging" (and identity) at a local and national scale in which people think of themselves as being "at home". Something more akin to the notion of a homeland.
In response to the question "do you feel Singapore is your home?", it is not surprising that most respondents replied that Singapore is home simply because it is their country of birth, where their family and friends are, and where they have grown up and spent most of their lives. However, on deeper reflection, a more complex story emerged when respondents spoke about the factors that contributed to their sense of identity and belonging to the Singapore nation. With remarkable consistency, most respondents in the survey and STIC webchat indicated that Singapore's economic achievements and progress, its political stability and efficiency as compared with Singapore's Asian neighbours, its standard of living, and the clean, safe, and green living environment, are the factors contributing most to their sense of identification as a Singaporean. These factors without a doubt are a source for national pride.
As I read through the hundreds of messages posted on the STIC website, and replies from my e-mail survey, the thing that struck me most was the specific ways in which the respondents talked about their experiences and affective links with the "environment" of everyday Singapore. The experience of home and belonging amongst Singaporeans is largely framed in the materiality and social modernity of everyday life in urban Singapore. These have become homely symbols of the nation. A sense of self and identity is imagined through them; they are what makes "us" as Singaporeans different.
Recalling the uncertainties faced by Singapore during the period after the separation from Malaya, and pondering all the achievements of the nation-state since then, one respondent wrote:
I'm so proud to be a Singaporean, especially today!! Today marks the 35th year since our country break loose from the Federation of Malaya. Unlike then, when people are struck with fear and uncertainties [of] the future; when our leaders break in tears for the sad announcement, we now rejoice for the birth of a new nation. So what make [sic] me so proud?? Is it due to the stability in our economic situation? Is it due to our stable political structure? Is it due to the high standard of living? Is it due to the high percentages of growth in GDP yearly? Is it due to the low crime rate? Is it because our airport is still no. 1? Perhaps ... But what make me really proud is ... this is the only place that I can call MY HOME!! There will be no country that I will like to be in, ever, since I have almost everything here. (smashing4--9 August 2000)
In this account, we can see that the specific social conditions and experiences of national life form a crucial backdrop to the articulation of national belonging and a sense of feeling at home. Though the questions raised in the above response are rhetorical, they invariably express a high level of identification with and affective belonging to modern Singapore. Another respondent firmly stated that being Singaporean means:
... the competitive economy, the excuse to speak Singlish (or broken English), the good education system, the chance to meet other races/ cultures, the convenience in transport/shopping/eating out etc., the pleasure of knowing that my country had a dramatic/traumatic history but still emerged a winner in such a short time, the fact that many nations out there envy us to some extent ... (Layman1--19 August 2000)
For both these respondents the "traumatic" history of Singapore serves as an important point of reference for evaluating the present achievements of the nation. The gaining of independence in 1965 is deeply entrenched as part of the national imagining. For Singaporeans, National Day celebrations are not only a triumphant moment but also serve as an official reminder of Singapore's achievements.
Respondents frequently remarked upon Singapore's comfort, modern conveniences, high standard of living, economic and political stability:
I like Singapore because it is a safe small place. It is very easy to go from place to place. Also Singapore rules are strict so it is a good thing to live in Singapore. I am also very proud to be a Singaporean and I think that I am very lucky to be born in Singapore. Singapore is my country, my home...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
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