50 YEARS OF SOCIAL ISSUES IN SINGAPORE
World Scientific Series on Singapores 50 Years of Nation-Building
Published
50 Years of Social Issues in Singapore
edited by David Chan (Singapore Management University, Singapore)
Forthcoming
Our Lives to Live: Putting a Womans Face to Change in Singapore
edited by Kanwaljit Soin and Margaret Thomas
Ageing in Singapore: Changing Mindsets
edited by Goh Lee Gan (National University Health System, Singapore), Kua Ee Heok (National University of Singapore, Singapore) and Chiang Hai Ding (Former Executive Director, Sage Counselling Centre, Singapore)
Food, Foodways and Foodscapes: Culture, Community and Consumption in Post-Colonial Singapore
edited by Lily Kong and Vineeta Sinha (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
50 Years of Chinese Community
edited by Pang Cheng Lian (Former Singapores Ambassador to Switzerland and Italy)
50 Years of Engineering in Singapore
edited by Cham Tao Soo (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
50 Years of Environment
edited by Tan Yong Soon (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
50 Years of Eurasian Community
edited by Timothy James De Souza (The Eurasian Association, Singapore)
Singapores Health Care System: What 50 Years Have Achieved
edited by K. Satkunanantham (National University Hospital, Singapore) and Lee Chien Earn (Changi General Hospital, Singapore)
50 Years of Indian Community
edited by Gopinath Pillai (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore)
50 Years of Malay-Muslim Community
edited by Zainul Abidin Rasheed (Former President, Singapore Islamic Religious Council, Singapore)
50 Years of Materials Science
edited by Freddy Boey (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), Subramanian Venkatraman (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) and B.V.R. Chowdari (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
The Singapore Research Story
edited by Hang Chang Chieh (National University of Singapore, Singapore) and Low Teck Seng (National Research Foundation, Singapore)
50 Years of Science
edited by Lim Hock (National University of Singapore, Singapore), Bernard Tan (National University of Singapore, Singapore) and K.K. Phua (World Scientific Publishing Company, Singapore, and Imperial College Press, London)
Perspectives on the Security of Singapore: The First 50 Years
edited by Barry Desker and Ang Cheng Guan (S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
50 Years of SingaporeChina Relations
edited by Zheng Yongnian and John Wong (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
50 Years of SingaporeEurope Relations
edited by Yeo Lay Hwee (European Union Centre, Singapore)
50 Years of Singapore and the United Nations
edited by Tommy Koh (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore)
50 Years of Technical Education
edited by N. Varaprasad (Institute of Applied Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
50 Years of Transportation
edited by Fwa Tien Fang (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
50 Years of Urban Planning
edited by Heng Chye Kiang (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
50 years of social issues in Singapore / [edited by] David Chan, Singapore Management University, Singapore.
pages cm. -- (World Scientific series on 50 years of nation-building)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-9814632607 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-9814632614 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-9814696913 (hardcover with slip case: alk. paper)
1. Singapore--Social conditions. 2. Singapore--Social policy. I. Chan, David (Industrial psychologist), editor. II. Yap, Mui Teng. Ageing in Singapore. Container of (work): III. Title: Fifty years of social issues in Singapore.
HN700.67.A8A15 2015
306.095957--dc23
2015004082
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright 2015 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher.
For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher.
In-house Editor: Rajni Gamage
Typeset by Stallion Press
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Printed in Singapore
Foreword
When David Chan told me about this book, I thought it was a most worthwhile endeavour.
The book brings together a distinguished team of thinkers and scholars, to examine and reflect on a range of critical social issues that have received wide public and policy attention in Singapore. It is also one of the few volumes which explicitly link the historical evolution of our society to our current situation and future possibilities.
The values and aspirations that we embraced as a people when we had nationhood thrust on us are as relevant for our future as they were in 1965. To be one united people, regardless of race, language or religion. To be a society that is fair and just, where we progress together.
But the context in which we now strive to build our future is vastly different from what it was 50 years ago. Building a fair, inclusive and vibrant society is continuous work, and requires fresh strategies.
We are still a small nation in a world of much larger nations, but the world has changed. We have to earn our place, not in the region but globally, with both the most advanced countries and dynamic emerging players in the same arena. Conflict and tensions based on religious and sectarian beliefs have become more globalised, and a defining challenge of the times.
Our own society too is vastly transformed. Standards of living for most Singaporeans have increased five- to sixfold since the 1960s, including for the poorer in our society. But as both social mobility and income growth become slower, the need to temper inequality and lifes disparities has grown. And while the Singaporean identity is strong and palpable after 50 years, we are more diverse in our preferences, and with a greater pursuit of the quality of life beyond the material.
