By Gaurav Sharma
So now that theĀ dust is slowly settling on the unfortunate events of last Sunday, it’s probablyĀ time to look at theĀ āweekend enclavesā in Singapore. The city state hasĀ seen the mushrooming of many such places in the recent past, where low-incomeĀ foreign workers congregate in large numbers on weekends, segregated in terms ofĀ their nationalities.
It’s a phenomenon āuniquely SingaporeāĀ in a sense because out of the 5.5 million inhabiting this tiny island, almost 40Ā percent are foreigners. Among them, a large chunk is the S Pass holders andĀ construction workers. Moreover, their numbers have increased rapidly in the lastĀ few years to off-set Singapore’s labour-short economy. [refer to tableĀ 1] Why All humans need to work as well asĀ take breaks to rejuvenate once in a while. And what better way to do this thanĀ to meet friends, crack jokes, and share a meal. It’s a basic human trait, whichĀ social psychologists call the in-group phenomenon, where people findĀ it meaningful to socialise, according to similar cultural traits. Also, theseĀ workers are often housed in cramped dormitories, and work long hours during theĀ weekdays. Thus, such enclaves serve a beingĀ stress-busters asĀ well.
Where
Everyone, at least by now, alreadyĀ knows about Little India and how it witnesses a sea of low-income workers fromĀ India and Bangladesh on weekends.
For workers from China, there isĀ Chinatown, obviously.
For Filipinos, the ā weekend enclaveāĀ is a run-down shopping mall, Lucky Plaza, along an otherwise posh OrchardĀ Road.
Around the same neighbourhood, is theĀ Golden Mile Complex, which Singapore’s Tourism Board describes as āLittleĀ Thailandā and a āplace where you can find all things Thai right here inĀ Singaporeā. While it has 411 shops serving everything āauthentically Thaiā,Ā workers also get to watch a Thai band or two perform live at night.
For the Burmese, it is Peninsula Plaza and itsĀ vicinity.
Though not in the same league, but theĀ area around Joo Chiat somewhat caters to migrant workers from Vietnam, with lotsĀ of eateries serving cheap Vietnamese cuisine.
Apart from hosting traditional food andĀ beer from their home countries, these enclaves are home to variousĀ money-transferring agencies, which the workers use to send their hard-earnedĀ bucks back home.
Good or bad
While some would argue that theseĀ āweekend enclavesā add an extra spice and vibrancy to Singapore’s claim of beingĀ a multi-racial state, try explaining this to the residents living in theseĀ estates.
When The Independent talked to shop keepers and restaurant owners around the Race Course Road yesterday, there were clear signs ofĀ a return of the Nimby (not in my back yard) phenomenon. Readers might remember last year even PM Lee expressed his worry on the growing trend of people saying ānoā to having particular facilities in their neighbourhood.
āWhy doesn’t theĀ government build designated spaces for these migrant workers where they can haveĀ all the entertainment options they want?ā asked one owner. But later, he himselfĀ admitted employing foreign manpower in his restaurant and agreed that the issueĀ is not so straight-forward with simple solutions.
Solution
Hearteningly, majority of people TheĀ Independent spoke to agreed that Singapore must not follow the āDubai modelā andĀ restrict the movement of foreign workers here.
Rather, better policing, more awarenessĀ about Singapore laws, and restricting the availability of cheap alcohol in theseĀ enclaves, is the way forward.
While the government seems to be doingĀ all this now, it would have been better if these measures were pro-activelyĀ taken, before the issue of āweekend enclavesā in Singapore took such an uglyĀ turn. It was a tragedy waiting to happen.