Ethnic boundaries redefined: The emergence of the "Permanent outsiders" in Singapore

Abstract

This study examines ethnicity manifested in urban landscapes in the context of globalization and international migration in Singapore. The discourse in Singapore is centered on CMIO multiethnicity and Singaporea??s ethnoscape comprising a unique a??CMIOscapea??a??imagined and constructed not only by the state and the local CMIO communities, but also by another emergent community: the non-CMIO a??ethnic Othersa?? or the a??permanent outsidersa?? in Singapore society. This study calls for a new interpretation of the construction of ethnicity by including a??permanent outsidersa??, mainly foreign guest-workers and expatriates, into a more comprehensive analysis on Singaporea??s multiethnic discourse. Two case studies are included in this study to illustrate the ethnic construction of the a??othereda?? ethnoscapes manifested in urban public shopping centers in the context of labor migration in Southeast Asia. This study also examines the specific process of ethnic identity assertion and the ethnic boundary maintenance practiced by different subjectivities at different levels.