DEMOGRAPHY OF SINGAPORE INDIANS

Abstract

Indian Singaporeans have gone through a long path in Singapore, transforming from a transient immigrants stock to that of a settled minority. It is the aim of this exercise to trace the demographic pattern of the Indian population from 1947 to 1990 and to highlight the transitional phase the community has undergone. Chapter 2 gives a reasonable account of such trends. The socio-economic status of the Indians is also examined, in terms of their activity status and income distribution. The mortality and morbidity trends of Singapore Indians have been studied in Chapter 3 through analysis of their death rates (crude and age-specific rates). It was found that their declining mortality rate has resulted in the extended length of life of Indians. The transformation of the cause structure of death has also contributed notably to the higher life expectancy of the community. Besides migration, natural increase has been an important factor resulting in the changing age structure of Indian population. Chapter 4 looks into the fertility and nuptiality aspects of the community, and it was discerned that the declining fertility rate has been attributed to social factors like increase in educational attainment and the desire for a small family size. Information pertinent to such results was also decomposed to examine the fertility reduction of the community in the last few decades. As a minority, some Indians in Singapore seem to exhibit tendencies bordering on "perceived" maladies, hence discouraging the community from seeking its share of development in a competitive Singapore society. Chapter 5 looks into the crux of this issue: educational attainment, emigration of "disheartened" Indians because of perceived discrimination and finally the attraction of overseas Indians to counteract the depletion of the limited Indian talents.