The “Singaporean Pragmatist”: Accommodating Socialism and Neoliberalism? Singaporean Identity in 2015 (Tamil)

Abstract

According to sociologists Anthony Berger and Thomas Luckmann, social marginality constitutes one of four sources of social change. Given their minority status, the Indians of Singapore may be considered a marginalised society. According to the 2010 national census, Indians constitute 9.2% of the Singaporean population, making them one of the smallest ethnic minorities in the country. Given that Tamil is the most spoken second language among Singaporean-Indians, it is worth considering the possibility of social change in Singapore which may exist in local texts delivered in the Tamil vernacular.

Based on ten of the most widely distributed Tamil texts, the Singaporean essence is largely captured by four sub-discourses — Administrative, Confucian, Socialist, and Neoliberal. These identities combine to form the predominant Singaporean Pragmatist discourse. While Neoliberal and Socialist are philosophically divergent, the two sub-discourses manage to both co-exist and challenge one another within the predominant discourse among Singapore-Tamils. The substantial challenger to the predominant discourse therefore exists within itself; between Socialist and Neoliberal. Otherwise, the predominant Singaporean Pragmatist discourse is largely unopposed.