ST: Foreigners “integrating” into Singapore as more of them are
joining dating agencies to find “love”
According to a report in the Straits Times today, more
foreigners are joining Singapore dating agencies in a bid to find
“love”.
Dating agencies told The Straits Times they have seen an
increase of up to 30 per cent in single foreign clients over the
past two years, most of which are professionals and executives in
their late 20s to early 40s and are degree holders.
The Straits Times added a spin to it by claiming that it is a
sign that PRs and foreigners are more willing to “integrate”
themselves into Singapore society.
It quoted NUS sociologist Paulin Straughan as saying:
“When you are willing to consider dating and forging a
long-term relationship not from your own race and nationality, it’s
the ultimate willingness to assimilate.”
Due to the ruling party’s liberal immigration policies,
foreigners now make up 36 per cent of Singapore’s population, up
from 14 per cent in 1990. Of the remaining 64 per cent who are
citizens, an increasing number are born overseas.
The Department of Statistics revealed that there are 533,200 PRs
and 1.25 million foreigners in Singapore as of last year. This is
up from the 449,200 PRs and 1 million foreigners in 2007. In 2008,
6,077 citizens married non-Singaporeans, an increase from 4,566 in
2003.
It is hardly surprising to see an increase in the number of
foreigners seeking long-term relationships in Singapore as they are
more of them coming to study and work here.
How it can be interpreted as a “sign” that they are willing to
integrate themselves into Singapore society is anybody’s guess.
Furthermore, it is highly debatable if all of them are looking
for a partner in Singapore purely out of love or because of other
more mundane motives.
A number of foreigners are marrying Singaporeans simply because
they want to secure Singapore citizenship which can be a passport
for them elsewhere.
Again, not all foreigner-Singapore couples choose to remain in
Singapore, especially the highly qualified professionals who may
relocate with their foreign spouses back to their homelands or
elsewhere.
Faced with a potential backlash from angry voters in the next
election, the ruling party has been trying hard to convince
Singaporeans initially that foreigners are needed in Singapore and
now that they are “integrating” well into Singapore.
As too many foreigners are allowed into Singapore within too
short a period of time, it is near impossible to expect most, if
not all of them to assimilate into Singapore society in a single
generation.
Fortunately for the ruling party, no matter how badly it screws
up, it can always rely on the ever faithful Singapore media to
whitewash their mistakes and portray them in a positive manner.