New study places National Service (NS) as key indicator of foreigner integration

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http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120521-0000074/National-Service-a-key-indicator-of-integration--Study

A new study has placed National Service (NS) as a key indicator of integration for foreigners.

The report, by the Institute of Policy Studies, seeks to examine what immigrants ought to do, in order to be regarded as a full participating member of Singapore society.

The study covered some 2,000 local and foreign-born citizens, who were asked several questions on what they thought were social markers of integration.

The study showed some perceptual gaps, which researchers said are cause for fault-lines within the community.

The biggest area of incongruence - that a son of a new citizen undergoes NS. About 70 per cent of Singaporeans feel it is an important indicator of integration, while only about 40 per cent of new citizens think so.

The other top areas of divergent viewpoints are - a new citizen getting on well with workplace colleagues, being gainfully employed, and having the ability to speak conversational English. More Singaporeans than new immigrants feel these are all important attributes for integration.

The study also showed that Singaporeans who tend to be less inclusive are tertiary educated, come from the middle income group, have strong family ties and are more nationalistic.

Researchers said it boils down to the group that feel the most threatened by the presence of foreigners.

However, the study also found that Singaporeans embrace multi-racialism. The results showed Singaporeans do not expect foreigners to discard their cultural identity, even as these foreigners embrace core beliefs held by Singaporeans, such as meritocracy and religious tolerance.

On the policy implications of the study, researchers said the Singapore Armed Forces may need to reach out more at the community level, such as convincing first generation new citizens of the value of National Service, for example.

They added that more could be done also to facilitate the learning of English among foreigners.

They have also called for more transparency in data on immigration. These include details on specific sectors foreigners are employed in and the criteria for obtaining a PR status.

Researchers added businesses should also think about programmes to improve workplace relations between Singaporeans and foreigners.