Engaging the absent citizen

[MarrickG]

The birthright of citizenship alone is not enough to bond a person to Singapore

NOW that the 2009 A-level examination results are out, the annual ritual of seeking admission to local and foreign universities is in full swing.

Notwithstanding efforts to recognise different peaks of excellence in our education system, we remain very much an examination meritocracy in which academic results matter considerably in the determination of "success". A university degree is seen as a prerequisite to a good job and career prospects.

Naturally, this is a period of considerable angst, anxiety and anticipation for these youths as to whether they can secure admission to one of the three local universities, not to mention of their desired courses of study.

Since 2008, 25 per cent of each Primary One cohort are admitted to the three publicly-funded local universities. By 2015, the cohort participation rate will be upped to 30 per cent.

But a good number of each cohort will venture overseas to earn the coveted academic qualification. They then become part of the growing overseas Singaporean community, a diaspora of sorts. For some, this quest to pursue university education may well translate into a significant time abroad as some remain overseas after their studies to seek employment there.

This talent leakage is significant. It was reported that more than 20 per cent of our top students from the 1996-1999 pre-university cohorts were not working in Singapore a decade later.

Even as Singapore competes globally for talent, we are losing some of our own through emigration. There is a limit to how many university places we can offer. Even if resources were not finite, the need to ensure that our degrees are quality ones means that not everyone who qualifies for admission would necessarily be admitted.

In tandem with making Singapore a global school house, foreign students are now an integral part of the local university landscape.

But try telling that to an applicant who is not admitted to a local university. One can imagine the disappointment and frustration, and the perception that Singapore is not doing enough for them.

More parents are now able to enrol their children in foreign universities. In fact, many families scrimp and save to ensure that the opportunity of a university education is not denied to the next generation.

For every Singaporean student overseas, there is the possibility of their not returning home. Today, there are more than 180,000 Singapore citizens living overseas. These absent citizens represent some of Singapore's best talents. They constitute a significant 6 per cent of Singapore's 3.164 million citizens.

Absent citizens have become too large and influential a constituency to ignore. Since 2006, the Government has sought to closely engage them, principally through the Overseas Singaporean Unit. A decade ago, absent citizens were even pejoratively described as "quitters"!

To increase their sense of belonging, limited overseas voting was introduced in 2001. In 2004, with more international marriages, landmark constitutional changes were made enabling female Singaporeans married to foreign spouses to pass on, as of right, their Singaporean citizenship to their foreign-born children. This made the grant of citizenship by descent gender neutral.

With the relative ease of migration and a more apparent dispassionate attitude towards citizenship, Singapore, as a city-state, is increasingly construed as a place with multiple meanings and relevance - a place to work, study or play, a place to be born in, live or retire.

Further, by virtue of being connected to different places, a mobile citizen has a myriad of identities. Citizenship is but one of several identities and relationships a person may have connecting him/her to any one place.

Increasingly, the birthright of citizenship alone is not enough to bond a person to Singapore. Instead, how citizenship is recognised and practised is of fundamental importance since citizenship does not automatically engender belonging and loyalty.

To be sure, citizenship is necessary to convey formal membership, rights and responsibilities in a nation-state. Yet it is manifestly insufficient in ensuring political equality, democratic participation, and substantive inclusion in a nation-state.

Singaporeans are increasingly mobile. The quest for degrees, employment and post-material fulfilment will mean more Singaporeans overseas. We need to engage them in a way that connects at the affective and cognitive levels. Otherwise, Singapore will be but another place to them.¢ [email protected]



The writer is assistant professor of law at theSchool of Law, Singapore Management University.

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