ANS 361: project

MOBILITIES SINGAPORE EDITION: MIGRANT WORKERS NABA DR. HINDMAN

DECEMBER 2023 | ISSUE 01

ANS 361 ASIAN MOBILITIES

FINAL PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3 - FROM THE EDITOR 4 - ARGUMENT OVERVIEW 6 - SINGAPORE AS A ‘GLOBAL CITY’ 7 - (IM)MIGRATION TO SINGAPORE 8 - GENDERED EXPERIENCES 9 - HISTORIES OF LABOR 14 - CHANGI AIRPORT: LIMINAL SPACE 15 - REFERENCES

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FROM THE EDITOR In May of 2023, I studied abroad in Singapore to gain credit for a class called IRG 320F: Foundations of International Relations and Global Studies. From spending time with my lovely roommates to devouring meals at packed hawker centers, my trip was incredible and memorable; it occupies a special place in my heart now.

However, it was only when I took this class, ANS 361: Asian Mobilities, that I realized how much concepts of (im)mobility shaped my experience. Here in Texas, I don’t have a driver’s license, and there’s not much I can do without it. Austin at least has some semblance of public transportation, but my home city of Houston does not.

That’s why in Singapore I felt capable of going wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted, in a way I had never felt before. I probably walked the most I ever have there, and on top of that, the MRT system was remarkably easy to navigate. I felt like my mobility had granted me a sense of agency.

With that, I noticed how remarkably easy it was to run out of funds on the MRT card. So much of my mobility had been enabled by money — even being able to go on the trip itself. Money is power, after all. But so is knowledge. I’d like to think that learning about Singapore’s history, especially concerning migrant workers and their labor, contributes to something.

They are the force behind not only the Singapore I came to know but also everything I have taken for granted here in the United States, too. Here’s to the hidden labor of the working class, to those who move in search of opportunity that is unfairly skewed...

WITH LOVE,

Naba Sheikh Me at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay’s ‘Floral Fantasy’ attraction!

Note: My goal was to use only my own pictures throughout this magazine (with the exception of a map) which ultimately shaped what I discussed and how I went about it :’)

“Singapore — just over 700 square kilometers in size and with a population of [5.4 million] — is a global city that is also a nation-state, meaning that the boundaries of the city converge with those of the state...

The Singaporean state thus has the ability to regulate the movement of unskilled migrants in and out of the city in ways that are impossible in other global cities” (Lindquist 4).

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‘GLOBAL CITY’

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Singapore’s status as a ‘global city’ has roots in Saskia Sassen’s theories regarding the term. With its economic transformation and urban development, Singapore has become a key nodal point in the global economy through factors such as its strategic location, efficient infrastructure, ‘pro-business’ policies, and so on. Sassen’s notion of the ‘global city’ resonates with Singapore’s ability to facilitate flows of capital, information, and ‘skilled’ labor.

However, alongside this affluence, ‘the anxieties of mobility’ are pronounced in Singapore’s management of diverse migrant populations. The city's open reception of ‘skilled’ workers contrasts with its ability to regulate the movement of ‘unskilled’ migrants, underscoring the dual nature of mobility in the global cityscape — the mobility of some versus the immobility of others.

SINGAPORE AS A ‘GLOBAL CITY’

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THE SINGAPOREAN STATE REGULATES THE MOVEMENT OF MIGRANT WORKERS THROUGH HOUSING AND EMPLOYMENT REGULATIONS, LIMITED RIGHTS AND SOCIAL SERVICES, ETC.

IM(MIGRATION) TO SINGAPORE

Singapore is home to over 1.4 million migrant workers, comprising around 38% percent of its labor force (International Labour Organization). However, the term ‘migrant workers’ is separated into two categories in Singapore: ‘foreign talent’ and ‘foreign workers.’

‘Foreign talent’ refers to ‘skilled’ labor, primarily including those with professional qualifications and degrees. On the other hand, ‘foreign workers’ refers to ‘semi-skilled’ or ‘unskilled labor, and there are over 700,000 migrant workers who fall into this category.

‘Foreign workers’ are involved in the domestic work, construction, marine shipyard, and process sectors.

They predominantly migrate from Malaysia, China, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, the Philippines, etc. (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs).

Center for Global Development

The costs of migration to Singapore are steep, yet wages are low for jobs deemed both menial and dangerous. Furthermore, wages typically reflect a level of racial and ethnic stratification among the ‘foreign workers’ population: “Chinese workers earn almost double the salary of Bangladeshi and Indian workers” (Migrant Workers in Singapore).

Such costs also include a toll on the physical and mental well-being of ‘foreign workers.’ In 2020, over 90% of COVID-19 cases occurred “among 300,000 migrant construction workers... who live as part of a transient population” (Migrant Workers in Singapore).

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GENDERED EXPERIENCES When it comes to ‘foreign workers,’ sentiments of transience and disposability are key facets of Singapore’s immigration policy. ‘Foreign workers’ occupy marginal spaces physically, structurally, and socially, especially when it comes to their living conditions and healthcare access.

I stumbled upon the display below in one of Singapore’s many malls. At the time, there was a campaign called ‘You Won’t Believe It’s Not Trash,’ and among many established designers, I saw the work of Gini Ika Jayanti — a domestic help migrant worker from Surabaya, Indonesia.

She won second place in the competition.

Laws that hold employers responsible for the welfare and continued legal status of ‘foreign workers’ in Singapore contribute to their already precarious status as migrants. For instance, “migrant domestic workers are excluded from Singapore’s main labour law, resulting in unregulated working hours.

Note: Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) noted an “increase in violence against domestic workers.”

Singapore does not have a minimum wage; women migrant workers are deported if found pregnant; and Singaporean employers often restrict movement of domestic workers, resulting in isolation and restricted ability to seek help when needed” (International Labour Organization).

“Migration can foster women’s empowerment and, through new opportunities and personal expansion, improve their agency and autonomy, yet the feminized, informal sectors in which many migrant women work are characterized by low wages, poor working conditions, limited labour and social protections, and exposure to physical and sexual violence” (United Nations).

“MS. GINI STARTED WORKING FOR MS. KORPORAAL, HER FIFTH EMPLOYER IN SINGAPORE, IN JANUARY [2021]. MS KORPORAAL, A [DUTCH] 41-YEAR-OLD BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AT A TRADING COMPANY, RECALLS ASKING GINI ABOUT HER HOBBIES DURING HER JOB INTERVIEW.”

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HISTORIES OF LABOR

National Museum of Singapore: Convicts from British India, The Men Who Built the Town “These bricks were recovered from the site of 19th-century convict prison at Bras Basah (the land is now part of the Singapore Management University).

From 1825 to 1873, colonial administrators transported convicts from India to Singapore as cheap labour to build the port town. By the 1850s, there were about 3,000 convicts here, mostly from the Madras, Bengal, and Bombay presidencies of British India, and the island of Ceylon.

Singapore National Gallery: Histories of Labor “Newspapers reports, photographs and inscriptions uncovered on the former Supreme Court’s main dome and steel beams offer insight into the types of work and labour practices that bolstered the activities of the colonial government. For instance, samsui women, Chinese ‘coolies’ and Indian labourers were all employed to build the former Supreme Court in 1936.

Trained in European construction methods, the convicts built roads and filled in the swampy land around the Singapore River to build Commercial Square (present-day Raffles Place) and Collyer Quay...

Labour was generally divided by gender, and work that required craftsmanship and skills was distinguished from work that relied primarily on physical strength. Men often assisted with carpentry or artisanal work, while female workers such as the samsui women were officially classified as ‘unskilled labourers’ and were responsible for menial tasks such as mixing cement and transport building materials.

After [the convicts’] release, some continued to work for the public works department, while others used their savings to go into business or buy property.”

These historical perspectives provide context for the vital role that migrant labour continues to play in the development of Singapore’s infrastructure.”

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ETHNIC ENCLAVE: MANIFESTATION OF MOBILITIES

KAMPONG GLAM

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ETHNIC ENCLAVE: MANIFESTATION OF MOBILITIES

HAJI LANE

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ETHNIC ENCLAVE: MANIFESTATION OF MOBILITIES

CHINATOWN

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November 2025

ETHNIC ENCLAVE: MANIFESTATION OF MOBILITIES

LITTLE INDIA

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METAPHOR FOR THE TRANSIENCE OF MIGRANT WORKERS

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I spent around 16 hours at Changi Airport the day I arrived in Singapore, and I wasn’t bored for a single second. The airport revealed so much of Singapore to me before I had even stepped outside: sustainability efforts, shopping culture with the Jewel, diverse cuisines, and of course, migrant labor.

“If the new airport boosterism is to be believed, a space such as Heathrow, Schiphol, Changi, or LAX is kind of a transnational utopian space of flows where nationality has been abolished and class erased — where people are generally contented.

While it is possible to see how these conclusions might have been arrived at, they are also somewhat surprising...

Clearly, not all passengers in terminals are mobile in quite the same way” (Cresswell 222).

A PLACELESS PLACE OR NON-PLACE WHERE MOTION, MEANING, AND POWER COME TOGETHER

CHANGI AIRPORT: LIMINAL SPACE

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REFERENCES

The Anxieties of Mobility by Johan Lindquist: “As Singapore has been transformed from an export-processing zone for the global electronics industry into a knowledge-based financial center, factories have increasingly been moved to offshore sites of inexpensive land and labor such as Batam, where environmental and labor protection have remained lax and local ownership and tax laws have been changed in order to facilitate foreign direct investment” (2) “Chandra occasionally goes [to Batam’s stress beach] with friends to stare at Singapore’s skyline… a constant reminder of what Batam’s planners imagine that the island will become…” (2) “[Singaporean working-class men], increasingly marginalized in Singapore’s knowledge-based economy, travel to Batam in order to engage in a world of ‘fantasy’ — as one of the men puts it — that remains beyond their reach in Singapore” (18) Works Cited: Cresswell, Timothy. On the Move: Mobility in the Modern Western World. Routledge, 2012.

Lee, Venessa. “Domestic Helper Makes Dresses out of Masks.” www.tnp.sg, 17 Sept. 2022, tnp.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/domestic-helper-makes-dresses-out-masks.

Lindquist, Johan. The Anxieties of Mobility: Migration and Tourism in the Indonesian Borderlands.

University Of Hawaiʻi Press, 2009.

Research Brief: Public Attitudes towards Migrant Workers in Singapore. International Labour Organization, Dec. 2020, www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---robangkok/documents/briefingnote/wcms_766633.pdf.

Safe and Fair: Realizing Women Migrant Workers’ Rights and Opportunities in the ASEAN Region. United Nations, asiapacific.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Field%20Office%20ESEAsia/Docs/Publications/2020/01/SA F_PolicyBrief_v4-8Jan2020-s.pdf.

Sato, Azusa, and Helen Dempster. “Migrant Care Workers in Asia: How Has COVID-19 Affected Them, and What’s Next?” Center for Global Development | Ideas to Action, 9 May 2022, www.cgdev.org/blog/migrant-care-workers-asia-how-has-covid-19-affected-them-and-whats-next.

Yeoh, Brenda, et al. Migrant Workers in Singapore: Lives and Labour in a Transient Migration Regime.

World Scientific Publishing Company, 2022.