The flight of the Malays.

Malays are leaving Singapore. Now, this is no news, but what may be news, is their relative abundance in those who emigrate.

A few days ago, I posted on the remarkable inflow of Chinese PRCs into Singapore. I wondered, in that post, "The secret Singaporean Teleportation Device", whether this deepening of the Chinese nature of Singapore, was prompting more Malays to leave, as they found themselves further marginalized. I had no figures to back up my intuition - well, now, I have.

Today, on reading the New Paper, I came across a little snippet of information in an article on Malay emigration to Australia. There was a quote from a Singaporean Chinese "immigration consultant"...or should it be "emigration consultant? This Mr. Sim remarked that fully 30 % of his clients were Singaporean Malays. That is a surprisingly high number for two reasons. Firstly, the proportion of Malays in Singapore is only 13.6%, so this abundance in his clientele was 2.2 times greater than expected by chance. Secondly he is a CHINESE consultant, and therefore presumably less well-connected to the Malay community than a Malay agent would be. Thus, his clientele may UNDERESTIMATE the proportion of Malays who are leaving Singapore, for other countries.

Recently the Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, spoke of the "privileged position" of the Malays in Singapore and of the importance of maintaining that privilege. I thought this an eminently funny speech, because anyone who knows anything of the real situation, in Singapore, for Malays, knows that they are not privileged, in any real sense - they are, in fact, disadvantaged and discriminated against. So many jobs, for instance, in Singapore require that the applicant be of Chinese race. They call it "Chinese speaking"...but if a Malay fluent in Mandarin applies for the job (or an Indian for that matter), I have heard that they get turned down. I have even heard of minorities fluent in Chinese being told that they are not being hired because a Chinese person is wanted - despite their Mandarin fluency.

The real test, of course, as to whether a minority feels at home, in their nation, is whether or not they leave and the relative proportion of those who depart, who are from the minority in question. By this measure, and by the evidence of Mr. Sim's clientele (which we have no reason to believe is unusual or atypical of other agents' clientele in any way), the Malays certainly don't feel privileged. They clearly feel that they will have a better life elsewhere - which is why so many of them are leaving.

What do they find overseas? Well, one thing which is refreshing, for many Malays, is that they don't experience the active discrimination in the workplace that is present in Singapore. They don't see job adverts for "Must speak Mandarin"...they are only required to speak English (in the places they tend to go to, like Australia), which, of course, they do. I have heard, on the grapevine, many success stories of Malays who couldn't really "make it" in Singapore, who found it very much easier to do so, in other countries. Tellingly, the person, in question, is no different and no more able - all that has changed is the environment and the set of social forces they are up against.

Of course, Singapore won't be bothered about this loss of Malays. They will just be replaced by PRCs from China. However, we should be concerned, because one day, there may not be any Malays left in Singapore. That will be a loss of diversity and plurality that will change the character of Singapore - and not for the better. In no way, in my view, is uniformity (which shall prevail) superior to diversity. Yet, the future of Singapore shall be rather more uniform than it is today. We can see it with our own eyes, on a daily basis, on the streets of Singapore. The national demographic statistics, too, show a steady reduction in the proportion of Malays, every decade, since the foundation of Singapore. Now, this is strange, since Malays, as it is well known, like to have children rather more than Chinese Singaporeans do. That they have more children and yet there are fewer of them, relatively, owes itself to two forces: higher relative emigration of Malays, and higher relative immigration of Chinese PRCs (plus Chinese from Malaysia, Indonesia and anywhere else they can be found).

What I find curious is that Singaporean politicians mumble about the need to maintain the Chinese population (MM Lee himself, is famous for this view). Yet, one doesn't hear any of them drawing attention to the decline of the Malays. I suppose it is, actually, one and the same thing. The decline of the Malays, implies a relative increase in the Chinese - which is what is quite clearly sought, anyway.

Were a future Singapore to lack Malays entirely, I think the Government, here, might suddenly realize their value. You see, the Singaporean Malays allow better integration of Singapore into the rest of South-East Asia. After all, Singapore's Malays speak the language of Malaysia and Indonesia. They also share cultural, religious and ideological understandings. It is one of Singapore's strengths that some of its people share the language and culture of its nearest neighbours. This helps Singapore with trade and survival, both. Were Singapore to become a solely Chinese state, two things would happen: firstly, its ability to communicate with and integrate, effectively, with its neighbouring states would be impaired. Secondly, there would be much greater likelihood of conflict with those very same neighbouring states. Whilst Singapore remains a partially Malay nation, its Malay neighbours will continue to feel they have something in common with it. Once, however, it becomes entirely Chinese (or almost so), the possibility of conflict and resentment will be much heightened. A Singapore without a Malay minority, is a Singapore that invites its own extinction. There will, of course, be a certain irony in that. A state which makes the Malays feel so unwelcome that they decide to leave, until none remain, thereby extinguishing them, will, actually have extinguished itself.

It is best not to listen to what political figures say of a country, it is preferable to watch what the people do. It is not politicians that tell the truth, by their words, but people who tell the truth, by their actions. Singapore's leaders talk of equality for all races, yet, if Singapore's races felt truly equal in opportunity and life chances, the numbers who emigrated would be in direct proportion to their relative racial abundance in the nation. We can see from the New Paper article and Mr. Sim's experience of his clientele that this is not so. Vastly more Malays than expected, are emigrating. This can only be because Malays feel that their lives would be better elsewhere. If they thought that their lives, in Singapore, would be as equally good, as their fellow non-Malays, they would not emigrate in disproportionate numbers.

Countries which make minorities feel welcome are healthy countries, socially and psychologically. They also tend to be successful ones (just think of the demographics of America). Would not Singapore be better off matching the welcome of an America, than the monoculture of China or Japan?

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