How the Eip Has Affected Racial Harmony in Singapore
My group chose to do the topic on the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) because it deals with rascism, which is a topic that is very important to Singapore's society and controversial at the same time. To get the major races mingling and to prevent people forming racial enclaves, HDB introduced the EIP in 1989. Soham and me are from a minority race which makes the issue more relevant to the group.
The foundation of this country is bulit along Racial Harmony, we have seen what can happen with an issue as sensitive as race through the Maria Hertogh riots of 1950. As such, the government has taken many steps to building a society based on meritocracy and promoting Racial Integration. One such policy, the EIP is highly controversial. It caps the percentages of a HDB block and neighbourhood that a certain race can occupy. Although it ensures a balanced mix of ethnicities in a given HDB estate or neighborhood, its limitation is that the different races within each estate/community do not necessarily interact
Race Neighbourhood HDB Block Current %
From 2010 Census
Malay 22% 25% 13.4%
Chinese 84% 87% 74.1%
Indian and Others 12% 15% 12.5%
These ethnic quotas were revised on 5/3/2010, yet they do not seem aligned with our current racial mix. The maximum ethnic limit in the neighbourhood for Chinese and Malay residents is approximately 10 percent higher than their actual percentage in Singapore’s resident population, while the maximum ethnic limit for ‘Indians and Others’ is 0.5 percent less than the actual percentage in resident population.
This is not a clear sign of rascism. Racism would be saying that an Indian cannot buy a flat at Bishan, solely because he's an Indian. The EIP is treading on grey area. There has been evidence to show the disadvantages of this policy. In demographically chinese dominant Singapore, when the minority races cannot sell their HDB flat to a Chinese because that quota ceiling has been met, the flat is often sold below market
The foundation of this country is bulit along Racial Harmony, we have seen what can happen with an issue as sensitive as race through the Maria Hertogh riots of 1950. As such, the government has taken many steps to building a society based on meritocracy and promoting Racial Integration. One such policy, the EIP is highly controversial. It caps the percentages of a HDB block and neighbourhood that a certain race can occupy. Although it ensures a balanced mix of ethnicities in a given HDB estate or neighborhood, its limitation is that the different races within each estate/community do not necessarily interact
Race Neighbourhood HDB Block Current %
From 2010 Census
Malay 22% 25% 13.4%
Chinese 84% 87% 74.1%
Indian and Others 12% 15% 12.5%
These ethnic quotas were revised on 5/3/2010, yet they do not seem aligned with our current racial mix. The maximum ethnic limit in the neighbourhood for Chinese and Malay residents is approximately 10 percent higher than their actual percentage in Singapore’s resident population, while the maximum ethnic limit for ‘Indians and Others’ is 0.5 percent less than the actual percentage in resident population.
This is not a clear sign of rascism. Racism would be saying that an Indian cannot buy a flat at Bishan, solely because he's an Indian. The EIP is treading on grey area. There has been evidence to show the disadvantages of this policy. In demographically chinese dominant Singapore, when the minority races cannot sell their HDB flat to a Chinese because that quota ceiling has been met, the flat is often sold below market