May 2, 2022

The 1969 Singapore race riots were a seven-day fiasco that lasted from 31 May to 6 June 1969. Resulting from a spill-over of racial tensions in Malaysia, the 1969 riots were the first of two riots in post-independence Singapore history. Occurring not long after the tumultuous 1964 race riots, the 1969 riots once again highlighted the chaos that racial conflict can produce in society. Since its independence, the Singapore government has built the country around the fundamental principles of multiculturalism and multiracialism. These principles are even reflected in the country’s public housing structure.

Singapore has one of the highest provisions of public housing globally. Exceptionally, 82% of the country’s population resides in public housing. As those living in public housing are in close contact with their neighbours, what impact does this physical proximity have on the social lives of these residents and the country at large?

‘The neighbourhood roots of social cohesion: Notes on an exceptional case of Singapore’ (Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 2017) undertakes the task of identifying whether neighbourliness and nationalism truly differ in public housing and private housing estates. Through this study, Associate Professor Ho Kong Chong and Associate Professor Vincent Chua, both from the NUS Department of Sociology, analyse how effective public housing allocation and provision policies are in sustaining positive interactions and sentiments among residents.

Using data that has been obtained from the government, 9,623 public and private housing residents were surveyed to gauge the level of neighbourly sentiments, neighbourly engagement, and national sentiments present in each type of estate. Based on the survey results, public housing residents are more likely to greet, visit, and help their neighbours than those in private housing, sustaining neighbourly cohesion for a longer time. These neighbourly sentiments nurture people’s trust in each other and in turn, public housing residents are seen to have a stronger sense of national identity. As public housing policies ensure that there is ethnic diversity among neighbours, neighbourliness creates a sense of belonging for those of varied backgrounds, resulting in a sustained nationalism.

In essence, this study has been able to identify many positive impacts of public housing in Singapore. The researchers deem that Singapore’s public housing provisions build a greater sense of togetherness among residents, which translates into stronger and more robust nationalistic sentiments.

Read the full article here.