The current reality is that through the Internet and the ease of transportation, talented people are highly mobile and in touch with what is happening around the world. People under the age of 30 may have studied, worked and lived for extended periods in easily 3 different countries. Forcing them to take up citizenship might instead have the opposite effect of driving them away.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Pondering: Is the concept of nationality losing its relevance?
What if we used culture instead to place a person? I can have a Singaporean culture, but I also draw upon Chinese culture, American (the popular media that I'm exposed to is still pre-dominantly American), a little bit of Japanese (learnt a little Japanese but forgot most of it).. It seems to me that the debate about nationality is sometimes too narrowly focused on patriotic and nationalistic notions, which does not really reflect what a person is.
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Yes, I agree that nationalism and patriotism in Singapore is declining.
ReplyDeleteYou have already highlighted one reason, the increase in globalisation.
In my opinion, another reason why this is happening is because people are getting more individualistic. The notion and need for support groups fade.
I somehow remembered Chewy's talk where he highlighted how an entire family shared a bank account. I think that it's highly unlikely to happen in modern Singapore.