Tarulevicz, Nicole
(2010)
Singaporean Youths Must Have Wings
And Yet Know Where Their Nest Is.
International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies (IJAPS), 6 (1).
pp. 23-48.
ISSN ISSN: 1823-6243
Abstract
Young people generally form the future of any nation state and Singapore is no
exception, it is, however, especially concerned about the future of itself as a
nation. For Singapore the theme of youth is doubled, as the newness of the nation
is a mirrored reflection of young Singaporeans and for the state. Young people
embody the fragility of the nation itself, and government policy towards them has
become a site where anxiety about the future of the nation is expressed.
"Singaporean youths must have wings and yet know where their nest is"
interrogates selected policies directed at young people in the city-state of
Singapore against the backdrop of the youth of that nation-state itself. This
examination includes: policies towards young offenders (and criminality
generally), highlighting the anxiety the state feels about the non-conformity of
young law-breakers and about the othering of criminals, about the role of
National Service as a mechanism for masculinised nation building, and about the
definition and discourse around post-independence generations, including the
"brain drain" generation, the "Generation Millennium", and the "quitters and
stayers", illustrating Singaporean tension between nationalism and political
apathy. The resulting analysis questions the notion of youth as agents of change,
troubles ideas of technology as a mechanism for liberalisation in Singapore, and
challenges Western assumptions about the liberalising power of affluence and
globalisation.
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