How the Ethnic Integration Policy benefits all S'poreans

Without it, ethnic concentrations will increase, as has happened in many places in the world

- Wong Pei Ting

Singapore's Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) was in the spotlight on Aug 1, after a correction order was issued to a property agent for making false and misleading statements about the policy, which sets quotas for flats owned by each racial group in a neighbourhood.

The ERA property agent, Mr Shaik Amar, had suggested in an eight-minute video put up on social media that the EIP is unfair, as flat owners from minority races would likely have to provide steep discounts to sell their flats when EIP limits are reached.

The Ministry of National Development (MND) said, among other things, that it was misleading to focus on the point of resale without setting out that flats such as his were obtained within the EIP framework in the first place.

The Straits Times looks at the rationale for the 35-year-old policy, and how the EIP has evolved over the years.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE EIP?

The EIP, which took effect on March 1, 1989, prevents ethnic enclaves from forming in HDB estates by setting a limit on the number of households of each race within each neighbourhood and block.

It was introduced at a time when communal clustering was growing, as the HDB resale market became more active in the 1980s.

While the Government had been able to achieve a fairly balanced racial mix across new towns and estates through resettlement and its public housing programme in the 1960s and 1970s, there were "disturbing" trends towards separate communal enclaves, said then Minister for National Development S. Dhanabalan.

For instance, Malays formed more than half of applicants for resale flats in Tampines and Bedok between 1987 and 1988, while Chinese households exceeded 90 per cent in some neighbourhoods in Hougang, he said in a speech in January 1989.