Student-FDW

It's time to start thinking seriously about my thesis, better known by two letters that strike fear into every ISS student's heart - the RP (Research Paper). After agonising for days between elderly poverty in Singapore and a vague postmodern idea of the self-conceptions of foreign domestic workers, coming across this news article on Indonesian student-maids was pure luck.

Apparently there are about 100 or so Indonesian maids that are studying for a degree in public administration through weekly classes (and I bet, a lot of homework) at the Indonesian school at Siglap Road. What's so amazing about this is that most Indo maids do not get a compulsory day off, unlike Filipino maids (the Philippine government has made it a law), so I think these women's confidence in negotiating and determination in continuing their studies is rather exceptional, and worthy of some research.

Specifically, I want to research on how they negotiate power relations with their employers and the state to go to school. If I were to meet one of these women, I might likely dismiss her as maybe having an exceptionally compassionate employer. But there are 500 more women who are taking various courses in computer literacy, English, sewing and cooking. Although I think I'll focus my research on the small, manageable group of 100 undergraduates, the total numbers of student maids are surprising and I wish I had more time to research this group too!

But for now I'm looking forward to interviewing these women, and to give a face to our helpers whom we often see in terms of their labour. I think the Singaporean government, through the laws governing maids, construct an image of them as being naive and in need of control. This is shown through the need for employers to pay high levies as guarantees, the rule of immediate deportation if found pregnant, etc.

The media also plays a part - creating an image of them as deviant (sneaking off at night to meet Bangladeshi boyfriends) and at the same time, victims (of sexual assault and abuse at the hands of their employers). In all this, we don't know what the maid has to say for her own self and as her own person.

Baby Bonus Scheme

Our Baby Bonus Scheme is a marriage of heteronormativity and racism.

Once again in class, Singapore was brought up as an 'infamous' case study - this time, among demographers for our baby bonus policy. We were discussing Foucault's bio-politics, which is how the state controls bodies through population policy.

My professor brought up Serbia's (then Yugoslavia) population policy in the 80s, which encouraged people to have up to 3 children. The underlying intention was to increase the population of Serbs, who were having less than 3, and at the same time decrease the population of Bosnians, who usually had more than 3 children.

At first glance, the Baby Bonus Scheme seems to merely be an answer to Singapore's ageing population and low fertility rate (last measurement was 1.3 births per woman in 2008). Right? Have baby, get money - and up to SGD 6000 for the 3rd and 4th child. It's so simple, and seems so generous.

But this only applies to married couples. There are many single Malay mothers with up to 5 children, who do not see a single dollar of this scheme. Let's not talk about gay couples, but hypothetically, if same-sex marriages were allowed in Singapore, they're not going to get the Baby Bonus either.

Implicitly, what the state wants is more of the heterosexual married Chinese population (more industrious and hardworking, according to LKY's infamous eugenics policy), and less Malays and Indians. Since the Chinese are not much enticed by all this money, the state freely gives away permanent residency and citizenship to former citizens of China - the 75% proportion of Chinese to Others in Singapore must be maintained at all costs.

Something as innocuous as a population policy does have implications for those who are not part of dominant group in society.