In the 1980s, more than 20 years after HDB flats were introduced, there were signs that segregation among the races had once again started to take root. Malay households made up more than 30 per cent of the estate population in Bedok and Tampines while the Chinese formed more than 90 per cent of the households in Hougang. This was made worse by a growing resale market for HDB flats, where families tended to buy flats in areas with more residents of their own race.
Image: National Archives of Singapore
Image: National Archives of Singapore
Then-Minister for National Development S. Dhanabalan warned that it would be “unthinkable” for Singapore to regress to the days before independence, when a certain place was seen as belonging to a certain ethnic or dialect group.
Living in separate enclaves, the different races would find fewer opportunities to inter-mingle and understand each other. MPs and community leaders will develop narrow views of society interest. The enclaves will become the seedbeds for communal agitation.— Former Minister for National Development S. Dhanabalan at a New Year gathering for community leaders on 6 January 1989
However, it was not possible to uproot residents to break up the enclaves, like in the resettlement exercise in the 1960s. People could still move to live close to others of the same race, as the reestablishment of enclaves at certain estates had shown. Hence, in 1989, the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) was introduced.
Image: How new enclaves were formed by people purchasing flats near their own race, despite moving away from kampongs in the old enclaves.
Then-Minister Dhanabalan, in introducing the policy to Parliament on 16 February 1989, called it a “open and clear policy”. The policy’s enforceable limits will ensure that the ethnic proportions are kept, which will prevent the races from “regrouping” even in the long run.
The policy stipulated that the ratio of flats within neighbourhoods for the different ethnic groups: 22 per cent for Malays, 84 per cent for Chinese, and 10 per cent for Indians and other minority groups. Within each block, the ratio for flats was 25 per cent for Malays, 87 per cent for Chinese, and 13 per cent for Indians. These quotas have changed over the years, such as in 2010, where the neighbourhood- and block-level limits for Indians and other minority groups were raised to 12 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. Nonetheless, the principles remain the same.
Image: National Archives of Singapore
Image: National Archives of Singapore
Image: National Archives of Singapore