The above excerpt from an interview with Singapore's former Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo raises interesting questions concerning the issue of immigration for the city-state. In the decade since then, Singapore’s population increased from 4,027,900 to 5,076,700. Of this total, the number of Singaporean citizens went up by 244,800 (to 3,230,700 as at 2010) and the number of permanent residents by 253,500 (to 541,000 as at 2010), while nonresidents went up by 550,500 (to 1,305,000 as at 2010). In 2011, 39.4 percent of Singaporeans married non-citizens. It appears then that more than ten years on, Singapore has continued to sustain “a migrant society.”

However, as the above quote also implies, the notion of “becoming a migrant society” is nothing new for Singapore. Since its founding in 1819, immigration has been the main contributor to population growth for the city-state. This persisted until the 1930s when domestic population growth began to contribute to overall population growth. However, notwithstanding the historical significance of immigration in populating the country, the strains of sustaining a migrant society have started to appear.

How will Singaporeans manage “having all these foreigners living in our midst” this time around? Is the situation something that can be managed politically? More importantly, will this state of affairs be “good for Singapore overall”?