While some have been shocked by the result of the British referendum to decide whether the state either remains or leaves the European Union, all can agree that what has been even more surprising and discomforting have been both the open displays of xenophobia and the spike in hate crimes against migrants and minorities. The Leave campaign leading to Brexit was buoyed by a very exclusionary nationalist narrative. This narrative was a simple one where the British – framed as exclusively white, and Anglo-Saxon to be precise – are a people are under assault by immigrants. While successful in contributing to the goal of ensuring a win at the referendum, the blowback from such a narrative has been ugly. Since the referendum, hate crimes against both European migrants as well as minorities have spiked by 57 percent.

This exclusionary narrative and its effects are highly instructive for Singapore – a nation occasionally prone to –albeit nowhere to the extent of what is happening in Britain today – xenophobic displays. Singapore’s self narrative has always been inclusive rather than exclusive – openness to newcomers is supported by the story that previous generations of the nation have almost all come from somewhere else. To avoid slipping into a more exclusionary nationalist narrative, energy would have to be devoted to constantly remind its people of this fact. This is especially so as Singapore grows older as a nation and as its people become more disconnected from its immigrant past with each passing Singapore-born generation.

… Pravin Prakash is an Associate Research Fellow with the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore. Norman Vasu is Senior Fellow and Deputy Head of the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore.