WHAT DO SINGAPOREANS WANT?
In the latest 2024 Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) survey on Race, Religion, and Language that polled 4,000 Singaporean residents, when asked whether to keep, remove or change the CMIO framework, as many as one in five respondents (22 per cent) chose the “not sure” option.
Perhaps a substantial proportion of the population has not given much thought to this issue or has accepted that it is highly complicated.
Among those with an opinion on the CMIO framework, 7.7 per cent wanted it removed (compared with 12 per cent in 2018).
However, nearly six in 10 (58.1 per cent) want the framework to stay, up from 46.2 per cent in 2018. This corresponds closely to a 2022 survey by CNA-IPS, where 63 per cent of the 2,000 residents polled felt that the CMIO framework is effective in preserving racial harmony.
Additionally, a significant portion of respondents (32.1 per cent) want the CMIO framework to be expanded to be more inclusive.
While some may want the CMIO framework to be modified or removed altogether, the 2024 survey shows that the majority still desires the policy outcomes of the framework. More than eight in 10 respondents agree that it is important for immigration policy to maintain the racial make-up of the population. Three-quarters agreed that it is important to know how many of each race live in Singapore.
A further 84.8 per cent agreed that having proportionate representation of minorities in parliament is important. Each result, including the nine in 10 who support ensuring a racial mix within the neighbourhood, would not be possible without some kind of framework that categorises the population by racial background.
Indeed, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam had stressed in parliament on Feb 5 that “the CMIO (framework) is a key plank of those policies”, and that it “has helped to forge the harmonious set of race relations in our society today”.
At the IPS 35th Anniversary Conference in 2023, Mr Shanmugam also pointed out that keeping to the CMIO model’s proportions was particularly important to the Malay community as it provides a kind of assurance that “they are not going to be overtaken”.
Unintended consequences may result from such policies, but their broader ambit seems to provide the basis for outcomes that Singaporeans desire and care about.
