Brain Drain or Links to the World: Views on Emigrants from Singapore
The changes in Singapore's recent policies toward emigration correspond with the growing importance given to Singaporean overseas business ventures. Moving from viewing emigration as brain drain and the decision to migrate as an act of disloyalty to the nation, recent statements by government officials have begun to identify the overseas community as a valuable link to the world economy. “Globalization” and more recently “regionalization” are the popular terms which indicate Singapore's current economic strategy of shifting from a focus on high technology, high value added industries to a program of building an external economy through overseas expansion and the promotion of offshore activities. The Singapore example suggests that, in an increasingly borderless world, the relationship between emigration, citizenship and national loyalty will require reconsideration.