ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the extent to which the benefits of Singapore’s spectacular growth have been distributed throughout society. Unevenness within the development process in Singapore has been considered, at least ostensibly, in ethnic rather than class terms. The evolution of the Singaporean success story began in 1965 in particularly unpromising fashion, with an urban population increasing very rapidly, a crumbling built environment and economic prospects which were far from rosy. Singapore began what it termed the ‘second industrial revolution’ in the 1980s and, after a difficult start, this eventually wrought considerable transformation in the Singapore economy. The paradox of affluence is a situation which often occurs as a sign of a maturing economy when there are changes in the work values and social attitudes of the labour force. The chapter argues that there are groups in Singapore which lie beyond the reach of success, living on the edges of society and struggling to integrate or keep up with that growth.
