Single and the City: State Influences on Intimate Relationships of Young, Single, Well‐Educated Women in Singapore
| Author | Karlien Strijbosch |
| Date | 01 October 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12221 |
| Published date | 01 October 2015 |
K S Utrecht University
Single and the City: State Inuences on Intimate
Relationships of Young, Single, Well-Educated
WomeninSingapore
Low fertility rates and an aging population chal-
lenge the city-state of Singapore. The Singa-
porean government thereforeencourages singles
to marry and have children. Using ethnographic
data and interviews (N=28), collected between
August and December 2012, this explorative
study examined the relationshipbetween govern-
ment interference and the love lives of young,
well-educated, single women in Singapore. Get-
ting married is expected not only by the state,
friends, and family members but also by singles
themselves. The author examined how young
women view and experience these social ide-
als in their daily lives. Foucault’s (1982, 1984)
idea of governmentality and Budgeon’s (2008)
idea of couple culture were used to investigate
how government policies intervene in the roman-
tic relationships of individuals through various
channels, such as the housing policy,matchmak-
ing initiatives, and social norms. The govern-
ment may effectively affect individuals in certain
ways, whereas at other times individuals may act
in a manner that is opposite to what the govern-
ment expects.
When you are single, people automatically assume
that you are lonely, or feel that something is
missing. It is normal for people to make such
Department of Cultural Anthroplogy, Utrecht University,
Utrecht, the Netherlands (strijboschkarlien@gmail.com).
This article was edited by Yingchun Ji.
Key Words: compulsory coupledom, governmentality, inti-
mate relations, romantic love,Singapore, singles.
assumptions about me, but I don’t think I am
lonely. Havinga boyfriend is a bonus, not a neces-
sity of life. Like you can have dessert, but it is not
like food, you do not need it to stay alive.
—Valeria,age 25
While eating custard puffs during her lunch
break, surrounded by skyscrapers, Valeriashares
her experiences as a single in Singapore. Like
many singles in Singapore, Valeria lives with
her family in a government-subsidized at. She
works full time as a writer for a women’s maga-
zine, loves traveling,and enjoys sipping Trappist
beer in cafés. Her Mr. Right needs to be open-
minded and kind and should love Labradors as
much as she does. Until he shows up, she will
live her life focusing on her career and friends.
Like many urbanized East Asian societies—
such as Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong
Kong—the modern, multicultural city-state of
Singapore faces low birth rates, late marriage,
and high rates of nonmarriage. In Singapore
there is hardly any childbearing outside of mar-
riage. Like other East Asian countries, less than
2% of births occur out of wedlock (Jones, 2012c,
p. 317). The number of people staying “effec-
tively single” in their 30s is even higher than
in late-marrying countries in Europe (Jones,
2012b). The Singaporean government considers
this to be problematic because it threatens the
future manpower of the country and its welfare
system. The government therefore encourages
marriage through favorable housing policies for
couples who are (getting) married and incen-
tivizes the mingling of single university gradu-
ates at dating events in the hope that they will
1108 Journal of Marriage and Family 77 (October 2015): 1108–1125
DOI:10.1111/jomf.12221
Single and the City 1109
nd a life partner. State policies in Singapore
provide a context in which people think about
family matters and make their personal decisions
(Teo, 2010, p. 364).
In this study I investigated how young,
well-educated, single women experience family
ideals in Singapore. As singles, they currently
do not adhere to the family ideal of Singapore as
a nation. I examined how this ideal is fueled not
only by social policies but also by other social
institutions and the singles themselves, as well
as ideals about romance and love. This article
focuses on the daily experiences of young,
well-educated, single Singaporean women
between ages 25 and 30. They are the target
group of the services of the Social Development
Network (SDN), and they are restricted from
buying a subsidized at, which makes them
more likely to be adversely affected by state
policies and to have a more informed opinion
about those policies. The SDN is part of the
Ministry of Social and Family Development,
and its vision (as of May 7, 2015) is to “facilitate
marriage and to nurture a culture where singles
view marriage as a top life goal” (http://app.msf.
gov.sg/About-MSF/Our-People/Divisions-at-
MSF/Family-Development-and-Support/Social-
Development-Network). The SDN promotes
marriage among singles and equips them with
relationship and dating skills. It also creates
opportunities for singles to nd life partners
by guaranteeing the credibility of dating ser-
vices. Furthermore, well-educated women
are relevant to investigate because they are,
together with less educated men, statistically
the group most likely to remain single (Jones,
2012b, p. 93).
T S C
The modern, multicultural city-state of Singa-
pore ranks highly among the Southeast Asian
countries with low fertility and very high non-
marriage and late-marriage rates. In 2010, 62%
of women with a university degreeaged between
25 and 29 were single. Seventy-six percent of
men with a similar educational background and
age were single in 2010. In the age category
of 30- to 34-year-olds, 28% of the women and
35% of the men with a university degree were
single (Jones, 2012c, p. 317). Women between
age 30 and 34 with less than a secondary edu-
cation were single in 13% of the cases. In 2010,
men in the same age group and with less than
a secondary education were single in 40% of
cases.
Singapore is a global, multicultural city-state
and very well connected to the rest of the world
both geographically and digitally. The total pop-
ulation is approximately 5.4 million (Depart-
ment of Statistics Singapore, 2013, p. v). In
1819, Singapore became a British colony and
was ruled as part of the British Empire (Teo,
2010, p. 339). Singapore was a trading settle-
ment and a popular migrant destination. Traders
and travelers brought with them Buddhist, Con-
fucian, Hindu, and Islamic ideals and traditions.
There was an increase of migrants, and this
resulted in a multicultural population numeri-
cally dominated by Chinese migrants. From the
early 19th century onward, Chinese religion took
root with the arrival of migrants from South
China (Kiong, 2008, p. 29). In 1963, Singapore
formed a union with Malaya and, after a turbu-
lent time, became independent in 1965 (Wong
& Yeoh, 2003, p. 3). In the 1960s, the city-state
became a nancial hub, and in the subsequent 30
years it experienced rapid economic growth and
developed into a highly advanced, high-income
economy (Mahbubani, 2008, p. 54). Singapore
is characterized by a strong interventionist state
with regard to social policy and is therefore often
called a “nanny state” (Wong & Yeoh, 2003,
p. 5). The welfare system in Singapore is primar-
ily based on an informal support system in which
the family plays an important role.
The ethnic composition of the resident popu-
lation of Singapore consists of roughly 75% Chi-
nese, 15% Malay, 8% Indian, and 2% “others”
(Jones, 2012b, p. 89). Singlehood rates are espe-
cially high among the Chinese population. The
proportion of single Chinese women age 35–39
(19.9%) is twice as high as that for Malays
(9.2%). The proportion of singlehood among
Indians is only 6.2% (Jones, 2012c, p. 320). In
addition to the diversity among Singaporeans,
Singapore is the international nancial center
of the region and a global city with a sig-
nicant expatriate society (Beaverstock, 2002,
p. 526). Fertility rates are especially low among
the Chinese Singaporean population. Chinese
Singaporeans are the biggest ethnic group in
Singapore, and therefore they are often seen as
“the mothers of the Asian Confucian nation”
(Lyons-Lee, 1998; Ramdas, 2012). Therefore,
in this study I focused on their experiences
but also involved informants of other ethnic
groups.
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