State polices and international marriages in Singapore.

Abstract

This paper investigated how foreign workforce and immigration policies had affected the lives of international couples residing in Singapore. Firstly, the Singapore government's views toward the globalization of labour from 2008 to 2010 were critically accessed for their interests in the foreign workforce, and how they resulted in individuals viewing foreign workforce along the foreign talent/labour divide and in specific ways. Secondly, I argue how these views were materialized into policies facilitated by specific governmental apparatuses enabling foreign workforce of certain criteria to work or settle down in Singapore. After understanding the interests of the government towards the foreign workforce and how they were materialized in these policies, I interviewed ten couples from December 2010 to March 2011. I described how different aspects of their lives were or were not affected by these policies.