What is home, truly?
The CB Show
28,696 views
Singapore was built by migrants — but as immigration increases, are Singaporeans becoming more xenophobic or are their concerns rooted in something deeper?
On September 5, 2026, Senior Minister K Shanmugam said that Singapore police are investigating online comments relating to the Nepal floods and Singapore Airlines’ investment in Air India. The racist rhetoric is “shameful, nasty and totally unacceptable” and individuals hiding behind online anonymity should be unmasked and dealt with, the law minister added.
To be crystal clear before we unpack the worrying question of whether xenophobia is growing amongst a minority of Singaporeans, such racist rhetoric is unacceptable.
In this episode of The CB Show, Clement Mesenas, PN Balji, Lina Lewis and David Ngiau examine the tensions surrounding immigration, foreign talent, the CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement) Singapore signed with India in 2005, and the perception that wealthy newcomers are self-entitled and changing Singapore’s way of life.
The conversation also explores whether Singaporeans are feeling overlooked in their own country, the impact of rising living costs, and why some Singaporeans are choosing to live abroad. Yet, Singapore’s safety, healthcare and family ties continue to draw many people home.
What makes Singapore truly feel like home? And can Singapore remain open to newcomers without losing the trust of its own people?
_____
CONTEXT — Gan Kim Yong's figure:
Balji cites "20-over thousand new citizens a year". DPM Gan Kim Yong's actual figure, from his February 2026 Committee of Supply speech, is 25,000–30,000 new citizens annually over the next five years.
NUANCE — the "three waves" framing:
A quick nuance: Alongside labourers the British brought over, colonial Malaya also drew Indians already fluent in the administrative and legal systems Britain was exporting. Clerks, court officers and lawyers arrived in smaller numbers but played vitally important roles in the development of Malaya. That's a big part of why ethnic Indians remain such a significant presence in the Singapore and Malaysian legal professions today.
_____
00:00 - Is Singapore bordering on racism? — Balji frames the episode's core tension
01:10 - The entitlement problem — Clement's Gulf-expat parallel
02:38 - Chinatown isn't Chinatown anymore — Lina on greedy landlords and vanishing local shops
03:40 - When market forces aren't enough — the 2011 GE shock and the PAP's course correction
05:17 - Balji's daughter and the NUS interview that sent her to Toronto
06:13 - The parents left behind — what it means when your kids don't come home
08:07 - Clement's dream house with a garden and a dog — priced out of Singapore, settling in the Philippines
09:11 - Lina on America, guns at home, and why she came back — plus, why cancer treatment keeps her here now
12:04 - Life between Singapore and JB — David on the GDP-per-capita math
13:34 - What actually makes a place home? — Family, friends, and where the heart is
15:40 - The global picture: Migrants everywhere, backlash everywhere, the echo in America's rightward shift
16:44 - What about immigration to boost TFR? A cheeky thought from Clem
17:16 - Closing — Push factors, pull factors, and doing right by Singaporeans
_____
RESOURCES:
• MHA transcript — SM Shanmugam's doorstop on racist comments following the Nepal floods and SIA/Air India issue (https://www.mha.gov.sg/media-room/new...)
• Singapore–India CECA overview — Ministry of Trade and Industry (https://www.mti.gov.sg/trade-internat...)
• DPM Gan Kim Yong's Committee of Supply 2026 speech on citizenship intake (https://www.population.gov.sg/speech-...)
_____
ABOUT US:
Before you get all awkward with our name, meet Clement and Balji, the C and B headlining this podcast started by four veteran Singapore journalists.
• Clement Mesenas: Co-leader of the 1971 journalist strike that helped end colonial ownership of the Straits Times; author of "The Last Great Strike" and "Dissident Voices".
• PN Balji: Founding editor-in-chief of Today at its 2000 launch and man who steered The New Paper to its peak in the decade he was at the helm; author of "Reluctant Editor".
• Lina Lewis: Served as a sub-editor in SPH newsrooms for over a decade, now produces this pod end-to-end (including video editing, which she picked up only in July 2026).
• David Ngiau: Journalist for 18 years (SPH, Mediacorp Radio, Today), lecturer for two, freelancer with recent bylines in CNA, The Independent SG and The Star. And host of The CB Show.
_____
Visit our website at thecbshow.sg, drop us an email at thecbshowsg@gmail.com.
#singapore #immigration #Xenophobia #singaporeans #ceca #costofliving #singaporepolitics #nationalidentity #livingabroad
20 Comments
The meritocracy system shouldn’t mean a better qualified foreigner automatically gets the job except in a certain specialized fields.
Meritocracy has limits otherwise the best jobs will go to foreigners and many Singaporeans end up as workers in malls, food centres, tourist attractions and driving cabs.
Well this is natural isn't it?
THAT INDIAN CAN LAND INDIA, AS A CITIZEN OF INDIA, BY ETHNICITY...
PROOF IS, WHEN AN INDIAN COMMITS A CRIME, HE RUNS BACK TO INDIA, DISAPPEARING...
IT HAPPENS, USA, CANADA, UK. MOSTLY..
WHO ARE THEY TO FOOL, TO ACT AS A LOYAL PATRIOTIC CITIZEN...
AN INDIAN BELONGS TO INDIA, REGARDLESS OF HOW .MANY GENERATIONS, THEY ARE BORN IN THAT COU NTRY...
What is home, truly?
The CB Show
28,696 views
Singapore was built by migrants — but as immigration increases, are Singaporeans becoming more xenophobic or are their concerns rooted in something deeper?
On September 5, 2026, Senior Minister K Shanmugam said that Singapore police are investigating online comments relating to the Nepal floods and Singapore Airlines’ investment in Air India. The racist rhetoric is “shameful, nasty and totally unacceptable” and individuals hiding behind online anonymity should be unmasked and dealt with, the law minister added.
To be crystal clear before we unpack the worrying question of whether xenophobia is growing amongst a minority of Singaporeans, such racist rhetoric is unacceptable.
In this episode of The CB Show, Clement Mesenas, PN Balji, Lina Lewis and David Ngiau examine the tensions surrounding immigration, foreign talent, the CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement) Singapore signed with India in 2005, and the perception that wealthy newcomers are self-entitled and changing Singapore’s way of life.
The conversation also explores whether Singaporeans are feeling overlooked in their own country, the impact of rising living costs, and why some Singaporeans are choosing to live abroad. Yet, Singapore’s safety, healthcare and family ties continue to draw many people home.
What makes Singapore truly feel like home? And can Singapore remain open to newcomers without losing the trust of its own people?
_____
CONTEXT — Gan Kim Yong's figure:
Balji cites "20-over thousand new citizens a year". DPM Gan Kim Yong's actual figure, from his February 2026 Committee of Supply speech, is 25,000–30,000 new citizens annually over the next five years.
NUANCE — the "three waves" framing:
A quick nuance: Alongside labourers the British brought over, colonial Malaya also drew Indians already fluent in the administrative and legal systems Britain was exporting. Clerks, court officers and lawyers arrived in smaller numbers but played vitally important roles in the development of Malaya. That's a big part of why ethnic Indians remain such a significant presence in the Singapore and Malaysian legal professions today.
_____
00:00 - Is Singapore bordering on racism? — Balji frames the episode's core tension
01:10 - The entitlement problem — Clement's Gulf-expat parallel
02:38 - Chinatown isn't Chinatown anymore — Lina on greedy landlords and vanishing local shops
03:40 - When market forces aren't enough — the 2011 GE shock and the PAP's course correction
05:17 - Balji's daughter and the NUS interview that sent her to Toronto
06:13 - The parents left behind — what it means when your kids don't come home
08:07 - Clement's dream house with a garden and a dog — priced out of Singapore, settling in the Philippines
09:11 - Lina on America, guns at home, and why she came back — plus, why cancer treatment keeps her here now
12:04 - Life between Singapore and JB — David on the GDP-per-capita math
13:34 - What actually makes a place home? — Family, friends, and where the heart is
15:40 - The global picture: Migrants everywhere, backlash everywhere, the echo in America's rightward shift
16:44 - What about immigration to boost TFR? A cheeky thought from Clem
17:16 - Closing — Push factors, pull factors, and doing right by Singaporeans
_____
RESOURCES:
• MHA transcript — SM Shanmugam's doorstop on racist comments following the Nepal floods and SIA/Air India issue (https://www.mha.gov.sg/media-room/new...)
• Singapore–India CECA overview — Ministry of Trade and Industry (https://www.mti.gov.sg/trade-internat...)
• DPM Gan Kim Yong's Committee of Supply 2026 speech on citizenship intake (https://www.population.gov.sg/speech-...)
_____
ABOUT US:
Before you get all awkward with our name, meet Clement and Balji, the C and B headlining this podcast started by four veteran Singapore journalists.
• Clement Mesenas: Co-leader of the 1971 journalist strike that helped end colonial ownership of the Straits Times; author of "The Last Great Strike" and "Dissident Voices".
• PN Balji: Founding editor-in-chief of Today at its 2000 launch and man who steered The New Paper to its peak in the decade he was at the helm; author of "Reluctant Editor".
• Lina Lewis: Served as a sub-editor in SPH newsrooms for over a decade, now produces this pod end-to-end (including video editing, which she picked up only in July 2026).
• David Ngiau: Journalist for 18 years (SPH, Mediacorp Radio, Today), lecturer for two, freelancer with recent bylines in CNA, The Independent SG and The Star. And host of The CB Show.
_____
Visit our website at thecbshow.sg, drop us an email at thecbshowsg@gmail.com.
#singapore #immigration #Xenophobia #singaporeans #ceca #costofliving #singaporepolitics #nationalidentity #livingabroad
Genrally speaking Singaporeans are:
1. Respect the rule of law.
2. Least racist relative to other countries.
3. Tough application of border laws.
4. Relatively speaking very intolerant of corruption as our culture.
What SGreans are discriminating against are less about race or origin of the people but more about the actions of bad actors and the culture(kopi money, caste discrimination, speaking loudly, etc) they bring with them into SG.