‘Will I be able to see my family ever again?’ Tales from the Indian diaspora in times of COVID-19 in Singapore

ABSTRACT

The novel coronavirus began spreading worldwide since 2020 leaving behind hundreds of thousands of Indian Diaspora stranded. Indian diasporas are heterogeneous, diverse and are perceived as wealthy, dynamic and generally thriving, especially in highly developed countries. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light both strengths and weaknesses of these diasporas. Thus, this paper explores the various ways in which COVID-19 has impacted the lives of the high-skilled Indian diaspora in Singapore. In explaining their varied experiences, I used the concept of commonality. Through a qualitative study, collected data shows their struggles of commonalities embraced by COVID-19. In spite of living an affluent lifestyle in Singapore, they confront uncertainty, pain, fear of losing the loved ones back home. They are nevertheless happy and content, and are very grateful for the ways in which their Singapore have supported them during troubled times.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• high-skilled workers
• Indian diaspora
• commonality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The term ‘diaspora’ is defined as transnational groups of immigrants living abroad in host countries but maintaining economic, political, social, and emotional ties with their homeland and other diasporic communities of the same origin (Ullah and Kumpoh 2018). The Indians those who fall under this category are known as Indian diaspora.

2 Employment Pass (EP) is the pass for foreign professionals, managers, and executives. Candidates need to earn at least $4,500 a month and have acceptable qualifications.

Dependent Pass (DP) is for the spouses and children of Eligible EP Holder.

For details on Employment Pass and Dependent Pass, please see https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits).

3 These include, as emphasized by Wong (et al. 2020:1243), ‘the construction of a new purpose-built National Centre for Infectious Diseases and National Public Health Laboratory; significant expansion in the number of negative-pressure isolation beds throughout the public hospital system; stockpiling of personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks; establishment of formal platforms for multi-Ministry and cross-agency coordination; development of a strong capability to perform contact tracing quickly and at scale; training of health professionals including in the correct use of PPE; and building more biosafety level 3 laboratories.’

4 1 US$ =  Rs. 83 (INR) (approximately)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Diotima Chattoraj

Dr. Diotima Chattoraj is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the department of Social and Health Sciences in James Cook University, Singapore. Her research interests include Asian migration, mobility, development, ethnicity, international relations, and boundary-making. She has published articles in leading journals in migration and development namely, Mobilities, South Asia Research, India Quarterly, Asian Journal of Social Sciences, International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, and many more. She has authored the book entitled ‘Displacement Among Sri Lankan Tamil Migrants The Diasporic Search for Home in the Aftermath of War’ (Springer; Singapore), co-authored ‘COVID-19 Pandemic and the Migrant Population in Southeast Asia Vaccine, Diplomacy and Disparity’ (World Scientific Publishing; Singapore), ‘The unheard stories of the Rohingya: Ethnicity, diversity, distant voices, and media’ (Bristol University Press) and co-edited ‘Migration and the Search for a Home in Eastern South Asia’ (Palgrave Macmillan; UK). She is an assistant editor for South Asia Research (Sage) and serves as a peer reviewer for a number of refereed journals.