THE ROLE OF SPORTS IN GOVERNMENT-LED SOCIAL INTEGRATION IN THE MODERNIZATION PROCESS OF SINGAPORE

Journal: Malaysian Sports Journal (MSJ)
Author: Mingxing Yu

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Doi: 10.26480/msj.01.2024.01.07

The relationship between sports development and social integration in Singapore, as a multicultural country, has garnered significant attention. This study aims to investigate the role of sports in the government-led social integration process in Singapore through a review of existing scholarly literature on social integration and sports, employing methods such as literature review, case studies, and theoretical analysis. By framing the government’s sports policies in Singapore within the context of nation-building and social consensus building, this study delineates two aspects: the construction of national identity through sports and the construction of social consensus through sports. Building upon this framework, the analysis is grounded in the social integration theories of Habermas and Durkheim, focusing on reshaping solidarity, identity formation, group and individual moral shaping, and the extension of the communication domain. Through this framework, the study analyzes the role of sports as a tool for social integration under government leadership. It concludes that in Singapore’s modernization process, sports are a policy tool entirely led by the government for social integration; sports activities provide a common platform for people of different races and social classes; sports hold significant importance for Singapore’s national image and community identity; and sports, as a public communication domain, facilitate interaction among society members. However, it also acknowledges that sports still face challenges in social integration related to issues such as race, class, and distribution.