Indians in Southeast Asia: Migrant labour, knowledge workers and the new India

Abstract

India's economic transformation and astounding success, particularly since the 1990s and after decades of being viewed as an unfulfilled and poverty-stricken land, has contributed to the revitalisation and augmentation of Indian diasporic communities all over the world. In Southeast Asia this trend is particularly striking in two major states, Singapore and Malaysia, which had traditionally been important destinations for Indian migrants. Current Indian immigration to these states has also assumed new patterns, though some features of the old immigration streams continue to persist. Moreover, although ethnic polarisation and fragmentation continue to be pervasive (especially in Malaysia), rapid change in these countries is also making it possible for Indian communities to acquire experience and some opportunities for new alignments with India and other Indian communities.