It's totally meaningless that JB Bungar is picking on the term 'Minority', which refers to a smaller group than the majority. In Singapore, everyone understands that the majority group is the people of Chinese decent, whereas in Malysia, Chinese and Indian are the minorties.
Being a Minorty does not mean that he/she does not have full rights, as guaranteed by the law of the land. How people are autually are treated is a different matter and Singapore is no exception - People also favors their own kind. I applaud Singapore for making significant efforts trying to harmonize the racial relationships compare to most countries, including the Western countries like Canada and U.S.
karen mcgeorge:
Race discrimination and racial prejudice are two different ways of expressing dislike, the former being more overt and the latter, more covert. Hitler, the seducer and blackmailer of his own people and the Jewish race is one fine example of race discrimination. His actions are atrocious, barbaric, even unimaginable. Racial prejudice on the other hand is an attitude of one who has a preconceived notion, if not irrational ideas of people from another race. For instance,one may feel that a person from another racial group is not as wholesome as another racial group and makes no attempt to befriend him or her, though he/she may not resort to violence to get at him/her. A common example of race discrimination today includes employers choosing to hire applicants of their own race regardless of knowledge, abilities, talent, potentials or attitude. For instance, one caller for a job who speaks with a different accent is automatically screened off, over the phone, even before he/she is interviewed or his/her resume analysed, hece depriving him/her a chance to earn a living.
I was once a recruiment officer in Singapore and hired employees of different nationalities based on numerous factors except race. I had to explain my choice and persuade my employer to hire them! No doubt it is justifiable to judge in terms of experience that certain racial groups TEND TO be lazy and dishonest, (even if they also TEND TO be clever and outspoken), it is not right to CONCLUDE they ARE and WILL BE lazy and dishonest, without giving potential employees a fair assessment and OPPORTUNITY! As long as such discriminating attitude exists in Singapore society, it will perpetuate from one generation to another, so much so that certain racial groups succumb to the so-called "self-fulfilling prophecy" and act out on what they are expected to be by a prejudiced society: "They think I am a thief anyway, so what's the difference if I pocket myself a dollar from the office?"
Singapore is a fair society and intolerant of most kinds of vice, such as racism. Like a salad bowl,(thank goodness it is not a melting pot), Singapore enjoys an interesting blend of cultural diversities from all cultural groups evident by the many festivals celebrated throughout the year, without any compromise to values, beliefs, tradition or language. If all of us enjoy Nasi Lemak, Tandoori Chicken, Char Kway Teow and Kentucky Fried Chicken, we do not need a uniquely Singaporean dish. Muliticulturalism is successful only when a society is not merely TOLERATING all cultures, but ACCEPTING their differences.
A "Speak Malay campaign" and "Speak Tamil Campaign" is too costly to run and unecessary as the Malays tend to speak Malay / English and the small group of Indians tend to speak the common Tamil dialect / English. On the other hand, Singapore needs to have a "Speak Mandarin Campaign" not because of fostering Chineseness in Singapore but to encourage Chinese from all dialect groups who tend to speak their own dialects to speak a common language to encourage integration, hence the banning of all cantonese serials from Hong Kong. A society does not need too many self-centred differences so that there is strife, and egocentricism displayed by the many rights and strikes the West seems to aggressively pursue.
There is no contradiction between wanting to maintain each culture's heritage while at the same time promoting unity. Singapore is a success story. 30 years of nation building have brought Singaporeans better living standards, high employment, low illiteracy, adequate representation from all ethnic groups and modern technology despite differences in culture that some countries are battling to achieve! Singaporeans go with the Singapore government's strategy of tapping the tourism market, not hindered by irrational fears of foreigners taking over Singapore to help boost their economy. If the aim is for the well-being of society and therefore racial groups as a whole, then multiculturalism is a noble pursuit.
Lastly, one must not judge immediately that another is a racist just because one is treated such and such. Very often it is not. I notice the apparent abrupt behaviour of a racial group tends to display, not because it is inherently bad, but because it APPEARS to another racial group as rude. Language has a way of directing one's behaviour. As such, one needs to be sensitive of one's body language and speech when communicating to another racial group. As long as one continues to assume authority over what he/she is ENTITLED to say ("I have the right to...", etc) and behave, but REGARDLESS of other peoples' differences to theirs, one has no right to complain about being discriminated against!
karen mcgeorge:
First of all, your topic of discussion is flawed (or prejudiced?). "Are Singaporeans discriminating against non-Chinese?" After reading everybody's comments, I realise that they are inclined to assume that "Singaporeans" here include only Chinese, and not Malays, Indians, Eurasians, etc. It is therefore not a fair question and needs to be rephrased!
Oon Goh:
Define "multi-culturalism". The policies described in the preamble do not promote "multi-culti". Not as I understand multi-culti, anyway.
While the GRC system does ensure minority representation, my opinion is that it is motivated more by political considerations.
I do not see how Chinese helping Chinese, Indians helping Indians and Malays helping Malays would improve race relations. It would seem natural. As for representation... I do not see how it applies in this case.
The reason for the racial quota [in HDB] is political -- to discourage and disperse racial enclaves, to reduce racial politics, to disable race-based political parties.
This policy is not a policy of multi-culti, but political and economic integration, while retaining cultural identity and diversity. It is not as extreme as an oppressive policy of assimilation, but it does reduce the possibility of either racial ghettos, or a racial power-base or bloc. Again, the consideration is primarily political, as I see it, though with utmost sensitivity.
An MP (or minister, I forget) mentioned how when he announced that TCS 8 would become all-Chinese station, Chinese people actually worried about what would happen to programming for other races. This is definitely a most heartening demonstration of racial sensitivity. However, there was another person who wrote to complain that TV12 placed all the minority programmes on the existing channel, and all the new programmes on the new channel (which required a new antannae for some) and thus inconvenience the wider English-Speaking audience. He suggested that the Minority programmes be shifted to the new channel which would only inconvenience a few Indian and Malay speaking patrons. That was an example of selfishness and racial insensitivity.
I do not see a fundamental change. I do not see Singapore as ever being a melting pot, nor do I see any promotion of multi-culti. I do not know the rationale for the Speak Mandarin campaigns. The reason given was to hold onto our roots. But why can't our roots be in dialect. One might argue that dialects were closer to our roots than the artificial language of Mandarin.
Perhaps the reason is Economics and Commerce. Trade and business with China would require a common language. With our govt's far-sightedness, I can believe that they could look beyond booming Hong Kong with 1997 looming over her even in the seventies and see the possibilities of China.
Or perhaps the reason, once again is politics. 78% Chinese, 15% Malay and 6% Indians is more politically stable than 40% Hokkien, 20% Cantonese, 15% Malay, 8% Teochew, 8% Hainanese, 6% Indians, and 3% other dialects and races. (The dialect figures are illustrative only and are not factual).
Goh Yong Wah:
Just a note here......I am not comfortable with the termed "Multiculturalism" used in the above statement about Singapore......I do not think we are a Multiculture society. our population is made up of basically Chinese, Malay, Indians, Eurasians and pockets of Caucasian here and there.....but predominantly we are Asian.....so how can we be classified as having a multiculture society? are we exaggerating this multiculturism thing a little too much??? I think we are a multi-Asian society (even that term seems stretching a little consider that there are so many different Asian culture existing in this planet we called earth).
onghappy:
I think multiculturalism in Singapore is the thing that makes the country so interesting. As a Singaporean, I feel that there is absolutely almost no racial discrimination or racial prejudice. In this land, there is no such thing! Even the least that do exist is perhaps 1%. And they are very few and it is their own opinion. They do not influence other people or the government. For example if both an indian and a chinese go for a job interview. If the indian has better qualities than the chinese, the indian will definitely get the job. Why would the employers/directors of big companies fret over such trivial matters? Job oppurtunities are based on the interviewees own qualities that they have to offer. What absurd idea is that to say that there is racial discrimination!!! People of different races get the same services in restaurants, banks, hotels!!! Isn't that true???
Liu Soon Ching:
It is hard when cultures are different. I quess the writer needs to vent his misgivings, most likely his misinderstandings.
Being Chinese I find that my race can be very insensitive to other races here. Not all of us are insensitive though. The way Singapore is run though, makes us feel that certain races or religions dominates. Like Christians sermons are allowed on National Radio and the Azans on Malay channels. However when it is commercially run Chinese Programs dominates. It is easy for the government to gazzette a Chinese cemetry or temples but a Muslim shrine, mosque or cemetries are not gazzetted even if it is right smack in the center of a military installation.
I personally felt that Christians dominate the media world but my only worry is that they are just as insensitive in their attitude towards other religions. However my religion taught us to be tolerant and uphold peace and harmony as more important.
For peace sake let us try to live and let live. The Chinese migrations were caused by woes back in China, not by a desire to colonise. If we feel that others are inferior we must not forget that as a people we are industrious but we can't manage a country where we can look up to. Chinese people holds the knowdledge in technology and medicine, but is useless in the field of administration, management and marketing.
I hope people of other races can tolerate us and also improve on their part in a modernise society where peace holds the key to progress. If you are angry still, scold and shout all you like but antagonising others will not serve your problem.
Mandrin Gardens:
I found the panel's discussion very interesting but would like to have read the contributors' thoughts on the role of the media in all this. It was touched upon in the preamble and a couple of times briefly throughout the discussion, but I think it warrants more attention. Surely the media and government restaints, policies or lack of have as much if not more impact on cultural perceptions in society than even education. Perhaps it's not so much a matter of allocating eclusively "ethnic" programs to certain time slots or pages but incorporating "minority" representations into the mainsteam media, not as token appearences but as the norm - a reflection of reality, as well as ethnically exclusive media coverage and programming.
Tony Chau: [7 June 98]
I've lived in S'pore for approximately 9 months. Having grown up in Australia and experiencing racism here (Australia), I was appalled to find the level of racism in S'pore. I did not know anything about malay culture, as a matter of fact I didn't even know they existed. I thought that Malays were malaysians (though all my chinese malaysian friends strongly opposed) and not a different race of people. So, having arrived in S'pore I thought everyone was singaporean. This was not the case. The chinese would sterotype the malays and the Indians, to a point that it bordered on racism. The term Minahs and Mat were used to describe the Malays. My Chinese Singaporean friends joked while driving through Little India one night that they had to smile inorder to avoid not crashing into them. It was a disappointment to me in that i thought that in asia everyone would be the same because we are all asians. Unfortunatley, when ever there is a majority of one race, RACISM WILL ALWAYS EXIST.