Deborah Emmanuel is a Singaporean poet, and she grew up with family issues which have caused her to turn to poetry in search of a way to express herself. Deborah helped me to understand the complexities that exist within our seemingly ‘perfect’ Singaporean society. I have never really taken the time to consider the implications of becoming a Singaporean and what that really means in itself. I have always thought myself to be an expat, but I consider Singapore as my home at the same time. Deborah highlighted the different categories that people place themselves in, Chinese, Malay, Indian and ‘Other’. She talked about how not feeling in-line with her ethnic group affected her as she grew up, and that really opened my mind to issues that people in Singapore might be facing.
Within Singapore, the different ethnic groups find it extremely hard to integrate and mingle with each other. Despite all being Singaporean, ethnic groups feel more in line with their heritage culture compared to labelling themselves as ‘Singaporean’. Language can be a contributing factor to the reason ethnic groups build barriers between themselves. Nationals that do not have any other language but English may feel out of place and start to slip out of touch with their community. Personally, I feel that these ethnic groups are not intentionally being exclusive, however, they follow after what has been existing for generations.
In order to eliminate such discriminations, people within communities should look to break out of the habit that has been forming, and make conscious efforts to mingle with other individuals. A very popular place to form meaningful relationships could be within schools or work communities outside of their own homes. Opening mindsets and seeking to learn about other cultures should be part of a driven inquisitive that we all must possess to aid in the process of breaking the walls we have put up between ourselves.
There are currently many individuals within Singapore that face a crisis dealing with their identity. Singaporeans have created their own system in which they feel pressured to place themselves into. The identity crisis within Singaporean nationals is a critical issue that we fail to recognise. Behind Singapore’s lush and boisterous facade, there is a society that is holding up that pristine image. Singapore is falsely portrayed as a city with no issues within its society, and this is something that we need to bring attention to.
Teja,
The topic of Singaporean identity/race relations is always a hot-button one, so well done on homing in on that. Also, your approach of wanting to probe the seedy underbelly of a seemingly perfect society shows good journalistic instincts.
To finesse your argument that many Singaporeans are not mingling, it would be good to do a little digging yourself (beyond Deborah) and find statistics and survey results from a range of reports already out there from reputable news sources. Statistics on workplace discrimination, housing quotas, inter-racial marriage, racial perceptions, and so on.
As you are rightly keen to look for “bottom-up” solutions, it always helps to find a credible chain of events that have led to the current “habits” and “walls” – this will lend your solutions heft. In Singapore, it probably is quite important to look at the political stakes when it comes to matters of race. Singapore was born in 1965 because of its leaders’ strong opinions on meritocracy, yet always tempered by their keen awareness that inter-racial tensions can flare dramatically. Race continues to inform much policy making for e.g. the recent changes to the Elected Presidency rules, the existence of ethnic self-help groups, trust issues in the higher echelons of the armed forces etc – is the government’s close management of race issues contributing to the sense of ethnic separateness in Singapore?
Meera,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article and leave this extremely insightful comment! I really appreciate it. I will definitely consider looking into more news sources and adding statistics to my article. I haven’t reflected that much upon the government’s role in this issue and will have to do more research in that area. Your feedback has definitely allowed me to construct a deeper understanding of the things that I should include the next time I write an opinion editorial. Thank you for leaving such a constructive and thoughtful message highlighting so many different points and perspectives to consider.