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SINGAPORE - Singaporeans have managed to enjoy living in a peaceful and stable multiracial society because most people here understand the fundamental ideals on which the country was built.

The vast majority of Chinese in Singapore know what is required to uphold this ethnic harmony, and what is at stake, and have helped foster a society at peace with itself despite its diversity.

Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam made these points at a public forum on race relations on Saturday (July 24), which was organised by government feedback unit Reach and Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao.

"We are in a very good situation in Singapore... Overwhelmingly, Singapore is a peaceful place, with good racial harmony, good religious harmony," he said.

"The large majority of Chinese Singaporeans, the large majority of Singaporeans, understand the ideals, understand what has made us work, and really, they know what's at stake."

Elaborating, the minister said that if the three major racial groups in Singapore were to collide like balls crashing into one another, the Chinese group would prevail, by virtue of its size.

But this would cause unease among the minorities, and the pushback that could arise would leave everyone worse off.

"Just because there have been recent discussions, a lot of them led by people from the minority communities, doesn't mean we have to go down this road, doesn't mean we have to push along lines of race," he said.

His remarks at the Reach-Zaobao Dialogue come as recent incidents of racism sparked soul-searching about the state of race relations in Singapore.

Also on the panel were Senior Minister of State Sim Ann, Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations president Tan Aik Hock, lawyer Hee Theng Fong, actor Tay Ping Hui, and moderator Ho Sheo Be, political editor of Singapore Press Holdings' Chinese Media Group's NewsHub.

Mr Shanmugam noted that the Chinese, as the majority race, and institutions like Lianhe Zaobao, have a role to play in holding society together. Zaobao has persuaded the Chinese ground to align to the values of multiracialism, even as it promoted Chinese culture and language.

"Singapore is based on a very powerful ideology which runs contrary to the rules of race and nature. Zaobao has helped in nation building by accepting that and putting that forward. It would have been far easier to have played a role as an advocate for Chinese chauvinism. It didn't do that," he added.

This is in contrast to the majoritarian sentiment expressed by some, he said.

At the dialogue, one participant asked why the majority race in Singapore should not be given the right to decide on the direction to take in issues like education and language use, like in other countries. Another had lamented that minority groups were given more and more concessions, but the Chinese were still accused of always having their way.

Noting that these are not mainstream views, Mr Shanmugam added that they were dangerous and could lead Singapore down a slippery slope. He added that he was sad at the tone and substance of these questions.

It was the rejection of majoritarianism that led Singapore to separate from Malaysia in 1965. Right from the start, Singapore's founding leaders had worked to stamp out any kind of chauvinism, whether Chinese, Malay or Indian, to pursue the equality in Singapore that very few societies have tried to achieve, he added.

"I will tell the majority that if we move away from that, the minorities suffer, but the country will suffer, and the Chinese will suffer too. So, let's have a care," he said.

During the dialogue, the minister was also asked about a WhatsApp message, purportedly written by a former Malaysian living in Singapore, who said Singaporean Chinese were naive for allowing Indians to "dominate almost all Singapore's national institutions", such as the Judiciary and the Cabinet.

Describing the message as "nasty, dangerous", Mr Shanmugam said it was worse than the racist sentiments uttered by a Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecturer who had scolded an Indian man for "preying on Chinese women".

"That was crude and unacceptable, but this is poison, and it's dripping poison," said the minister.

He noted that if Singapore moves away from its current principles towards majoritarianism, statements like those in the WhatsApp message will start to gain traction.

He noted that politically it was easier to appeal to the Chinese ground to win votes, but said he hoped Singapore would never go down that route.

"Singapore will be destroyed, demolished, and the Chinese will suffer as well in the long run, because the racial fault lines will be deeper, you will have a permanent underclass based on race, and that means that the country as a whole will not prosper," he said.

Mr Shanmugam also said that antagonism and extremism has crept into discussions on race here, and warned against this tit-for-tat approach.

One participant at the dialogue, for instance, had suggested that if Special Assistance Plan schools, accused of lacking a multiracial mix, are to be closed, then madrasahs should similarly not be allowed.

Saying he was sad the questions had taken such a tone, Mr Shanmugam added: "Have a care in making these points, because it may come across as pushing very hard. And when the Chinese community pushes hard, it's a scary thing for the minorities."

Another topic that emerged was the issue of "Chinese privilege", or the applying of the idea of "white privilege" to Singapore. The latter refers to differences in institutional treatment of whites and African-Americans in the United States that continue to persist.

The minister noted: "If you tell a significant number of Chinese Singaporeans that they enjoy Chinese privilege, they will be perplexed and they will be upset. Because for them, they gave up their university, they gave up Chinese schools, they gave up what is common in every other society when one race is 75 per cent - that (their) language dominates."

Noting that in every society, being part of the majority brings certain advantages, he added: "But that is not, in my view, the same as privilege. Privilege and structural racism are different from the natural advantages that come from being part of the majority, and some of the disadvantages that come from being part of a minority."

Singapore has worked because the Chinese community had been very mindful when discussing such issues all along, he said, adding that has helped the country safeguard its racial harmony.

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S'pore's ethnic harmony made possible because majority knew what was at stake: Shanmugam

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SINGAPORE - Singaporeans have managed to enjoy living in a peaceful and stable multiracial society because most people here understand the fundamental ideals on which the country was built. The vast majority of Chinese in Singapore know what is required to uphold this ethnic harmony, and what is at stake, and have helped foster a society at peace with itself despite its diversity.

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Historical knowledge and perspectives to contemporary issues are important-- We can use these examples to reinforce the importance of learning humanities as a discipline to students

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Develop citizenship competencies, skills for civic discourse. Stress on importance of multi-perspectives.

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Our society have evolved. I feel that we are at a season in our nationhood where diff fragments in society have different ideas about society as a result of different life experiences. Hence, maybe it is also about updating our racial policies and efforts at education so that it keeps up with the "state" of racial relations (esp with the mediation of social media and other sources of influence) in Singapore. And this "state" is something that we need to constantly have a constructive conversation together to move towards our shared values and vision of society.

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Agree that Singapore as a nation has been very careful in maintaining our harmony. It is still a process as new views are being brought up and these could be discouraging when not dealt properly.

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While we acknowledge racial differences, we do not let race be politicised or to stir personal agendas.

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Agree in the sense that we have to be very mindful that racial issues can be a concern and we need to work hard to maintain harmony

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I think Min Shanmugam is right about the majority ethnic group striving to ensure that our society remains harmonious. But I think that it is also important to move away from the rhetoric of "tolerance" and transit into "appreciation" of the diversity that Singapore will always enjoy. I think it is the notion of "tolerance" that creates situations of casual racism as compared to really knowing about one another.

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Agree but at the same time we can't ignore those who are speaking up about their experiences with casual racism or outright racist behaviours. Whatever we have now is still work in progress and we can't ever adopt a complacent attitude about it.

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The article suggests that our society is currently in social harmony as it is stated that most people understand the fundamental ideals of Singapore and what is at stake in terms social stability. There is however, concerning moments of ethnic intolerance that are put on the spotlight recently.

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Ethnic Harmony for most, ethnic tolerance for some

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Ethnic Harmony for most, ethnic tolerance for some

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can't help that there are some who are giving in/compromising- does this show that they are tolerating diversity?

there are some who believes in the whole ideal of multiracialism and wholeheartedly espousing it - but what's the real number

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Min said that we are "in a very good situation in Singapore... overwhelmingly, Singapore is a peaceful place, with good racial harmony, good religious harmony". But as he also likely pointed out, there are also tensions and racist incidents occur sometimes. Also, people tend to avoid talking about such issues because they are sensitive... Hence, I put it in the middle - ethnic tolerance

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If agreeing with article means agreeing with Shanmugam, then yes I agree with his stance. He is showing the dangers of society slipping from their efforts at maintaining social harmony. What he envisions, to me is social harmony - and Singapore still is evolving to get there, as we are currently more tolerating than being in total harmony. having said that, i feel it is a process..an ongoing process as our society develops shared understanding and values that guide our action. Once in a while, there will be cracks, in different generations, at different times, and these conversations are necessary.

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The author thinks that "we are in a very good situation in SG...overwhelmingly...a peaceful place, with good racial harmony, good religious harmony." Although he is cognizant that sparks along racial lines has potential for easy eruption, he believes that different segments in society has practised the values and ideologies that helped to make racial harmony work in SG, and he urges us to continue doing so into the future.

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i agree that it is a work in progess. to be honest, can we find a society that is already very harmonious? Dont think so. I am more concerned about the use of social media. social media blows up everything, especially the bad things. this does not help as it erodes the hard work done so far.

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Beyond just teaching the content, instilling racial harmony starts from picking up micro-aggressions in class and correcting students as they have conversations with each other

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Lack of true understanding and appreciation of our differences. Keeping the peace for the sake of prosperity of the country but some deep-seated unhappiness and prejudices still lingering which is potentially dangerous.

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Ensuring there's space in the curriculum for deeper discussions of issues related to multiculturalism

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I agree with the article as Singapore's society is largely harmonious with different ethnic groups living with each other and accomodating to one another's practices and taking it as a way of life. The part about the role which the dominant ethnic group plays is also crucial as outlined in the article. Reason being, we hace seen real life examples of happeninfs in other countries ehere this is not thr case and the repurcussiins of it which affects all levels of society.

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I agree with the article as Singapore's society is largely harmonious with different ethnic groups living with each other and accomodating to one another's practices and taking it as a way of life. The part about the role which the dominant ethnic group plays is also crucial as outlined in the article. Reason being, we hace seen real life examples of happeninfs in other countries ehere this is not thr case and the repurcussiins of it which affects all levels of society.

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Kind of. I agree that it's a works in progress, but perhaps there are more critical faults that are already emerging in society which matter more than ethnic issues (e.g. SES). You are more likely going to hear someone gushing/complaining about million dollar HDB flats than.... their neighbour cooking whatever and getting offended. 

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Kind of. I agree that it's a works in progress, but perhaps there are more critical faults that are already emerging in society which matter more than ethnic issues (e.g. SES). You are more likely going to hear someone gushing/complaining about million dollar HDB flats than.... their neighbour cooking whatever and getting offended. 

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The importance of having the difficult conversations. We as educators need to increase our students understanding, clear misconceptions if any and sensitise our students to such issues.  

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The importance of having the difficult conversations. We as educators need to increase our students understanding, clear misconceptions if any and sensitise our students to such issues.  

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Ethnic tolerance. Based on the questions raised by the participants, it seems that justifications still had to be made to consider minorities' viewpoints.

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Ethnic tolerance. Based on the questions raised by the participants, it seems that justifications still had to be made to consider minorities' viewpoints.

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Ethnic intolerance. Racial harmony seems to be easily challenged once individuals start facing problems or issues

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Generally, we have always strived for harmony and (of course) want to live in harmony. But there is probably desire for more discussions/questions to be answered - so with the lack of understanding, I am thinking people may just be trying to tahan/tolerate.