Embra Cing Diversity – Onepeople.Sg

EMBRACING DIVERSITY OnePeople.sg (OPSG) was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 27 May 2007 to champion racial harmony initiatives in Singapore. OPSG works hand in hand with the Community Development Councils, Self-Help Groups and People’s Association to bring Singaporeans together as one people regardless of race or religion.

The HarmonyWorks! Conference and the Community Leaders’ Conference – ONEPEOPLE.SG aim to provide a platform for youths and community leaders to discuss issues Embracing related to race and religion in Singapore. These are part of OnePeople.sg’s continuing efforts to champion the cause of racial harmony. Diversity

Proceedings of OnePeople.sg events HarmonyWorks! 2012 ‘Regardless of Facebook, Twitter or YouTube’ Community Leaders’ Conference 2013 ‘Securing Peace: Lessons from History’ HarmonyWorks! 2013 ‘Generation Next: The Future of Harmony’ EMBRACING CONTENTS DIVERSITY Chairman’s Foreword / p.4 HarmonyWorks! Conference 2012 / p.6 Looking at social media / p.8 The evolution of social media and its Proceedings of larger impact on community integration / p.12 Students engage on current challenges / p.17 HarmonyWorks! Conference 2012 Bringing about positive change / p.22 ‘Regardless of Facebook, Twitter or YouTube’ Real connections needed in a virtual world / p.24

HarmonyWorks! Conference 2013 Harmony Works! 2013 Conference / p.40 ‘Generation Next: The Future of Harmony’ Dealing with diversity / p.42 Community Leaders’ Conference 2013 Racial and Religious Harmony – ‘Securing Peace: Lessons from History’ How many more indicators to scale? / p.45 A journey of learning / p.52 Students share their views / p.54 Crossing the racial-religious divide / p.60

Community Leaders’ Conference 2013 / p.74 The challenges of integration / p.76 Forging a Singapore identity / p.80 The fight to preserve one’s humanity / p.90 Marching forward as a nation / p.96 EMBRACING CONTENTS DIVERSITY Chairman’s Foreword / p.4 HarmonyWorks! Conference 2012 / p.6 Looking at social media / p.8 The evolution of social media and its Proceedings of larger impact on community integration / p.12 Students engage on current challenges / p.17 HarmonyWorks! Conference 2012 Bringing about positive change / p.22 ‘Regardless of Facebook, Twitter or YouTube’ Real connections needed in a virtual world / p.24

am pleased to present you One- race relations. An open and honest People.sg’s third publication of The Harmony Works! Conferenc- conversation can be its Conference proceedings ties engaged over 1,500 students and tled, Embracing Diversity. serves as a voice for youths to speak powerful in bridging ISingapore’s social landscape has up on race relations. I am encouraged gaps. seen vast changes in the wake of glo- by the robust discussions especially balization. Never before have we ex- how sensitive issues were addressed each other on one hand and building perienced diverse communities from with open minds. Hate speech, ra- hope when all seems lost on the various parts of the world sharing the cial stereotyping and ethnic prejudice other. The Bosnian experience common space. At these crossroads, were some topics that were openly served an important lesson – it is important to understand that with discussed in our Conferences and even in the toughest times; an increasingly diverse society, there this publication sheds light on these one should never give up on will be differing community views issues. You will also find passionate humanity. and interests. This is not necessarily responses, burning questions and I would like to extend bad. Differences in cultures, opinions and ideas from our youths flowing my special thanks to all guest and interests serve to enrich a nation through this book painting a vision speakers, supporters, partic- as long as these do not polarize socie- for the future. ipants and well-wishers for ty. From time to time, it is natural for This publication also consoli- making the Conferences a every mature society to have its own dates proceedings of OnePeople.sg’s worthwhile experience and set of issues concerning communal third biennial Community Leaders’ whose valuable exchanges space. An open and honest conversa- Conference. The Conference titled have contributed towards this tion can be powerful in bridging gaps. “Securing Peace: Lessons From His- publication. I sincerely hope At OnePeople.sg, we believe dia- tory” relived learning lessons from that the publication of our logue has to be a way of life for a di- one of the world’s most devastating Conference proceedings verse society to build mutual respect ethno-religious conflicts – the Yugo- will allow readers fresh ide- and understanding. Our Conferences slav Wars. We were privileged to have as, perspectives, and take- probe issues of communal harmony Mr Jacob Finci, founding member of aways. I count on you to which may be seldom talked about. Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Inter-Religious spread our cause. Through deeper exchanges, we hope Council and Bosnia’s former Am- Enjoy your read. to question assumptions and open up bassador to Switzerland to share his blind spots. As you read the chapters personal experiences. Mr Jacob gave in this publication, you will find re- a sobering first-hand account of how Zainudin Nordin flections from people of all walks on religion can be used for both good Chairman wide ranging challenges confronting and bad; turning neighbours against OnePeople.sg

4 CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD 5 An open and honest conversation can be powerful in bridging gaps. each other on one hand and building hope when all seems lost on the other. The Bosnian experience served an important lesson – even in the toughest times; one should never give up on humanity. I would like to extend my special thanks to all guest speakers, supporters, participants and well-wishers for making the Conferences a worthwhile experience and whose valuable exchanges have contributed towards this publication. I sincerely hope that the publication of our Conference proceedings will allow readers fresh ideas, perspectives, and take- aways. I count on you to spread our cause. Enjoy your read.

Zainudin Nordin Chairman OnePeople.sg

CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD 5 HarmonyWorks! Conference 2012

EVENT PROGRAMME 9.55 am “Yamko Rembe Yamko” - welcome performance by students of Crescent Girls’ School 10.00 am Opening address by Mr Zainudin Nordin, Chairman, OnePeople.sg 10.10 am Plenary session: The evolution of social media and its larger impact on community integration. Speaker: Mr Kelly Choo, co-founder of Brandtology 10.50 am Breakout sessions 2.35 pm “In Harmony” – Performance by students of Jurong Junior College 2.45 pm Students engage on current challenges – presentation by three Conference Participant Groups 3.00 pm Presentation on Community Engagement Champions Programme by students of Innova Junior College 3.05 pm Dialogue session. Panel chair: Mr Zainudin Nordin (Chairman, OnePeople.sg). Panel Members: Dr Yaacob Ibrahim (Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs), Mr. Eugene KB Tan (Associate Professor, School of Law, Singapore Management University) and Mr. Kelly Choo (co-founder of Brandtology) 4.15 pm “What’s Your Story” – prize presentation 4.25 pm “Orange Ribbon Song” – a video montage

6 HarmonyWorks! Conference 2012 ‘Regardless of Facebook, Twitter or Youtube’ Saturday, 28 July 2012 Temasek Convention Centre

7 CHAIRMAN’S SPEECH Looking at social media Think before you post, says Mr Zainudin Nordin, Chairman of OnePeople.sg

he HarmonyWorks! Conference is held yearly to engage youths on critical issues concerning race relations in our country. This conference is about you. We want to hear your views. You are our next generation who will carry Singapore into the future and your opinions are Timportant. Today’s conference marks the finale of the Orange Ribbon Celebrations. Every year, OnePeople.sg and its partners organise island-wide racial harmony activities in the month of July called the Orange Ribbon Celebrations. We encourage people to wear the Orange Ribbon to make a stand against racism and show respect and understanding towards our friends from different races and religions. I am proud to say that the Orange Ribbon Celebrations is now an important event in our national calendar, and I hope to see as many of our youths being a part of this movement. The theme of today’s conference, “Regardless of Facebook, Twitter or YouTube”, is a very relevant topic, especially to our young ones. Nowa- days, we cannot spend a day without looking at our Facebook, tweeting or fiddling with our smartphones. We have gotten better at multi-tasking. We have learnt how to eat, SMS, surf the net and talk to someone on the phone, all at the same time. People are switching from SMS to WhatsApp in sending messages. Facebook has become our public diary, where our In the opening speech by Mr Zainudin Nordin, he says that this is the era of friends online get to know where we the social media, a medium which are, what we are doing at any time has greatly changed the way we of the day, simply by us ‘checking in’. communicate. And somehow, we have also gone

8 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 eScapedtowIScoNSIN Studies have shown that Facebook has 2.7 billion ‘likes’ a day and there are about 900 million active users.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 9 back to childhood days, by either ‘friending’ or ‘unfriending’ people who wish to be our online friends or ‘like’ and ‘unlike’ posts on the internet. This is the era of the social media, a medium which has greatly changed the way we communicate. Let me share with you some interesting facts about social media. Recent studies have shown that Facebook has 2.7 billion ‘likes’ a day. There are 900 million active users. If Facebook was a country, it would be the 3rd largest country in the world. As for Twitter, there are over 450 million accounts all over the world. 750 tweets are shared per second. If Twitter was a country, it would be the 12th largest in the world. YouTube has 2 billion views per day and 900,000 videos are uploaded daily.

Highly-connected Singapore

We live in a highly connected, global society. In fact, Singapore is one of the world’s most connected cities. According to a recent global survey by Ericsson Consumer Lab, a research firm which tracks mobile lifestyles, Singapore has the highest penetration of smartphones in the world. Among 58 countries polled, we came out on top for ownership of smartphones, and among the top 3 in the world for owning tablet PCs. Singaporeans are also one of the world’s highest users of social media with over 2.6 million Facebook accounts. Social media has given rise to a powerful voice called citizen journalism. Now, with a tablet or mobile device, we can create, comment and share news on the move. Within minutes, this information can be viral. We are conveying and consuming information in cyberspace more than ever. The phenomenon of social media can create a wealth of connectivity, but, by the same measure, if misused, can pose a threat to our social fabric, as we have witnessed lately. I am rather troubled by recent incidents of racism online. Despite being cau- tioned, we see our young making the same mistakes. Soon after a foreign scholar was taken to task for making insensitive remarks online, a Singaporean youth sparked furor with racist comments via her Twitter account. More recently, two errant youths were arrested for tweeting derogatory remarks about another race. I grapple with myself, if these incidents are a reflection of a moment of rashness or just deep-seated prejudice. While I can take heart that the majority of Singaporeans value our multicultural society, I am concerned about the vocal minority who use online media to incite hate speech. What can we do to correct this? We need to speak up. Let not our silence be taken for weakness. If we encounter acts of racism on the internet or in our daily lives, make a stand. Don’t wait for someone else to respond. For

10 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 that person may be waiting for you. In the end, each keeps waiting for anoth- “The new media er and the cyberbully gets away, and becomes stronger when he returns. is a powerful tool. We must not let that happen. It allows you to I am not sure how many of you watched Spiderman. There is a quote express what you in that movie that struck me: With feel without any great power, comes great responsibil- inhibitions. But ity. The new media is a powerful tool. It allows you to express what you feel freedom of speech without any inhibitions. But freedom on the internet must of speech on the internet must come come with a certain with a certain responsibility. To think that social media gives you a cloak of responsibility.” anonymity is false. Some of the youths who were caught posting offensive remarks online had actually tweeted privately to their friends. But in the end, screenshots of their posts were taken and circu- lated to thousands via social media. The lesson here is simple. Do not do something rash, which you may regret later. Think before you post. Ask yourself, “If I am going to tweet this message or post this message on Facebook, is it going to hurt others?” If the answer is yes, do not click “send”. Today’s conference will challenge you to think deeply about issues concerning social media. For example, values that we can cultivate in social media. Do we need an online code of conduct by the government to regulate our actions or can we come up with our own set of norms to check ourselves? How can we use new media positively? We often hear about the bad things going on in social media, but what about the good things? Can social media be used to champion civic causes? These are interesting questions that you will be discussing and debating at this conference and I am eager to hear your views. In closing, I would like to reiterate that social media is a double-edged sword. We should blunt the end that hurts and sharpen the end that opens new positive experiences. Do remember that while social media increases your networks, nothing substitutes face-to-face interaction. The barometer of harmony is the circle of friends you have outside your own race, not just online but offline as well. So do take this opportunity to mingle, make new friends and take home something valuable.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 11 KEYNOTE SESSION The evolution of social media and its larger impact on community integration

Mr Kelly Choo, co-founder of Brandtology, gives examples on how issues on social media can escalate quickly.

hat is social media? Different people have different defi- nitions. This is how WWikipedia describes it: A group of internet-based applications that is built on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content. It basically means that we are able to communicate very quickly with each other using the internet. I think that’s the key part about social media, that it is driven Mr Kelly choo encourages youths by accessible, ubiquitous and scala- to think about how to approach an ble technologies. Its power lies in the issue such as being caught for saying something sensitive online. fact that we can use it anywhere and everywhere. So, on Twitter you could say, “I’m eating a #donut”. Facebook: I like donuts. Foursquare: This is where I eat donuts. Instagram: Here’s a vintage photo of my donut. YouTube: Here I am, eating a donut. LinkedIn: My skills include donut eating. Pinterest: Here’s a donut recipe. Last FM: Now listening to “Donuts”. Google+: I’m a Google employee who eats donuts. Mainstream media like newspapers, radio and magazines are quite simple in that it is a one-way communication. I am the reporter and I write something.

12 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 You read the newspaper, you consume it. In social media, it is very different. It is not like bowling, where you just have one ball and you try to hit the pin with it. Social media is more like pachinko, which is a very popular arcade game in Japan. It basically allows you to tweak the many balls that fly around the machine so that the balls land at the correct place and you score points. You have a lot of moving parts to look at and that is what social media is like. You need to look at Twitter, you need to look at Facebook and many other things. It is also a two-way interaction. So what is the big deal about social media? It is a big deal because a lot of people today are using social media networks for various things. Facebook is number one in Singapore. There are a lot of other social networks out there in different countries. Today, I hear that Facebook has close to 3 million users. As Mr Zainudin mentioned, there was a case when someone was reported for putting a racist comment online. It was actually an internal joke. She had posted it to her friend but one of her friends actually took the comment out and re-tweeted and shared it with the rest of the world. So, social media is really public even though what you were sharing was meant only for your friends. Your friends may share it and soon, a whole lot of other people will be able to see it as well. So, the most important thing is to use common sense. You should ask yourself: If this message that I send to my friend goes public, can I still remain as I am or would I be under public scrutiny? Would people look at me in a different way? And, if you share something offensive, you are as guilty as the person who posted it. You are condoning it. You are saying that I agree with this person by

Twitter: “I’m eating a #donut”. Facebook: I like donuts. Foursquare: This is where I eat donuts. LinkedIn: My skills include donut eating. Instagram: Here’s a vintage photo of my donut. Last FM: Now listening to “Donuts”. YouTube: Here I am, eating a donut. Pinterest: Here’s a donut recipe. Google+: I’m a Google employee who eats donuts.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 13 sharing this. Please be careful before you press the “like” button, before you “Is something share something. Think about its im- really private in pact first. social media? The Is this a uniquely Singapore problem? I would say no, it is not. If answer is no. Even anybody is following the Olympics, though you send a you must have heard about the ath- message privately lete from Greece. She tweeted something that was racially insensitive. She on Facebook to thought that it was very funny. But, someone, it is easy she was expelled from the Olympics team because of this. Even though for him or her to she apologised and did whatever she press ‘share’. So be could, it was too late. She had already careful about what done the damage. Hate crimes are described as you say.” events in which a person commits an offence against another person because of the victim’s race, religion, gender, disability or ethnicity. Hate crimes do not involve physical aggression and may simply be attributed to a verbal insult or a verbal assault, meaning that when you say something bad against someone online, it will be considered a hate crime. Within social networking platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, the ability to commit hate crimes has become quite simple. I want to touch on a quick case study. Harbour City is a very large shopping centre in Hong Kong. There were protests there in front of the Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) shop. What happened is that when people would take photos of the shop, a security guard would come out and say, “Where are you from, Sir or Madam?” If the person said that he was from Hong Kong, the guard would say, “Sorry, you can’t take a picture.” But, if the person was a visitor from mainland China, the guard would say, “Go ahead, take the photo.” It became a very big issue in Hong Kong. People started creating anti-D&G sites on Facebook. It came to a point where they had a gathering in front of the D&G shop in defiance of what was happening. It was not just D&G that was affected. Another brand next to it, Coach, was also affected. Too many people were cramming the streets and nobody could actually enter the shopping centre. A lot of people also shared conspiracy theories, meaning they had no facts

14 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 wING/wIKIMedIa Hong Kongers protesting outside a dolce & Gabbana store in 2012. It was an example of organisations not paying enough attention to what people were saying on social media, said Mr Kelly choo. behind their statements. “They did not allow me to take a picture because they were afraid that if I take a picture and share it, people will identify corrupt Chi- nese officials who are buying D&G and going back to China”. They said all sorts of things against the Chinese, even though they are of the same ethnic race. The people in Hong Kong saw them as two different people. D&G did not apologise until many weeks later. The problem there was that they did not have a sense of what was happening on social media. They did not realize that they had to apologize. To makes things even worse, there were many influential people like celeb- rities, leaders in the industry and bloggers who were also talking about the issue online. They attacked D&G as a brand. They were also saying, “Harbour City, before you apologise, we won’t touch you”. The key thing is that one small incident can affect a lot of people. It actually has a snowball effect. It affected D&G as a brand, it affected the shopping centre,

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 15 it affected the tourism board of Hong Kong because mainland Chinese refused to come because they thought that the people in Hong Kong were racist. It trickled down to a lot of stakeholders. I have shown you some negative examples. Now, I want to show you the positive things that you can do. There is an Australian entity, a non-profit body, which created a Twitter account that talks about the difficulties of immigrants in Australia. They give immigrants a lot of help and information about how to come to Australia and how to integrate well with the local culture. This is a positive example of how you can also spread the right information to the right people so that they may use it to play a greater part in the community. I want to encourage you to think about how to approach an issue such as being caught for saying something sensitive online. Should the police make arrests, or should we all come together to create a code of ethics? If anyone crosses this code of ethics, we should put him or her in place and say, “Sorry, you are going out of line here. Please stop.”

16 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 it affected the tourism board of Hong Kong because mainland Chinese refused to PRESENTATION come because they thought that the people in Hong Kong were racist. It trickled down to a lot of stakeholders. Students engage on current I have shown you some negative examples. Now, I want to show you the positive things that you can do. There is an Australian entity, a non-profit body, challenges which created a Twitter account that talks about the difficulties of immigrants in Australia. They give immigrants a lot of help and information about how to come Three Conference Participant Groups present what they had to Australia and how to integrate well with the local culture. This is a positive learned during the breakout sessions. example of how you can also spread the right information to the right people so that they may use it to play a greater part in the community. I want to encourage you to think about how to approach an issue such as being caught for saying something sensitive online. Should the police make arrests, or should we all come together to create a code of ethics? If anyone crosses this code of ethics, we should put him or her in place and say, “Sorry, you are going out of line here. Please stop.”

Through breakout sessions led by onepeople.sg’s volunteer facilitators, participants discussed challenges posed in sustaining a socially cohesive society in an era of the new norm.

Group 1 The first group looked at the implications of new media on youth today. Do they make it easier for youngsters to make racial slurs online? And, how do youths engage their peers when racial remarks are made online?

Presenter 1: Social media has made it easier for people to be racist. Since we can post comments anonymously, we can become casual and irresponsible in what we say. On the other hand, I may post a comment like “you are bad”. It may have

16 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 17 Group 1 shares that we should also celebrate our differences and practise tolerance and respect for each other.

been done in the heat of the moment “Social media is like because I am angry. But, it can still look racist. Similarly, you may share a knife. You can use jokes with your close friends. But, if it for good or abuse taken out of context, you can come it to make trouble.” across as racist. And, since discussions happen so fast online, with people being able to post comments one after the other, the whole issue can spread like fire.

Presenter 2: A lot of us express our opinions bluntly online without thinking about the consequences of our actions. This makes racism very pervasive in the social media platforms. A lot of teenagers are also influenced by what our peers do. There is an element of peer pressure when making racist remarks because, a lot of times, we are just blindly agreeing with other people. And, since peer pressure is present in every generation, online racism will also continue.

Presenter 3: If we find things in common, such as a shared interest in music or fashion, we can actually overlook the issue of race. At the same time, it is not always possible to accept everyone completely. For example, when you see

18 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 someone making a racist remark, you may not agree with it. The best thing that you can do is to be neutral. Don’t make the situation worse by rubbing salt in the wound. Also, you should practise tolerance and respect for each other without compromising your own values. We should also celebrate our differences. Social media is like a knife. You can use it for good or abuse it to make trouble.

Group 2 The second group discussed how new citizens can embrace the Singapore spirit. How can youth support this?

Group 2 hopes to promote graciousness and positive stories in a platform called “Stamp”.

Presenter 1: We first had to determine what the Singapore spirit is. After much discussion we chose characteristics such as graciousness, contentment and com- passion. We also included love for local food, our multiculturalism and kiasu- ness. Being kiasu is being afraid to lose out. But, it can be a very strong motiva- tional force for people to work hard and achieve their goals. We also discussed how we could promote graciousness through social media. I am sure you all know what Stomp is. It is a website where people can upload pictures and videos of Singaporeans being inconsiderate. We thought that Stomp is quite a negative website. Instead, we should have a website called

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 19 Stamp, which would be just the opposite of Stomp.

Presenter 2: For example, if someone did something that you think is gracious, you can ‘stamp’ her by taking a picture of that person in action and posting it online. This might motivate others to do the same thing. You will feel positive energy from reading that post.

Presenter 1: You can make use of “It really comes Facebook to create viral campaigns. Someone could create an event and down to each one of invite friends and others to join in. us. If we are careful For example, you could say that at a about how we act, specific time in Singapore, everybody who signed up for the event must do we will not need an act of kindness to someone around someone else to do them. it for us.” Presenter 2: We could also post positive stories on Facebook. This is because we feel that a lot of people complain about things, but no one talks about the good things that happen. The last point we discussed was how we can promote contentment. One way we can achieve this is by destroying the myth that wealth equates happiness.

Group 3 The third group explored the idea of creating a code of ethics for users of online media. What would these guidelines be? What will be the role of youths in this?

Presenter 1: Most of us did not think that a code of ethics will work. The internet is too big. Many people share their comments online, which makes it difficult for a manager to control.

Presenter 2: Personally, I would feel uncomfortable knowing that there is an external person reading, moderating and analysing everything I write. Many people would think this as an invasion of privacy. There might also be a problem in coming up with a code of ethics in the first place. How would you even come up with all these rules and guidelines? The most we can do is to give people guidelines on how to act: don’t be rude, be polite etc. But, it ultimately comes down

20 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 to you, to the user. If a person is going to be rude and impolite, there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Presenter 1: So, who has the right to decide the code of conduct? This is very hard to say because everyone has their own opinions as they are from different cultures and backgrounds. What may be right for some may seem unfair to others.

Presenter 2: We think it really comes down to each one of us. If we are careful about how we act, we will not need someone else to do it for us. We can set an example for other people to follow. We can be the change we want to see.

Group 3 discussed about the practicality of an online code of conduct and how this could impact social interactions online.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 21 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CHAMPIONS Bringing about positive change

Innova Junior College students, Nigel and Naomi, share their experiences as Community Engagement Champions

ur vision is to be an institute of excellence that champions positive changes. This is achieved through nurturing our graduate leaders to serve with honour and humility. This is, in fact, our mission. It highlights our focus on cognitive, character and leadership devel- Oopment so that our graduate leaders will have the necessary values, knowledge and skills to champion positive changes. This is guided by the 21st century com- petencies that are depicted by social “I simply loved the emotional learning, Habits of Mind and Bloom’s taxonomy. musical segment. As Community Engagement (CE) The blending of champions, we have gone through six key leadership programmes over five the various drum months. Each programme reinforces beats was well- the necessary values, knowledge and synchronised, skills required in young community leaders through a series of deep re- forming one melody, flection and discussions, from social just like how the issues to policy making. different races in We attended the HarmonyWorks! workshop, which raised our aware- Singapore come ness about the various ethnic groups together as one in Singapore. The focus was to promote a kampung spirit. We played an people.” interactive multimedia bingo game as Aisyah, CE Champ part of the activities. This empowered from IJC reflecting us with the knowledge of many different cultures and races that many of us on the EiE Workshop may not know about.

22 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 Next, we went through the Ex- plorations in Ethnicity workshop, also known as the EiE workshop at One- People.sg. It is the highlight of the CE champions programme. It facilitates participants to share their thoughts on other races. It taught us the nuances In the five-month programme, the and challenges of living in a multira- students picked up skills and learned cial Singapore. This workshop touch- more about policy-making. es on stereotypes, prejudices and the importance of social cohesion. In April, our first Youth Dialogue “I learnt that was initiated by Mr Zainudin, MP internal social Bishan-Toa Payoh and Chairman of OnePeople.sg as well as other com- conflicts between munity leaders. This taught us the ra- different races can tionale of policy making to preserve result in a divided racial and religious harmony in Sin- gapore. Singapore. It also The CE Champs Community In- emphasized the volvement Programme (CIP) Work- need to stay resilient shop was organised by OnePeople. sg. It taught us about project man- and maintain agement and organisational skills. harmonious We brainstormed possible ideas for a meaningful CIP project that would relationships with promote social cohesion and civic others.” engagement. Currently, our project Clarissa, CE Champ is a work-in-progress, as we are ensuring that it will serve real commu- from IJC, on her visit nity needs and enhance community to the ISD bonds. In June, the CE champs went to the Internal Security Department (ISD) Heritage Centre. We also had our second Youth Dialogue with Mr Eddie Chau, the founder and CEO of Brandtology. The ISD trip gave us a glimpse of Singa- pore’s past challenges and successes while the session with Mr Eddie Chau gave us insights on how social media can be used to access and analyse information vital to consumer behaviour.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 23 PLENARY DISCUSSION Real connections needed in a virtual world Guest of Honour, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information, and other panelists engage the participants in many issues stemming from social media.

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Social media is already an everyday part of our lives. We can’t run away from it. Increasingly, your generation, my kids’ generation, the next generation will grow up with the internet being an indispensable tool for information, entertainment and education. Things will change rapidly, but, in which direction is something that every one of us has to reflect on. The issue that we are talking about today is racial harmony, the social cohesion that we have painstak- ingly worked for in the last 41 years so that we can live harmoniously. It is not something for us to ignore. You can see from around the world how social relations among people of different ethnicities and religions can be very fragile. It requires just a moment of madness to break it up. The problem is that the moment of madness can occur a lot quicker now than in the past because of the very nature of the internet. Not only does it increase your reach, it also amplifies the volume of unhappiness or discon-

24 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 tentment. So, it is an important issue for us to think about. In the last few months, we have seen how social media have been used by some people in Singapore to show their dark side, so to speak. Can this be pre- vented? Maybe. Students shared that we should not enforce a code of conduct. The very idea about a code of conduct is not to enforce. It’s for us to lead by. Finally, we recognise that the internet and social media are here to stay. The question that we should ask ourselves is what kind of landscape do we want for Singapore? I don’t pretend that, when I talk about a code of conduct, it is for the rest of the world to follow. It is about us, Singaporeans. We are keen for the internet to grow. As I have mentioned before, the inter-

The highlight of the conference was the dialogue session led by Guest of Honour, dr Yaacob Ibrahim (third from left), Minister for communications and Information. other panelists include Mr Zainudin Nordin (second from left), Mr Kelly choo (left), and Mr eugene tan (right), assistant professor of Law, SMU and Nominated Member of parliament.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 25 net is a key pillar for our economic growth. There are many good things that can take place, apart from applications and services, so on and so forth. Beyond that, it is also a tool for us to engage, communicate and be kept informed. But, what sort of landscape do you want that to be? Do you want it to be a landscape where vulgarities can be used and misinformation or false information can be peddled in any form? Or, do we want it to be a resilient, robust platform where healthy, constructive discussions can take place and where people can agree to disagree? It is a free space for you to discuss your views. But, should we not insist or expect a minimum standard of honesty or civility that we expect in our daily lives? I am sure you don’t want to be told off unnecessarily on the bus just because you fell asleep in the priority seat. You would probably want someone to tell you nicely. What we expect in the real world must be what we expect in a virtual world. So it is an important question, not just for the government, but for all of you internet users and myself to decide what that landscape should be and what characteristics we want.

Question: How can an online code of ethics be implemented in a practical manner?

Mr Eugene Tan: I am actually in favour of it. I don’t see it as an enforcement tool because it has no enforcement measures, no sanctions. But, it is important that users are familiar with some of the minimum standards. I see it as a code of conduct, how we all conduct ourselves when we are online. Two quick things that we should bear in mind: first, there is no app for racial harmony. You can’t download Mr eugene tan supports the implementation of an online code of an app and say we have got racial har- conduct. mony. It is something that we have to constantly work on. Secondly, you have to bear in mind that the real and virtual worlds are actually related. They are not separate worlds. What happens in one will have an impact on the other, although we tend to think of them as separate worlds. In terms of the online code of conduct, I think it is important because we

26 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 don’t want the experience of going online to be a negative one, where all you see are really half-truths, untruths, accusations and ignorance. I think that the internet and the social media have more potential than that.

Question: How should one react towards online racist remarks?

Mr Kelly Choo: I think the first thing to do is not pour “Remember, it oil into the fire, meaning don’t im- doesn’t benefit mediately go and share, even though it could be a joke. I gave an example Singapore at all if of the Olympic athlete from Greece. we institutionalise She thought that her racist remark was a joke and that it was really funny. discrimination She shared it on Twitter and got into against other trouble because it was very sensitive. groups. It threatens She was booted out from the Olympic team. our very existence.” So, do not freely press ‘like’ and Mr Eugene Tan do not immediately share something even if you think it’s very funny. You have to be very sensitive about who you are sharing it with. The second thing is that when you see something that is from a friend, who you know personally, what you can do is send a private message to that person. Say, “Hey, why do you say this? Just be careful.” I think that is very important. You must have a community or at least a group of friends that will stand up with you to tell the concerned person that he is crossing a line, that he shouldn’t be doing this. I think this is a very good way to react.

Mr Zainudin Nordin: We need to have a sense of responsibility towards what we believe is wrong and act on it. Don’t wait for things to become worse by sharing it or spreading it around. I think these are the two key points.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 27 Question: I am the President of the Students’ Council in my school. I would like to stop racism in my school. So I would like to ask Dr Yaacob, what’s your opinion on what I can do to stop racism in school?

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: I think there are many websites that you can go to, like OnePeople.sg, that will help to build up understanding between races. This is not a secret and can be done quite easily. But, my sense is that the real challenge is not about finding a programme. It’s about how people develop respect for each oth- This Students’ council president hopes er. That is something which we can’t to find out ways to stop racism in school. do just in schools. It’s what we do as a community. It’s the values we hold as a community. It’s how we see other Singaporeans, the lenses that we wear. Race is such an important matter in Singapore that we are aware of it from a very early age. We are asked to inform who we are when we apply for kindergarten and schools. Our reason for doing so is because of the policy and programmes that we have in Singapore. But, having said that, I have always believed that diversity is a strength rather than a weakness. We have to understand what diversity means to us. I remember, many years ago when I was in America, I saw this programme about an experiment that was conducted by a school on six-year-olds. That day, the teacher decided to get all the kids wearing glasses to stand on one side and kids not wearing glasses to stand on the other side. The kids who were not wearing glasses were then instructed to discriminate against those with glasses. At the end of the day, they had a discussion. One girl said, “I don’t understand. Why do I have to discriminate against someone wearing glasses? Someday I may be wearing glasses.” She realised that it could happen to her also. The golden rule by Confucius: Don’t do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you. I think respecting diversity is a value that we should instil in our young at a very early age. There are many world religions that speak positively about diversity. I see diversity as something that enriches our lives. We can overcome our

28 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 differences by appreciating what we have, sharing what we have in common and looking at diversity as our strength. I think that will be the long-term solution. Meanwhile, as I have mentioned earlier, you can run programmes in school to build up sensitivity. Those are the things that can help us hone our instincts, so that at the end of the day it will become almost second nature that when you see someone, your gut instinct is not to see him as a Chinese, Malay or Indian, but to see him as a fellow human being who needs your help, who needs your passion and care. When someone says something that offends you, you go out and correct him. That’s the right thing to do - not to insult him back but to correct him. But sometimes, people joke around. When I was growing up, we used to have such jokes. People used to call others a certain word that was seen as a pejorative. But, at the end of the day, people just laughed it off. It is this kind of instinct that you need to spread among your students. At the end of the day, when something wrong is spoken, you need to stand up for what is right. But sometimes, among friends, when people joke about each other, we can rise above that.

Question: Do you have any plans to host such conferences frequently, more such platforms for students to come and discuss and propose such ideas?

Mr Zainudin Nordin: I am very happy that you like such conferences. We have been holding this for the past six years. And, we will continue to do so because today I am very happy that the response has been so wonderful. This is the highest number of student participants who have attended the conference so far. If the management committee of OnePeople.sg sees this as something the students like, then, of course, we will continue to organise it. Usually, we hold this conference annually. We have many workshops like what the IJC students just pre- sented here. Quite a number of them take part in the organising, togeth- Mr Zainudin Nordin (right) says that er with us. We try to promote these he is happy with the strong turnout at workshops in schools and at all levels: Harmonyworks! conference.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 29 primary, secondary, JCs and even in “Each of us has to Polys. If you find any of the workshops interesting, do come and also take up personal promote it amongst your friends. responsibility and Question: The foreigners who have come stand up for what to this country are always looked down is right… Be the on. They feel that the Singaporeans are change that you biased towards them. What can we do to change this inequality? want to see. That way, this world will Mr Eugene Tan: be a better place for When we look at the foreigners who come to our country, we have to all of us. ” understand that they are also in search Dr Yaccob Ibrahim of a better life. Many of them are here only temporarily. Think about how such people have helped to build this country: the MRT, the roads and so on. So it is important that we treat them as human beings. Why should their nationality matter? They are working to make a living, to help their families back home have better lives. I think regardless of which religion or racial group you are from, there are situations where you could be the minority. And, I think the golden rule applies: Don’t do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you. The theme that I heard from the student presentations is personal responsibility and personal action. That’s something you can do. If you see someone being mistreated, it is important to step forward and stop that wrong treatment. Of course, you would need to do it in a sensitive manner. It’s about not waiting for someone else to do the right thing. How can you be a change agent or how can you play your part? Remember that what you want to do must not end with this conference. There are many interesting ideas that have stemmed from this conference and I hope that they don’t remain as ideas. You must engage each other, engage One- People.sg, engage the National Youth Council to see how you can get funding and support for your various ideas. We can all be change agents in the very communities that we are members of. Start with your family.

30 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 Question: In your point of view, what is the best way of spreading the importance of racial harmony?

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: There is no one way. It is about respecting the dignity of others, it is about our value systems, it is about standing for what we believe is right. Stamp is a good example of wanting to make sure that good voices come out and silence the not-so-moderate This conference allows students to voices. So, it is a collective set of ac- discuss issues and propose ideas. tions we have to do. But, I will come back to the importance of the individual as Professor Tan mentioned. Each of us has to take up personal responsibility and stand up for what is right, projecting the right values. Sometimes we laugh off people who make rude remarks. If you ask me, by giving them air time, we are actually en- couraging them. Ignoring them may be one of the best ways. Sometimes when people pass their remarks, I just ignore them and walk away with a smile. Be the change that you want to see. That way, this world will be a better place for all of us.

Question: Why is that in Singapore people get punished for posting racist comments online but not in other cities or countries?

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: We have sedition laws. This is not a laughing matter. We take our racial and religious harmony very seriously. Anything that we think can destroy that and can cause a tear in our fragile social fabric, we come down hard and we don’t make compromises. Why? Because as you saw in the video, after the riots that we went through in the early years, trying to get people from different backgrounds and races to think and act as Singaporeans required a lot of effort. Racial and religious harmony is doing well now, but it is a work-in-progress. If there are any elements trying to destroy that, we need to take action. We don’t differentiate whether the remark is from the real world or the virtual world. We will take action because we don’t want the idea to spread like wildfire. Imagine if someone were to spread something negative about a religion or a group and it gets amplified across the

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 31 internet. It can cause havoc. So, at the end of the day, we take it very seriously and want to send a very strong signal that we will not tolerate such things, whether it is online or in the real world.

Mr Eugene Tan: I think it is an exaggeration to say that there are other countries where they can say whatever they want. Certainly some countries tolerate a lot more than others. But, these tend to be countries that are rather homogeneous and so they don’t see it as a major threat. I think Singapore is still a young nation. We are matur- ing but I think we still have to be careful. It is a lot of hard work to get people to understand and appreciate differences. Yet, it is very easy to tear apart the social fabric, sometimes just on the basis of suspicion. For example, the prime concern with terrorism is not the attack itself. It is what happens after that. How will society react to the attack? That is actually the most critical question. So, we should continue to be careful.

Question: You mentioned a code of ethics. Ethics itself is highly subjective in society. It’s a constantly debated topic. Unless it is made into a law, no one feels that it is important enough to follow. But, even laws can be broken. After all we are all human. It is our nature to look for loopholes. How do you respond to the remark “unless it is law, chances of following it are almost zero”?

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: First of all, the phrase is ‘code of conduct’ not ‘code of ethics’. I am not sure how the word ‘ethics’ came about. The idea of a code of conduct is not something you can enforce. It should reflect something you would do in the real world. If you are insulted in a bus, you will become upset. If you are insulted online, will you not be upset? You should, right? It makes no difference. The action is the same. You are insulted. You are angry and Racial and religious harmony is doing you want to do something about it. well now, but it is a work-in-progress, But, a code of conduct will encourage says dr Yaacob Ibrahim. civilised behaviour without insulting

32 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 each other, calling names or using vulgarities. By all means have a discussion, like we are doing now. This discussion could be taking place online, but we are now having it in the real world. Do we swear at each other, do we insult each other? We don’t. We respect each other. There are some views I disagree with and there are some people who disagree with me. At the end of the day, it is about the kind of online space you want to have. There have been several points raised about the code of conduct, but someone made a most pertinent point: Unless you have a code of conduct, when something happens, people will be asking the government to do something about it. In fact, we have requests from people sending email to MCI, “Hey, this guy has insulted me, you do something about it.” How can I do that? What a law can do is stifle the internet. That is why we are not talking about a law, but a code of conduct that all of us can respect. By the way, several sites have their own code of conduct. When you post a comment, you are asked not to use vulgarities. Several institutions of higher learning like polytechnics have a code of conduct on how their students should engage online. So this is not something new or strange. The government does not have a hidden agenda that it is trying to hoist on the internet community. We would also like to discuss issues online with young people or people who are interested in the policies we have. But, we want to have an honest ration- al discussion. That is what we want. If “I see diversity as tomorrow someone disagrees with the something that transport policies, and there are many people who disagree with transport enriches our lives. policies, by all means, say your piece. We can overcome Back up what you have to say with statistics or data or with some other our differences by argument that is defensible. Avoid appreciating what making an accusation without real we have, sharing facts. You may have negative opinions about some of our train operators. If what we have in you have some opinions about them, common and looking you can talk about it, the government at diversity as our isn’t going to stop you from saying so. If you want to engage, let’s engage strength.” positively, rationally. That’s what we Dr Yaccob Ibrahim are asking. It’s really to allow con-

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 33 structive debate and discussion. For example, certain people are very critical of certain ministers, which is okay. We expect to be criti- cised for the work we do so that we can improve. But, the criticisms have to be based on facts. You can express an opinion. If you think a certain minister is rowdy, that is an opinion, we won’t go after you. But, if you say that a minister is corrupt, you must back that up with facts because that’s The frank discussion provided the an accusation, that’s an allegation. We audience with some interesting food for don’t let that happen in the real world. thought. If you tell me that I am corrupt, I will ask you to justify it or else I will see you in court. How can you say the same thing on the internet and get away with it? It cannot be. It’s simple logic. Then again, we are not interested in building a code of conduct from the top and forcing it down. We believe that, as netizens, all of us should come together and develop a code of conduct, or netiquette, we can all agree on. It should be a bottom up approach. I will tell you very candidly that the government doesn’t have a hidden code that is all written, ready to go. We don’t. I am the minister, I should know that. We feel that this is an important process and we want the internet community to take charge. This is something that some groups out there are very keen to do. Let’s think about it in that direction, rather than suspect that the government has a hidden agenda. I have mentioned before that the internet is a very important part of our economic growth. It is also a useful platform for discussion. I’m on Facebook and I use it to communicate to a large group of people, find missing friends, but most importantly communicate what I feel about certain things to see how people respond to that. I realize that some people will agree with me while some will disagree. I respect that. It then becomes a healthy platform for discussion. So it is up to us. As one of the presenters said, social media is like a knife. It can be used to cut fruits. It can be used to inflict pain on others. So we have to decide how we are going to use them.

34 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 Mr Eugene Tan: Speaking as a law professor, I think laws have very limited views. Laws don’t develop understanding with people, laws cannot make discrimination disappear and cannot make racism disappear. They just get people to think about the consequences. Remember that laws are not solutions. It is the non-legal things that are more important: personal action, developing a certain code of conduct, and so on.

Q: Do you think there is any difference in the way racism is manifested today compared to the past and how were they dealt with?

Mr Eugene Tan: Racism will never disappear. I think this is something we have to live with. When someone comes into a room, we try and make sense of the person. The human mind tends to put people in different categories. When you see a person with white hair, you will think that he is of a certain age. So we put people into boxes. Does it mean that we cannot do anything about it? We can. When we make certain assumptions, we have to ask ourselves if that is accurate. We then have to go on facts. This is what we mean by ‘making informed decisions’. Don’t just base it on stereotypes. We are given a mind to make independent decisions. Racism has been around since man first appeared. But it is now a bit more dangerous because of social media. It becomes easier to spread falsehoods, to alarm people. You have received hoax SMS-es. It is nothing new. But, just as social media has a dark side, remember that we can also harness it to good effect. You can use it to correct wrong ideas, wrong impressions and wrong information.

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Racism has not changed. It was bad in onepeople.sg provides a platform to the past, and will be bad in the future. engage youths from all walks of life Don’t forget what Hitler did. That was to discuss current trends and issues a really extreme form of racism. Not pertaining to racial and religious only did he discriminate, but he exter- harmony.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 35 minated an entire community. So we have to be on guard. This is the thing we worry about when someone pushes ideas based on race or religion, that it might lead to extreme actions which will be very bad for society.

Q: Right now, as a society, we can say that the different races co-exist, “Laws are not meaning that we accept each other for solutions. It is the what our cultures are like. But we don’t non-legal things that live harmoniously in the sense that we don’t embrace each other’s culture. In are more important: some ways we can’t because we cannot personal action, compromise our own cultures in order to embrace another. My question today developing a certain is, how can we move from co-existing code of conduct, and to harmonious living? so on.” Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Mr Eugene Tan I think the issue is not so much about being different but finding a common space. The philosophy in Singapore is that we respect private spaces. At the same time, we want to enlarge the common spaces, the public spaces. These are secular places in which everyone can partici- pate, like hawker centres, schools, our malls and cinemas. We have to make sure that this sector is as large as possible. Even within these secular common spaces, you can bring in your tradition. For example, there have been many efforts to organize a ‘Curry Day’ to bring people together to cook curry. Different cultures have come together despite religious differences. I’m a Muslim and I have been to events in the community where there is halal and non-halal food. But, we respect one another. They understand that I can eat some foods. They also understand why I cannot eat certain others. At the end of the day, there is nothing preventing us from enlarging the common space. I think the work done by OnePeople.sg, People’s Association and other groups should be honoured because they build up the common space so that all of us can come in.

36 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 Q: For the whole conference, we have been talking about Malay, Indian, Chinese and maybe Eurasian people. What about foreigners? How do you think the foreigners fit into this conference on racial harmony?

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: The candid truth is that foreigners are part of Singapore’s society. They are here not only as students. Some of them are working, some of them sink their roots into Singapore and become new citizens. For me, it is about respecting one another. Where you come from doesn’t really matter. If you ask me, I am very cu- rious about where you come from. My son is in a JC where he has friends from different parts of the world. They come to our house during Hari Raya. It is always an opportunity for us to interact. The treatment to the Burmese friend or Chinese friend is the same that I give to the local Chinese, Indians and Malays. Why should they be different? The Prime Minister has spoken a lot about integration. Integration is two- way. You must reach out to each other. I think the important thing is that we take the effort to understand each other, so that we have a large common space. This discussion does not pertain only to locally-born, native Singaporeans. It pertains to everybody in Singapore. That’s why we go after even foreigners in Singapore if they pass remarks that are very bad. It is to make sure that they understand that it is important for us to preserve the racial and religious harmony that we have.

The panelists weighed in on current issues such as the changing social landscape of Singapore and its impact on race relations.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 37 Mr Eugene Tan: Maybe we should try to get away from labels, try to understand different people, try to understand where they are coming from.

Q: To what extent does the National pledge remind Singaporeans to unite as one, regardless of race, language and religion?

Mr Eugene Tan: I see the national pledge as an aspiration, something that we want to work towards. It reminds us that we are not there yet. In a way, it is a moving target. I think there is nothing wrong with it being regarded as an aspiration, provided that we are doing something about it today, so that we are closer to achieving it tomorrow.

Q: Why do you think there is a perception that certain minorities are not allowed in some units in the Army?

Mr Eugene Tan: We must remember that many mil- itaries around the world have faced similar issues. I think in Singapore’s context, it is a bit more sensitive because of the geo-political situation and the racial make-up of our neighbours. But, there have been improvements. I once invited a Malay Air force pilot, who was a student in SMU, to speak to my class on ethnic relations in Sin- gapore based on his own experience. He flies the F-16. We are not talking about an ordinary pilot, but one who pilots the most sophisticated fighting machine in air. Thus, it is an on-going

38 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 Mr Eugene Tan: process and your generation will see a lot more integration than mine. The ques- Maybe we should try to get away from labels, try to understand different people, tion is to see whether the glass is half-empty or half-full? I see it as half-full. It try to understand where they are coming from. reminds us that there is still work to be done. Remember, it doesn’t benefit Singa- pore at all if we institutionalise discrimination against other groups. It threatens Q: To what extent does the National pledge remind Singaporeans to unite as one, our very existence. regardless of race, language and religion?

Q: Why do you think there is a perception that certain minorities are not allowed in some units in the Army?

38 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2012 39 HarmonyWorks! Conference 2013

EVENT PROGRAMME 9.55 am “Fusion Works!” – Indian flute and Kompang performance by Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) students 10.00 am Opening address by Mr Zainudin Nordin, Chairman, OnePeople.sg 10.10 am Plenary session: Racial and religious harmony – how many more indicators to scale? Speaker: Dr Mathew Mathews, Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies, and Board Member, OnePeople.sg 10.50 am Breakout sessions 2.35 pm Performance by ‘Flame of the Forest’ 2.45 pm Presentation on Community Engagement Champions Programme by students of Pioneer Junior College 2.50 pm Students share their views – presentation by three Conference Participant Groups 3.10 pm “Voice of Harmony” – a music video 3.15 pm Dialogue session. Panel chair: Mr Zainudin Nordin (Chairman, OnePeople.sg). Panel Members: Mr Tan Chuan-Jin (Acting Minister for Manpower), Mr Neil Humphreys (Author and Columnist) and Dr Mathew Mathews (Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies and Board Member, OnePeople.sg) 4.15 pm Reflections on HarmonyWorks! Conference 2013

40 HarmonyWorks! Conference 2013 ‘Generation Next: The Future of Harmony’ Saturday, 27 July 2013 Singapore Polytechnic Exhibition and Convention Centre

41 CHAIRMAN’S SPEECH Dealing with diversity Racial Harmony is about respect, understanding and trust, says Mr Zainudin Nordin, Chairman of OnePeople.sg

Mr Zainudin says that the indicators of racial and religious harmony gives a new reference point to strengthen racial and religious relations.

42 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 CHAIRMAN’S SPEECH

Dealing with diversity he HarmonyWorks! Conference was first started in 2005 with a single objective – to give youths a platform to speak their minds about race Racial Harmony is about respect, understanding and trust, says Mr relations in our country. We feel that as our young generation, you Zainudin Nordin, Chairman of OnePeople.sg will shape Singapore’s racial and religious harmony in the future; and Tyour views are important. Hence, today’s conference theme - “Generation Next: The Future of Harmony” is all about you taking ownership of the cause. Today’s conference will challenge you to probe key issues concerning race relations, such as where do we stand on racial harmony? What challenges we need to confront? How best we can move forward. And I am certainly eager to hear your views. As you may be aware, the Institute of Policy Studies and OnePeople.sg recently released Indicators of Racial and Religious Harmony after surveying over 4,000 people. So now, for the first time, we have a way of measuring racial and religious harmony. Very often, when we speak of racial harmony we talk about tolerance. But racial harmony means more than that. It is about respect, understanding and trust. So, how did we score on the indicators? Well, I must say I am pleased with the results. The survey shows Singaporeans value diversity. We understand that we can learn from different racial and religious groups. While we come across racist comments, most visible on social media, most of us do not feel such inter-racial or inter-religious tensions. We feel strongly that it is better for Singa- pore to be made up of different races. Now this is not something that happens naturally in other countries. “Though we may In the US, research shows that you look different, we are more likely to be picked up by the police on the streets for questioning have many things when you are black than if you are in common. This is white. It does not happen here. And this is something we can be proud the beauty of our about. diversity.” While the study shows very en- couraging results, there are some gaps that we would need to pay closer attention to. Although most Singaporeans are open to cross-racial friendships, we seem more likely to build such close friendships with those of our own race. So you have to ask yourself, how many friends do you have from a different race? And the best way to do that is to look at the Mr Zainudin says that the indicators of racial and religious harmony gives a new list of contacts in your mobile phone. Do you have names of friends of a different reference point to strengthen racial and religious relations. race in your contact list? If no, then now is a good time to start building friend-

42 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 43 ships. All it takes is to turn to the next person beside you and smile. The study also shows that more can be done in the area of understanding people from different cultures. While we feel positively towards racial and religious diversity, some of us don’t seem to know enough about other cultures. For example, why do Muslims fast during Ramadan? Or, what is the significance of the Hungry Ghost Festival or why do Hindus celebrate Thaipusam? This knowledge helps us to learn something new and appreciate each other better. And, if you reflect deep enough, you will be able to find commonalities. Though we may look different, we have many things in common. This is the beauty of our diversity. The study, on the whole, provides a good review of Singapore’s race and religious relations. I am glad that this set of indicators now gives all of us, especially our youths, a new reference point to look to strengthening racial and religious relations since the racial riots. OnePeople.sg will use these indicators as a basis for continued dialogue. In fact, you are the first ones to be engaged in a public conference like this in our series of engagements planned ahead. We wish to hear your reflections on these indicators, especially your impressions of our strengths and gaps. And more importantly, we hope to hear what you can do to narrow these gaps.

44 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 KEYNOTE SESSION Racial and Religious Harmony – How many more indicators to scale? Dr Mathew Mathews shares 10 indicators of the state of religious and racial harmony in Singapore.

e have different ways of defining racial harmony. For most people it is about Whaving some kind of tolerance. Or, it is the absence of tension. There is nobody killing each other and no fighting; then it is a harmonious society. Martin Luther King was a famous American activist of the 1960s. Most people know him as being one of the key people who fought against laws Dr Mathew Mathews, Research Fellow, that segregated African-Americans Institute of Policy Studies and Board from white Americans. He made a Member, OnePeople.sg, used statistics to statement: True peace is not merely illustrate his point on racial harmony. the absence of tension. It is the presence of justice. So for Martin Luther King, a place is harmonious and has true peace if everybody is able to work in a fair environment and can be where they need to be without any discrimination. Over time, researchers have come up with different ideas of what makes a racially and religiously harmonious society. OnePeople.sg and the Institute of Policy Studies spent a lot of time thinking about important indicators that would tell us, like a score card, how we are doing as a society. And so, here is a list of ten indicators that give us an idea of the state of religious and racial harmony in Singapore.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 45 Let me start with the first indicator. It is the absence of minority discrimination in using public services. We won’t find notices like this in Singapore, but here is a sign from somewhere in America. It says, ‘We serve Whites only, No Spanish or Mexicans’. So you have here the majority that makes up the population deciding that they will not have people of another colour, another skin tone, another kind of culture come into a certain place. This kind of treatment happens in many parts of the world, including the use of public services. So if you go to the police station, you may not be listened to if you belong to the minority. If you are a person of a skin tone different from the majority, you may be stopped and asked what you are doing. So in many places it is very hard if you are not of the majority race. You may feel excluded and may be treated in a different way. In Singapore, we are very happy that in all the different places that we asked – our hospital services, schools, social service agencies, if you needed financial assistance, courts, the police - a very small proportion of Singaporeans felt that they were treated ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’ than others. Therefore, in general, our public services were found to be very fair. Now we move on to the next indicator – the absence of interracial “One thing that and religious tension. We asked peo- we found during ple whether they had felt racial or re- this study was ligious tension in the past year or so. Had they felt upset because of some- that our younger thing somebody said or did? Had an- people tend to be ybody mocked their beliefs or prac- a lot more open to tices? Once in a while, we read in the newspaper about some people’s de- embracing diversity, rogatory Facebook statements about to finding out about another racial or religious group. Just yesterday, somebody had made a other cultures, not-so-nice statement about Singapo- to having friends reans. It attracted a lot of responses, of other groups. of course, because people were unhappy with what he had said. Because I think this is the of that, they hit back with statements future of race and like ‘You come from a country full of criminals and rapists’ and all the rest religious relations in of that stuff. Immediately they had Singapore.” started becoming very unfriendly and

46 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 there was tension. But, these things happen very infrequently. The good thing is that for most of the people we surveyed, this was not considered something that happened very often. No more than one out of ten respondents from all races reported ‘often feeling upset due to any form of racial or religious tension’. Six out of ten respondents ‘agreed’ and ‘strongly agreed’ that Singapore is free from racial or religious tension.

Embrace diversity

The third indicator has got to do with embracing diversity. I attended an event last week that was organized by SINDA. SINDA is the Singapore Indian Development Association. It is an association that takes care of the needs of the Singaporean Indian population. When they started off the event, I had expected an Indian dance or a Bhangra dance. But this time, the Dr Mathew Mathews says that most first thing that they had was actually Singaporeans are very comfortable with a taekwondo presentation. It is not an having someone of another race as a colleague, neighbour or friend. Indian martial art. It is a form of martial arts from Korea. I thought that was very interesting because it tells us that more of us are willing to embrace the diversity around us. We are quite happy that there are different kinds of people, races and religious groups. And, in our study we understood that six out of ten respondents ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that they could learn a lot from other racial groups. The fourth indicator that was part of our study was something called ‘absence of minority discrimination in the work place’. Now this gets to people’s livelihoods. And, when people feel that their livelihoods are being taken for granted or that they don’t have access to jobs because of their skin colour, it makes them very upset. We asked questions like these in our survey: How often did they feel racially discriminated in their everyday life? Did they feel discriminated when they were at work or when applying for a job or when being considered for a job promotion? All over the world, people from minority communities sometimes face a lot of roadblocks. No matter which way they go, they find that it is very difficult. And after sometime, they begin to feel that all this could be something

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 47 more than just chance. ‘Could it be because of my skin colour? My race? My cultural background or my religion? Is that why I am not able to get these good jobs?’ In Singapore, we are happy to report that only two out of 10 Malay or Indian respondents reported that they had often felt this for at least one of the items in this indicator. But we know It was found that younger people are that this should be able to change over more open to embracing diversity, to time. It’s also interesting that when we finding out about other cultures, to looked at our results, we noticed that having friends of other groups. those who felt most discriminated against tended to be those who were more likely to have lower levels of education, less income and live in smaller flats. So they tended to be found in job sectors that generally employed people with lesser education. In that kind of context, it was also very likely that the people spoke in a language other than English. Such boundaries may have made it difficult for them to communicate. When everyone else around is speaking and you are the only one there that can’t speak that language, you feel left out, like you are not part of the conversation. You may feel that you are not being treated fairly. This is probably why that particular group had more concerns. Another issue we looked at is interreligious and racial comfort both in the public and private spheres. These are big words, but what we mean is how comfortable we are having a friend, employee or neighbour who is of a different race than us. There are two kinds of relationships. There are relationships in the public sphere, such as those at the workplace or in the neighbourhood. There are other kinds of relationships that are more private and intimate such as whom you date and who you marry. In a study in America, they asked people how they would react if a member of their family were to marry someone of another race. Sixty odd percent said that they were okay with it. In Singapore, about a third of our population was alright with that. We have not reached that stage where it doesn’t matter at all. There are still concerns about race, but more so religious beliefs. Some religious beliefs are so different that it is difficult to have lifelong marital relationships. But, most Singaporeans are very comfortable with having someone of another race as a colleague, neighbour or friend. The next point speaks about interracial and religious social trust. How much

48 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 do we trust people of another group? Are we able to trust them, especially when society goes through a crisis? Can you say, “I can trust anybody. It doesn’t matter whether he is Christian, whether he is a Buddhist or Muslim, whether he is an Indian, Chinese or Eurasian. I am willing to trust him because he is Singapore- an”? It doesn’t happen all the time. Years back during World War II, the Japanese and the Americans were fighting. There were people of Japanese descent living in America at the time. The Americans decided that they might be a threat to them. So they took them into custody and moved them to a place where they could be put under surveillance. Thus sometimes, when things get bad, people decide that some groups cannot be trusted because they might be a potential problem. I am very glad that, in Singapore, we have come to a stage where a good majority are able to trust people of other races and religious groups and also expect them to help us when we have a crisis. The seventh indicator has got to do with embracing colour blindness. This is about being able to go somewhere and feeling that people don’t care about your colour. Families, parents or a large part of society may have difficulty interacting with people of different races. However, children don’t have that issue. They don’t see colour in that sense. In the same way, there is always hope that as we “As we progress, we progress as a society, we begin to be less concerned. It would be terrible if, should not look at when applying for jobs, potential em- what somebody’s ployers see your name or race and say, name, race or colour “This kind of people tend to be very talkative. These people tend to be very is, but who they are money-minded. These people tend to as actual persons.” be very lazy.” If people have that kind of mindset, you feel terrible because you may not fit into any of those categories. You may be a good person, hard- working and studious. But, the first thing that others see is your name or race and conclude that you are not going to fit them because they think you will behave in a certain way. This is something that we are still working on. According to our survey, just under half of the respondents ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that they would have a good idea of someone’s behaviour and views if they knew what race that person belonged to. When I used to teach so- ciology in NUS, a lot of students didn’t know who I was. But, they saw my name Mathew Mathews and would bid for my class. When I asked them later, they said that Mathew Mathews sounded like an ang moh name and so thought that I

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 49 must be European. They believed that “When we step out European lecturers are all very interesting and fun and that’s why they and get to know all came to my class. So, people have people who are a certain perceptions: because of your little different than name or your race, you are supposed to behave in a particular way. You us, we find out might be thought of as interesting, that it has a lot of boring or a lot more technical. But, value. People who as we progress, we should go beyond that and not look at what somebody’s are not like us offer name, race or colour is, but who they perspectives that are are as actual persons. Indicator number eight: interest very enlightening.” in intercultural understanding and interaction. This is an interest in understanding what other people are like. Sometimes, we have a lot of misbeliefs because we don’t know about other cultures. When I was younger, the music played at Chinese funerals being held at the void deck, affected me quite a bit. It was very scary. And so whenever there were funerals, I would have all the doors and windows closed. Later on, when I was able to study and find out why Chinese Buddhists or Taoists had funeral rites in a particular way, I began to understand what they were doing. And then, it was no longer terrorizing. If you understand something, it won’t seem so different and it won’t be as uncomfortable. Sometimes we keep away and this gives rise to negative ideas. But, if we find out more about different cultural practices, we will be able to relate to it in much better ways. We still have a long way to go. About 50% of our respondents indicated that they ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that they liked to meet people or get to know people of other religious groups, six out of 10 for different racial groups. We also asked people about how much they were interested in understanding different cultures. We still have a long way to go with that too. In Singapore, we tolerate the fact that we have differences, but not many of us want to go that extra mile and find out why people do the different things they do. It’s only when we ask, and when people are willing to share that we can appreciate our diversity. Indicator number nine: the sense of minorities feeling excluded. There is always a concern with those who are not part of the majority that they might have got the short end of the stick. I am glad that such issues are not very persistent.

50 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 But, about four out of 10 of our minority respondents were a little concerned that they might not be able to get to top positions in corporations. They felt that there was a glass ceiling. Of course, as society matures, this perception may no longer be there. We may come to a stage where everybody feels that no matter what race, religious group or background, everyone will have an equal chance at moving up the ladder if they worked hard enough and had the right qualities. Finally, the last point: the presence of close interracial friendships. Do you know people or do you have friends from other groups that you can call and talk to? Or do you just have friends who are very much like yourself? All of us prefer to be with people like us. That is just the way it is. Birds of the same feather flock together. We enjoy being with people who are like us because they think like us. But, when we step out and get to know people who are a little different than us, we find out that it has a lot of value. People who are not like us offer perspectives that are very enlightening.

Learn more about each other

In our study, we found that 45% of respondents had one cross-racial friend. We feel that a lot more can be done. Over time, I believe that more and more of our people will make cross-racial friends. One thing that we found during this study was that our younger people tend to be a lot more open to embracing diversity, to finding out about other cultures, to having friends of other groups. I think this is the future of race and religious relations in Singapore. As we continue to learn about each other and begin to think less about colour but more about the special characteristics of each other, I think we will become a much better society. One last thought before I close. When I was in school, I was not usually part of the majority race. There were instances when people would say things like, ‘Why is your skin so dark?’ They would often mispronounce my name. So it was always ‘Muthu’ or ‘Mani’. These could be teachers, friends, anybody. Growing up in that environment, I learned a few things. One was that despite the fact that people teased me, they never caused an impediment in my life. They never said that they wouldn’t share or help with homework. People were friendly if I was friendly to them, and we were able to get along despite the teasing and our differences. Over time, hopefully, I wish that such teasing will stop. But, I hope that even if there is such teasing, none of us will ever exclude or discriminate or be preju- diced against someone else. Instead, we must learn to build a good, happy Sin- gapore.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 51 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CHAMPIONS A journey of learning Students from Pioneer Junior College share their experiences as Community Engagement Champions

“I have come to realize that the road to racism is actually paved with stereotypes. Hence, we should keep an open mind, free of all assumptions.”

acial harmony is some- Racial harmony is about building an thing that we Singapore- identity for ourselves and protecting it, ans have been gifted with. the students said at the conference. I have come to realize this Rthrough the Community Engagement Leadership Programme. Racial harmony is more than learning about each other’s customs. It is about building an identity for ourselves and protecting it; an identity that represents all of us. And, I have learned that every single one of us has a part to play in achieving it. The Community Engagement Conference earlier this year was graced by our Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. He left a deep impression upon me. The conference challenged the basic idea that racial harmony in Singapore should be based on the idea of tolerance. Instead, we should move towards a new paradigm of acceptance. After attending the Explorations in Ethnicity workshop, my horizons broad- ened and I became aware of my own thought processes. I have come to realize that the road to racism is actually paved with stereotypes. Hence, we should keep

52 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 The participants attended workshops on ethnicity and visited the ISD Heritage Centre to further their understanding of racial relations in Singapore an open mind, free of all assumptions. The visit to the Internal Securi- “Friendship is a ty Department (ISD) made me more special bond shared aware of racial relations here. People say that Singapore is racially harmo- between two people, nious. But, there are still a substantial regardless of skin number of interracial conflicts. Ac- colour, the language cording to the ISD Heritage Centre, there were 178 cases in 2010 alone. spoken or their Thus, it seems that we have much to backgrounds.” learn about being more accepting towards one another and moving towards a truly racially harmonious society. This programme also taught me a very valuable lesson: to cherish the friends around me. Friendship is a special bond shared between two people, regardless of skin colour, the language spoken or their backgrounds. I have learnt to cherish my friends, even if they are not the same race as me. We are grateful to have been part of this experience. It has allowed us to further our understanding of racial harmony. It has truly been an exciting and eye-opening experience.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 53 PRESENTATION Students share their views

Three Conference Participant Groups present what they had learned during the breakout sessions

Group 1 The first group examined what racial harmony meant to them. Also, do new citizens affect racial and religious harmony in Singapore?

Presenter 1: Racial harmony means that people of different races, cultures and religions can live together in Singapore. It means that we can refer to ourselves as just Singapore- ans, and not as Indian-Singaporeans or Chinese-Singaporeans. Secondly, we must have a deeper understanding of the different cultures and races around us instead of just a superficial acceptance of each other.

Presenter 2: New citizens can affect the harmony here if there is very little understanding between us and them. This problem can be solved by having more interactions with the new citizens and us. On the other hand, new citizens may not have an adverse effect on racial or religious harmony in Singapore because some of them come here precisely for the beautiful diversity of our culture. They do research on Singapore and realize that

54 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 Participants discussed values youths can champion in the real and virtual realms in the breakout discussions at the annual HarmonyWorks! Conference 2013.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 55 Group 1 feels that we must have a deeper understanding of the different cultures and races around us.

we are a safe and green place to live in. “We must understand and Presenter 3: Racial harmony does not come easy. During our discussion just appreciate other now, I saw a video of racial riots. Peo- races and cultures. ple who had lived and played together had still turned against each other. And, we can start So, we cannot take racial harmony even while we are for granted. We must understand and young.” appreciate other races and cultures. And, we can start even while we are young.

Presenter 4: Our vision for Singapore includes equal rights for all races and cultures, peace and harmony so that we can achieve the motto ‘One Peo- ple, One Nation, One Singapore’.

56 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 Group 2 The second group analysed how the strengths and weaknesses of Singapore society could affect racial harmony. And, what do we wish for this country in the future?

Presenter 1: The first big strength that we have is our education. It has taught us to be open-minded to the views and perspectives of people of various races and religions. The second is our national identity. Over the years, we have been able to build a new national identity. So, people no longer say, ‘I am Chinese’, ‘I am Malay’. Instead, they say, ‘I am Singaporean’. The third is that there are few- er prejudices between people of different races and religions. Today, people are drawn together due to common interests. They are no longer separated by the boundaries of race and religion.

Presenter 2: Along with these strengths, we also have some weak- “The diversity in nesses. We can view them as gaps that our country is a have to be glued together. First, there are still instances where people are strength rather than discriminated on the grounds of race a weakness.” and religion. This has to be stopped.

Group 2 sees diversity as a strength and urges that we take the initiative to know others and their beliefs.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 57 Secondly, adults generally do not indulge in harmony-building activities due to their busy schedules. It would have been good if they would also take an active part in such sessions. Thirdly, some people do not show respect when they talk to others.

Presenter 3: For our future, we wish that people would go out and talk to others, get to know about each other’s religions and understand each other. The diversity in our country is a strength rather than a weakness. Since, we are so diverse and everyone thinks differently, we can see the same thing in many different ways rather than from just one point of view. So, we should take the initiative to get to know others and their beliefs. Ask them about the things you don’t understand. Don’t just assume that because they do this, they are like this. It is not fair to them because they have a reason for doing what they do, which you wouldn’t know unless you ask them.

Group 3 The third group set out to define what they believed the Singapore spirit to be.

Group 3 uses the process of befriending one another to illustrate the Singapore spirit.

58 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 Presenter 1: We walked into this conference as strangers. As you can see, we are all different. So, in our session, we discussed what might connect us.

Presenter 2: To familiarize us with each another, we were paired up and made to discuss when we were treated well and when we were treated badly. We realized that all of us felt happy or sad at some point. We all have emotions. We are all human. Then, are we really different?

Presenter 3: No, we are not different. For our next activity, we had to complete this sentence, ‘I appreciate being “All of us want to treated with ___’. Instead of writing be treated the same down the responses, we actually had to do a visual representation. We way. We want to did this work individually. Later, we be treated with found that our desires were the same. All of us want to be treated the same kindness, love and way. We want to be treated with kind- respect.” ness, love and respect.

Presenter 4: So, even though we had walked into the room as strangers, we walked out of the room as friends.

Presenter 3: As you can see, it is really not that difficult to mix with people of different backgrounds.

Presenter 1: And, that is what we hope the Singapore spirit is and what we really want Singapore to work towards.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 59 PLENARY DISCUSSION Crossing the racial-religious divide The Guest of Honour, Acting Minister for Manpower, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin and other panelists spoke in depth on race and religious issues from their experiences.

Question: Many of us often make racial jokes, but when do you think these kinds of jokes become offensive or racist in nature?

Mr Neil Humphreys: For the longest time, I always had a sort of overriding philosophy. I never wrote about race and I never wrote about religion. No one ever told me, there was no government conspiracy or anything like that. It was just a personal choice. I chose not to do it. However, in recent times, I have changed my mind a little. I don’t mock race or religion, but I do mock intolerance. Because intolerance should be shown up for what it is – ignorant, stupid, daft. And, if I can get people to laugh at that intolerance, then they might ask deeper questions. Let me give you a couple of examples very briefly. About a year ago, I was in North Bridge Road. Without going into too much detail, I was guilty of jaywalking. It was my fault, I will ad- mit that. I was holding my daughter

60 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 at the time and a very irate guy stopped his car and shouted, “Damn you, white trash!” It was weird because in the past twelve years I had never experienced racism of any kind. But, I wrote a column about it, talking about some of those things. You hope to make your audience laugh, but after the laughter stops, you hope that they will take away certain messages. If you show it up to be the idiotic comment that it is, hopefully they will go away and think about it a little deeper. In my personal experience, humour can be a very useful tool for getting at some very sensitive issues. So, yes, I do tackle the subject. That doesn’t mean I make racial jokes. But, I do make fun of racism because it is idiotic. If I can make people think of the idiocy of racism and intolerance through humour, then I think that is a positive outcome.

Acting Minister for Manpower, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin (Third from the left), Mr Neil Humphreys (Last from the left) and Dr Mathew Mathews (First from the left) respond to questions from the audience. Panel chair: Mr Zainudin Nordin.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 61 Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: I will just add that I don’t think it is limited to racial or religious jokes. We are all guilty of making jokes about people who may be different. But, the thing about jokes is that there is a very sharp edge to them. There is a very dark element to it. We laugh at it. But, we sometimes don’t understand how people alongside us might respond to it. And, that is where I feel that we have to pay attention. And today, with social media, a lot of such things are being shared. We can say, “Let us be more tolerant. After all, we have arrived as a nation, we should be mature enough to accept this.” But, as we begin to take these things for granted, we are slowly desensitizing people to such comments. People will begin to think that it is okay. I believe that’s why we have to pay attention to racial and religious harmony. It’s not because we lack confidence in our people, but because we think it is important. Human nature is such that if you scratch the surface, the race and religious aspects are there. There is no point in pretending that it doesn’t “Tearing people exist. I think we have to acknowledge down online basically it and there is nothing wrong with that. We should be proud of our own breeds a society heritage, we should be proud of our which is hateful and own culture, but that doesn’t preclude angry. That is not us from also establishing shared perspectives with others. who we are…Don’t In today’s context, where a lot of respond to hate with young people are online and are not always being guided, there is the dan- hate. I think this is ger that they are absorbing some of how we can a build this hate that is being thrown around. a nation where we And I am a bit worried as a Singa- porean, because I don’t think that is do value and respect who we are. I don’t think that is who others despite our you are. But, by keeping quiet, by let- ting such things pass, you are slowly differences.” ceding this space to people who are Mr Tan Chuan-Jin bringing us down to a very low common denominator.

62 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 About 800 students attended the Conference and reflected on the state of race relations and aspirations for racial harmony moving forward.

Mr Neil Humphreys: In the recent talk of the curry wars and all those other incidents that predominantly involved Mainland Chinese residents, I became, as a foreigner myself, very concerned that legitimate discourse and debate were being hijacked online by people with very sinister agendas or racists. I experienced this in the UK as I was growing up. I was essentially part of the majority race. I was white. So, I did take it for granted. It’s human nature. You are the majority race and you don’t think how a minority might think. It was only when I moved overseas that my view started to change. So, whenever there is a socio-economic downturn, a recession, there is knee-jerk reaction to pick on the foreigner. And, in the last couple of years, that has been happening online in Singapore. It concerns me because I think that legitimate concerns about housing costs and salary demands and so on are being hijacked by a very small minority of people who have a more sinister agenda. So I think it is critical that organizations like OnePeople.sg and people like yourselves say, “No, this isn’t right.” Silence is not enough. I think these people have to be challenged. I think these people can’t make throwaway comments on Facebook and Twitter and then hide behind this big banner called ‘Freedom of Speech’. They should be accountable like everybody else. And it’s up to you guys to stand up and say, “You know what, you are wrong, and this is why I think you are wrong.”

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 63 Question: In South Africa, the majority race was still discriminated against. Why? Dr Mathew Mathews: That goes with who has power. In that country, those who have lighter skin tend to have more money and more resources. So they tend to put down people who don’t have those resources. In every country, there will always be a group of people who will have Mr Tan thinks that the consciousness more. But, when the group who has of differences is the first step to create more resources congregate in the something precious for all of us. name of race, religion or country of origin, they can use that position to dominate over others. Then, there is going to be that kind of tension.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: All of us stereotype people. It is not just race or religion. It is also economic background, it is also schools, education levels and jobs. I think all of us, as human beings, have a tendency to look at people through stereotypes because it is easy to put people in pigeonholes and boxes. We all do that. For example, remember what you felt like this morning when you first arrived and you met students and young people from other backgrounds. Different schools, maybe different races, international students, local students. Did you have certain impressions? I think all of us have that. Thus, South Africa is not unique. It is something that happens in every country. The key thing is to not pretend that we are colour-blind. Let’s not pretend that racial and religious differences do not exist. They are there. But, embrace it. I think to be conscious of it is the first step towards creating something that is common and precious for all of us.

Mr Neil Humphreys: I think you will find stereotypical views in any country on Earth. Singapore is not unique. South Africa is not unique. When I first arrived in Singapore, people saw the white face and said, “Ang moh, got a lot of money?!” Well, I don’t. I used to say that I ought to wear a big sign, ‘No condo, no rich expat package, I am not rich, leave me alone’. So stereotypes are everywhere. Positive, negative, they are

64 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 everywhere. The involvement of parents is so critical. Here is a revelation: I grew up in a household that was racist. I grew up in a very typical blue-collar, working class, British household that was predominantly racist. In many places around the world, in very deeply-entrenched working class communities, what you might call heartland communities, it’s very hard to avoid racism at some level. “I think people can’t Anyone who says otherwise, I think, is a liar or grew up with Mother The- make throwaway resa. Everyone in this room would comments on have experienced or overheard some level of racism at some point in their Facebook and lives in their own homes. The trick is Twitter and then how you deal with it. How will you hide behind this take responsibility? What is the difference between our generation, our big banner called previous generation and the one be- ‘Freedom of Speech’. fore that and so on? You would hope that it is education, and therefore a They should be certain level of enlightenment. That’s accountable like the way out of stereotypes and racism. everybody else.” So, you have to take responsibility for yourselves. It doesn’t matter what you Mr Neil Humphreys heard your aunties, uncles or grandparents say. You are educated, you are part of the online generation, we’re a global generation, we are aware of what is around us. It is up to us to step up to the plate and say, “You might be my mom, my dad, my aunty, my uncle, my grandparents. I respect you, I love you, but, I can’t agree with that.” That is how you take responsibility for yourselves.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Could I ask you to consider the foreign domestic workers at home? Think about how you look at them, how you are treating them, how your parents are treating them. And, the people who provide services, construction workers and so on. Think about the way we respond and the way we act. I think there are some insights to be gained from that. It’s not just about us fellow Singaporeans. It’s the way we look at people in general.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 65 Question: It seems there is much focus on racial harmony, but not religious harmony. Is religion not as important?

Mr Zainudin Nordin: As we know, Singapore is multiracial and multi-religious. So, we focus on religious harmony as much as racial harmony. It is about respecting each other, understanding each other’s beliefs and also ensuring that we know more about each other. So, racial and religious harmony are both equally Mr Humphreys says that the students important. are part of the global generation and they should take responsibility for themselves. Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: As a Member of Parliament, there are various things that I have to deal with – drains are choked, there are mosquitoes, I have got cats, all sorts of stuff. But, one of the things that we typically deal with revolves around the aspect of religion and also race, to some degree. For example, some people who live near a church are very unhappy because on Sundays, there are a lot of cars and no place to park. Or, people who live near a mosque. On Fridays, there is a parking problem and there are Friday prayers. Or, those who live near a temple complain about the burning incense and ashes in the air. The fact is that we live in a society which is multiracial and multi-religious. Some of these practices have been there for a long time. People were very tolerant of some of these things in the past because they understood that it was part and parcel of growing up here. But today, you do find the level of tolerance going down. Some people have become a little bit more self-centred. The majority, I think, are fine. But, there will always be individuals who play up these issues. Those of you who live in HDB flats would have encountered funerals in the void deck, weddings in the void deck, and burning of incense and prayers. I think all these add to who we are as a people. And, we embrace it. But, there will be individuals, unfortunately, who are less tolerant. Again, it is up to you. How do you respond to it? Will you take a stand for something that you believe in, maybe even at home? If all of us do our part, we will create a common space for us to give and take.

66 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 Dr Mathew Mathews: When we looked at issues of race and religion, we realized that there is a little gap. It will take people a little bit more time to bridge religious differences. It is because religion touches the core of who we are as individuals, as people. For instance, in some of the findings, about 60% were very comfortable marrying across racial groups. But, when it comes to religious groups, it drops down to 30% or something like that. It gives you an idea that religious differences continue to be an important part of what marks us. In the past, we might have thought of Chinese as being Buddhists or Taoists, Malays as Muslim, Indians as Hindu, Eurasians as Christian and so on. Today, there is a mixture. And so, the sites for tension increase. We have this item in our survey where we asked how much people are willing to find out or know about other people’s After analysing the results of the survey, religious beliefs. The number is lower Dr Mathews thinks that people should when compared to racial beliefs. So, be more willing to know about others’ it tells us that there is a little bit more racial or religious beliefs. growth that needs to be done.

Question: What is the use of promoting racial harmony in Singapore when Singapore is already a pretty secular country?

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Singapore is a secular country, which means that we are not a religious state. But, race and religion is something that is a part of who we are. And, I believe that there is no point pretending that we are colour-blind. There is no point pretending that these things do not matter. These things are part of who we are, and we should learn to embrace it. And, because we understand the dynamics

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 67 of religion and race and the impact “How we respond that these can have and because we to it (racism) shows cherish our common space, we have to continue to work at it. I think it how comfortable we would be a mistake to ease back. I are with ourselves. have had conversations with fairly senior Singaporeans who say, “Let’s Someone may look move on. Why are we still talking at us and demean about racial and religious harmony? us and comment We have matured enough.” Some of us may be mature enough to discuss about our colour, such topics in a sensitive manner. But, but, if we have a as those of you who may have visited ISD will know, that there are other healthy respect for currents that exist. So I think it is im- ourselves, I think portant for us to continue to work at people will get the it to make sure that we maintain and continue to build on what we have message and they here. will also show us respect.” Mr Neil Humphreys: The Singapore I left in 2006 was a Dr Mathew Mathews completely different landscape compared to when I returned in 2011. I don’t think that there is any country in the world that changed so rapidly in five years. We have had a huge influx of foreigners in this country, who contribute to Singapore’s society, that we didn’t have five years ago. Mandarin is increasing in Singapore. And that’s a good thing. I’ve got my daughter learning Mandarin because I am a very kiasu parent. It’s a 21st century language. But, when I go to Giant supermarket, I do something I never did before. I look for salespeople who might probably speak English. Be- cause if I don’t, I am going to go to this counter and we are not going to be able to communicate. I am going to say something like, “Excuse me, do you know where the toilet roll is?” And the reply I am going to get is, “Got Passion Card?” So, Singapore has changed. We can bury our head in the sand as much as we like, but Singapore has changed. English has always been our working language. I am not going to get all Somerset Maugham and be some sort of cultural imperialist and say, “You must

68 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 Mr Tan urged the students to treat people with dignity and respect despite differences. learn my language because it is superior.” No, it’s because it was the language that united us all, whether we were Chinese, Malay, Eurasian or the others. The key point is that if we are not paranoid about racial or religious harmony, then these things can easily escalate over time. It’s very easy for the majority race, which in this country is Chinese, which has now been supplemented by this huge influx of people from China, to let a Mandarin-centric culture dominate. This will not inconvenience me so much, but it will inconvenience all those Sin- gapore Indians, Singapore Eurasians, Singapore Peranakans and the Singapore Malays. And, that is not good. So, we have to be on our guard for these subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle changes. I agree with the Minister that we shouldn’t take it for granted. Singapore is not the same place it was five years ago and it will probably not be the same place five years from now. So, we have to be on our guard.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Since the point was raised, I think it is important for us to understand that the changes that Neil noticed happened when we were grappling with some economic issues and we opened up the space. Why, for example, do we hear a lot more Mandarin? Because we never had foreign workers from China working in the retail sector earlier. We changed that, we opened up that space so that it

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 69 would allow the growth of retail and “We should be proud commercial space, which, I think, had some benefits. of our own heritage, But, as with all changes, when we should be proud it happens too fast, society doesn’t of our own culture, adapt and adjust well. And, we have a reaction, which is where we are today. but that doesn’t When the government realised that preclude us from this was an issue, it started tightening up. And, it is not just the non-Chinese also establishing who are having a reaction. It is Singa- shared perspectives porean Chinese who are also uncom- with others.” fortable with people coming from the People’s Republic of China to work Mr Tan Chuan-Jin here. So it shows that, even within your own racial group, you have bias- es with which you regard others. So we need to continue working at it. As a government, we have to watch the structures, processes, policies and we will make adjustments. But, as people, we have a choice in the way we behave. We have a choice in the way we regard others. We may not like it, but we can still determine the way we talk about issues, we can still determine whether we treat people with dignity and respect. That is something all of us can do, regardless of how we feel about the situation. There is no excuse for poor behaviour. There is no excuse for us to be racist. There is no excuse for us to be intolerant.

Question: You see racism online. What does it say about what Singaporeans really feel?

Mr Zainudin Nordin: What is important to me is how you react. Are you somebody who is violent and angry and will translate that into something worse by saying bad things about the person, scolding his/her family, scolding the race? That, to me, is a negative reaction. Or, even worse, protesting on the streets and attacking someone of that race. That’s the reaction we hope all Singaporeans will not have. Even though you see such silly, offensive comments, you can react positively. You can advise, you can say that it is wrong, but we all need to play a role.

70 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: There will always be individuals who make foolish comments. People can be downright hateful and abusive, not just because of race or religion or nationality, but different beliefs as well. We can disagree, we can be critical, we can argue. But, there is no excuse for poor behaviour. Unfortunately, that is what is happening online. To- day, many of you are online. But, I am not sure how many of our parents are The students were engaged on current there guiding us. It is quite unprece- issues such as the changing social dented in the history of mankind for landscape of Singapore and its impact people to grow up receiving unfiltered on race relations influences from so many. So, I think we need to be careful. Tearing people down online basically breeds a society which is hateful and angry. That is not who we are. I do not believe that is the kind of society we want to be in. I don’t believe most Singaporeans are like this. So, when incidents like these happen, we need to make a stand. But, how you make that stand is also important. Don’t respond to hate with hate. Don’t respond to anger with anger. I think this is how we can a build a nation where we do value and respect others despite our differences.

Mr Neil Humphreys: One of the concerns I have with online media is that it lends itself to cowardly bullying. Anyone can point fingers online. There is a blog with the title heading, ‘Why Neil Humphreys must die’. It’s a long blog written by another frustrated writer who is very upset that he can’t get his work published. He is trying to be funny but it is about as funny as a headache. In that situation, what do I do? Do I respond to that guy? No, that would be sinking to his level. So, I just let it go, because what could I possibly gain from trading hateful barbs online? Unfortu- nately, my sister went online and attacked him, but that’s a whole different story. The point I am making is that he is a coward. I bet that if he is in this forum right now, he’d sit there quietly in the back and not say a word. But, go online and he can attack, attack and attack. So, I am very concerned about the cowardly, bullying aspect of it. We are better than that. We don’t need to hide in the shadows. We don’t need to hide behind aliases and pseudonyms to attack races, nationalities

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 71 Students from various secondary schools and tertiary institutions have been participating in these annual HarmonyWorks! Conferences since its inception in 2005. and other different things. I poke fun, I satirize, I ridicule, but my name is there. My face is there on my books. I can’t hide. So I am accountable for anything I say. And that’s the key word. I can’t say anything without backing it up, because I am accountable. That is my concern about cyberspace - we are not accountable and we can be very cowardly.

Question: Racism amongst children is steadily getting worse. What can children do to combat this problem in and out of school?

Mr Neil Humphreys: It comes full circle to the point I made in the beginning. I can only assume that at that age it must be something that has been passed down from a caregiver, a helper, a parent, an aunt, an uncle, a grandparent, whatever. And, you would hope that in an enlightened society, education would correct that.

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: I think all of us will experience racism in some shape or form. So, how do you deal with it? It’s personal responsibility. I think all of us have the capacity to make

72 HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 our own decisions, the capacity to do the right things. Parents can guide “We have a choice their children. Schools and organizations like OnePeople.sg can hold in the way we regard sessions like these. But ultimately, we others… regardless cannot mandate. We cannot order of how we feel about people to behave in a particular way. Each of us must make those choices. the situation. There We cannot ignore personal re- is no excuse for poor sponsibility and say that it is not our fault, it is because the school never behaviour. There is taught us and so on. The fact is that no excuse for us to nobody puts a gun to our head to be racist. There is no make us behave the way we do. We have a choice. If all of us here were to excuse for us to be step out of this room and treat people intolerant.” with love, kindness and respect and also encourage people around us to Mr Tan Chuan-Jin do the same, society will change. I believe that. So, never underestimate the difference that each and every one of us can make.

Dr Mathew Mathews: Every day, I sit down with my children and make them give me a little spiel of what goes on in school. Sometimes it is about the racist things that have happened or things that have harmed religious tolerance. When they talk about that, I often ask what their teachers said. I am glad that, very often, schools play a big role in trying to intervene and inculcate positive ideas. That is a powerful thing. Growing up, I received a lot of racist comments. It was not always ill-inten- tioned. It was not because people wanted to be unkind. It’s just that some people don’t know any better. So they think it is fun. But, how we respond to it shows how comfortable we are with ourselves. Someone may look at us and demean us and comment about our colour, but, if we have a healthy respect for ourselves, I think people will get the message and they will also show us respect.

HARMONYWORKS! CONFERENCE 2013 73 EVENT PROGRAMME 2.05 pm Opening address by Mr Zainudin Nordin, Chairman, OnePeople.sg 2.15 pm Plenary session: Forging a Singapore identity. Speaker: Mr Janadas Devan, Director, Institute of Policy Studies 2.35 pm “Survival in Sarajevo” - a video presentation 2.50 pm The fight to preserve one’s humanity. Speaker: Mr Jakob Finci, Ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina and President of La Benevolencija. 3.50 pm Dialogue session. Panel chair: Mr Gerald Singham (Vice Chairman, OnePeople.sg). Panel Members: Mr Chan Chun Sing (Minister for Social and Family Development), Mr. Janadas Devan (Director, Institute of Policy Studies), Mr. Jakob Finci (Ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina and President of La Benevolencija) and Sister Theresa Seow (Asst Secretary, Inter-Religious Organization Singapore).

74 Community Leaders’ Conference 2013 ‘Securing Peace: Lessons from History’

March 18, 2013 Republic Polytechnic

75 CHAIRMAN’S SPEECH The challenges of integration

Mr Zainudin Nordin, Chairman of OnePeople.sg, hopes that more bottom-up conversations can bring to the fore the challenges, hopes and dreams of Singaporeans.

t is my pleasure to warmly welcome you to today’s conference. OnePeople. sg first initiated the Community Leaders’ Conference in 2009. This biennial conference serves as a platform to engage community and religious leaders and provides a common ground to address critical issues concerning our Isocial fabric. Today’s conference aims to draw lessons from communal conflicts in history. In conflict, as in war, no one wins. Victory is often short-lived, while the damage to lives of people can have lasting effects. From the World Wars to the Cold Wars, there is but one constant outcome – deep human suffering. Contrary to popular journalistic opinions, there is no such thing as a Great War. Peace, on the other hand, is hard to come by, easy to lose, and certainly less expensive. Though we are a young country, Singapore’s peace since independence has been a long journey. As community and religious leaders, many of you “As leaders, we need would have travelled this journey, to speak up when it working tirelessly to bring communities together, bridging gaps and doing matters. We must your part. While some countries are be the first to make embroiled in ethnic and religious dis- a stand against hate putes, we have gathered here to speak of securing peace and harmony. This speech. We must exemplifies how far we have matured never allow peace as a society. Singapore’s racial and religious in our country to harmony is indeed quite unique to the be threatened by world. Nations few and far between radicals.” can attest to 50 years of uninterrupted

76 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 peace. This is something we can be really proud of. But, we must never take peace for granted. We need to always safeguard ourselves from potential risks. I would like to focus my address on key challenges confronting social cohesion. Maybe it is worthwhile for me to put things in perspective. Singapore today is starkly different from Singapore of yesteryears. We are a more diverse and cosmopolitan city state than what we used to be. Our resident population is also larger and, as an open city state, we experience the impact of globalisation first hand. This has brought about quite a number of serious challenges. Never before in our history have we experienced such rapid change and what some have inter- preted as a challenge to the very core that makes us Singaporean. First is the hotly debated issue of integration between locals and foreigners. From “Ferrari” to “Curry”, various incidents between locals and foreigners have brought about emotional outbursts, often resulting in dissatisfaction among Singaporeans. The social media is, at times, loaded with comments on this topic. We have also seen the other side, foreigners chiding Singaporeans. It has come to a point, where people have started to question: Are Singapo- reans xenophobic? This then begs the question: Are all new citizens reckless Ferrari drivers? The point is we should view things in perspective. Not all things appear as they seem. A recent study by the Institute of Policy Studies, between local-born and foreign-born, naturalised citizens revealed interesting facts. The survey asked both groups to indicate characteristics that define Singaporeans. While both groups dif- fered on issues like NS and the use of English, they agreed on one important trait - respect for multi-racial and multi–religious practices. Both locals Community leaders can spearhead and naturalised citizens overwhelm- initiatives from our doorsteps to ingly felt that to be Singaporean, one community levels and take ownership of must respect the multicultural way of this cause.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 77 life. Another interesting point was that Singaporeans do not expect foreigners to culturally assimilate and behave like locals. Singaporeans were quite happy if immigrants were courteous, acknowledged important ideologies and learnt to live comfortably with locals. These are indeed low barriers for new citizens to integrate into our community. I am not dismissing the fact that we need to address these challenges. Nev- ertheless, they need to be addressed not only by policies that shape community integration but also through community efforts. At the policy level it is already known that there is an immediate need to calibrate the intake of immigrants so that Singaporeans do not feel displaced. Much of the dissatisfaction comes from a high influx of migrants and foreigners in recent years. This has caused pressure on infrastructure, transportation and jobs. It is not that we are in a bad state, but we are feeling the squeeze somewhat.

Strengthen the Singapore core

The government is making concerted efforts to look into these areas. Policy-wise, the government is working towards strengthening the Singaporean core as we welcome foreigners in a more calibrated manner. We want to make our home a vibrant city. By the same measure, we should also acknowledge there is common ground between immigrants and locals. Both of us desire to respect and protect Singapore’s harmonious living. If we take it from this angle, then we can look at the glass being half full, rather than half empty. We can encourage new citizens to volunteer for community causes. Get them involved in community bonding and civic concerns. And, through shared goals, bring opportunities for locals to connect with new arrivals. These people-to-people interactions can and must happen in the community in our daily lives. Furthermore, the way we communicate has vastly changed. We are in fact one of the most connected cities in the world. Globally, we are one of the highest users of the internet, smartphones and social media. What does all this mean? There is a virtual community amongst us that we cannot ignore. Politics aside, there are issues that crop up in social media which, from time to time, warrant our attention. As we have witnessed lately, there have been several incidents of online racism. This is indeed troubling. Most recently, two youths were arrested for derogatory postings online. These incidents show that fault lines can take root in social media. As leaders, we must be plugged in and stay vigilant. Corrosive and derogatory language must never be passed unchecked. Au- thors of offensive online content tend to be among the minority, but if the major-

78 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 ity remains silent, then the minority can get bolder. As leaders, we need to speak up when it matters. We must be the first to make a stand against hate speech. We must never allow peace in our country to be threatened by radicals. This is the era of the new norm. We have now a vocal populace. And to me, this is a positive sign. We should ride on this voice of reason and spark dialogues on issues that have not been spoken enough. In tandem with the national conversation, we should create bottom-up conversations that will bring to the fore the challenges, hopes and dreams of Singaporeans. Critical to this is how we view racial and religious harmony. Let us be honest about these issues and not gloss over differences. As community leaders, this is something we can spearhead, from our doorsteps to community levels. We could take ownership of this cause. The outcome of these dialogues should cast values we stand for, as Singaporeans. I would like to leave you with a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt. “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And, it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 79 KEYNOTE SPEECH Forging a Singapore identity

Mr Janadas Devan, Director of the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), shares on what constitutes cultural and national identity, drawing on Singapore’s history and his own experiences as examples.

XCODE

Over 80 per cent of Singapore population live in HDB flats and the void deck is a common area where residents interact. Mr Janadas thinks that Singaporeans need to learn that national identity is an ongoing project.

ho are we? How did we get here? Where might we go? I happen to believe that we cannot answer the most important questions about ourselves without an understanding of history. The historical judgement is, I think, fundamental. WIt wasn’t quite a Eureka moment, but close. About 20 years ago, at a conference at The Substation, I finally understood how race has shaped, and continues to shape, Singapore politics. There were about 150 people there. As was usual with The Substation gath-

80 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 erings, they were articulate, idealistic, multi-racial, progressive and vaguely left- of-centre. The topic was cultural identity, or lack thereof; and the chief object of criticism (surprise, surprise) was the government. This habit of constantly criti- cizing the government, by the way, didn’t begin in 2011, let alone with Punggol East or the White Paper on Population, much as some people would like to pretend. It was Dr Goh Keng Swee who called Singapore a “nation of complainers” - and, he said that in the 1970s when there was no opposition MP in Parliament! ‘They’, the Chinese-educated participants said, had marginalised Chinese culture. ‘They’, the Malays and the Indians chimed in, had done the same to them. ‘They’, the English-educated groaned, had alienated them by insisting on Asian values, Speak Mandarin and the rest of it. I was struck by a number of oddities in the discussion. Firstly, each of the different racial and linguistic groups seemed to agree with the complaints and criticisms of everyone else. Logically speaking, this was ab- surd. If the Chinese-educated were right, how could the English-educated be too? But, neither the Chinese- nor the English-educated felt they were contradicting themselves by agreeing with the other. Secondly - and this was what really baffled me - every group, including the Chinese-educated, saw itself as a minority. If every group believes that it is nursing a marginalised identity, who is doing the marginalising, I wondered? ‘They’? But who are ‘They’? The government? The 14 odd men and women in the Cabinet constitute Singapore’s dominant majority identity? Then it dawned on me. They - I “This peace — inter- mean, The Substation audience - were racial, inter-religious absolutely right. There is a majority race in Singa- peace — cannot be pore, the Chinese. There are minori- taken for granted. ties - Malays, Indians, Eurasians etc. We made this; we But, there is no self-conscious, dominant, majority cultural identity. And, engineered this… the reason every cultural identity here And, like all human- feels like a minority identity is that none coincides with the national po- made miracles, it can litical identity. be taken apart by The national identity is instead human hands.”

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 81 defined by the state, not by any particular racial, religious or linguistic “I think we need group. In that sense, the conference to learn that our participants were right to think of the identity is not done, government - or, more precisely, the state - as the repository of the domi- established… we nant identity. need to think of This strange state of affairs is Singapore as an nobody’s fault. If anybody is to be blamed, one might as well blame his- ongoing project.” tory, for it is a state of affairs inherent in the very conditions of Singapore’s existence. That existence would be impossible to imagine if there was no gap or separation between national and cultural identities. Consider the roots of modern Singapore in the first half of the 20th century, when Singaporeans (though they didn’t exist then) first began to imagine the possibility of an existence independent of the British Empire. The emergent Singapore nationalism was first mediated through the cultural nationalisms of the colony’s various racial groups. There would have been no such thing as a Singapore nationalism - or, more accurately, Malayan nationalism, which was the only thing we knew prior to 1965 - if there had been no Chinese revolutions (1911 and 1949), no Indonesian revolution and no Indian national movement. What inspired Chinese Singaporeans in the 1950s, for instance, was the victory of the Chinese Communists in 1949. When Mao Zedong declared on the ramparts of the Tiananmen that ‘China has stood up’, that statement was not taken merely as an expression of national self-assertion applicable only to a particular nation-state, but also of cultural self-assertion applicable to all ethnic Chinese. The political consciousness of Malays and Indians in Singapore and Malaya were also formed in strikingly intimate ways by events in Indonesia and India, respectively. It is easiest to illustrate these historical facts by looking at how different communities reacted differently during the Japanese Occupation, that crucible from which independent Singapore’s founding generation emerged. Consider the story of Lim Bo Seng, a hero whom Singaporeans rightly honour today.

82 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 He escaped from occupied Singapore in 1942. He made his way to India, and then to China, where he made contact with the Kuomintang government in Chungking. On instructions from that government, he joined the Malayan-Chi- nese section of Force 136 - part of the Allied Southeast Asia Command under Admiral Louis Mountbatten headquartered in Ceylon. Note, the section Lim joined was called Malayan-Chinese, not Chinese-Ma- layan. The operative noun was Chinese. For Lim, as for many Malayan-Chinese, the battle against the Japanese in Malaya/Singapore was part and parcel of Chi- na’s struggle against Japan. But, there was a body that was expressly Malayan, at least in name, which fought the Japanese; a body as heroic as Force 136 - the Malayan People’s An- ti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). After the war, soldiers in this army received medals for bravery from Mount- batten on the steps of City Hall. Their heroism is no longer celebrated because the political authority behind the MPAJA was the Malayan Communist Party. But, was either entity really ‘Malayan’?

Community leaders pay close attention and take notes during the keynote speech.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 83 Yes. But, the identity ‘Malayan’ existed in a tense contradiction with their identification with Chinese nationalism: Kuomintang, in the case of Lim Bo Seng, and communism, in the case of the MPAJA. Malayan-Indians were similarly divided. In 1943, when Subhas Chandra Bose, the leader of the Indian National Army, a right-wing nationalist who made common cause with the Japanese to fight the British in India, addressed a rally at the Padang, a huge crowd of Indians turned out to hear him. The women in the crowd unloaded their jewellery at his feet, literally - to fight the British. They forgot that Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, the figures revered most by Malayan-Indians then, had not only “Singapore’s denounced Bose, but had also booted him out of the Indian National Con- nationalism has gress. always existed in a But, the Japanese were not occupying India; the British were. The tense relationship British were not occupying China; the with the extra- Japanese were. Different communi- national sources of ties, therefore, responded differently to geopolitical events. that nationalism It is impossible to avoid the un- - the cultural comfortable truth that Malayan na- nationalisms of its tionalism (from which Singaporean nationalism emerged eventually) was component races.” subjected to, and absorbed by, pan- Asian political and cultural movements that far exceeded the boundaries of Singapore or Malaya. No member of independent Singapore’s founding generation - not even the man who wrote the Singapore Pledge - would have thought of asserting his or her political identity if not for the impetus of nationalist movements elsewhere in Asia. Singapore’s nationalism, thus, has always existed in a tense relationship with the extra-national sources of that nationalism - the cultural nationalisms of its component races. How we mediate the extra-national origins of Singapore’s nationalism is not merely a historical burden, but a political and philosophical one as well. The problem of inter-racial relations in Singapore is rooted in the fact that Singapore nationalism - by definition, an assertion of unique identity - has never

84 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 Mr Janadas thinks that Singapore is a human miracle and it can be taken apart by human hands like all man made miracles. been coincident with various cultural nationalisms - by definition, assertions of trans-national cultural identities. The problem of multiple identities, often in conflict, will always be with us and will manifest itself in a variety of ways. In the 1950s and 1960s, the attractive force of Chinese communism was the challenge. Today, it is transnational political Islam. In the future, we may well see a resurgence of Chinese and Indian cultural nationalism, as China and India become significant global powers. Actually, we are already seeing that. For 47 years, Singapore’s political leadership has dealt with this problem by cordoning off, as best as possible, the cultural from the political. Cultural identities, rooted in language or religion, belong in the private sphere. They are given ample space as well as support. The government insists on bilingualism in education, for example, and assists in mosque-building, among other things. But, the private cultural sphere has never been allowed to drive policy in the public sphere. Indeed, the opposite has happened. Sometimes, the state has seen fit to interfere in the cultural sphere, as when it decided to discourage the use of Chinese dialects in favour of Mandarin.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 85 Singapore’s politics have thus evolved differently from Malaysia’s, which is still deeply affected by race and religion. “No regional or world power is going to allow a Chinese state in Singapore,” Mr Lee Kuan Yew said, in explaining why he went after alleged Chinese chauvinists. Similarly, why did the ruling party bris- tle a decade ago when the Association of Muslim Professionals proposed that it should represent the Malay/Muslim community, since Malay MPs are national, not communal, leaders? In each instance, the Prime Minister, from the first to the third, feared being overwhelmed by cultural politics. From the beginning, the elder Mr Lee and his colleagues were vary of what they took to be chauvinists. If say, a Chinese chauvinist gained strength, how much more insistently Chi- nese would their Chinese MPs have been forced to become to appeal to Chinese Singaporeans? The ruling party, of course, has regularly fielded candidates identifiably Chinese-educated, Malay or Indian, as have opposition parties. But, people mis- understand the role of individuals if they think they are there to represent the Chinese, Malays or Indians within the party, as the racially-based components of Malaysia’s Barisan National do. It is the other way around. They are there to represent the party to the Chinese, Malays and Indians, so as to mobilise each group on behalf of a national agenda. This is a crucial, pragmatic distinction. Cultural identities are at once allowed, but contained within an over-arching agenda. Similar pragmatic trade-offs between national and cultural identities take place at all levels. The juggling, in fact, is endless.

Policy is race-blind

Sometimes, cultural identities are acknowledged, as in the formation of self-help groups; and sometimes they are not, as in the recent ruling that school uniforms should, indeed, remain uniform. Sometimes, policy is race-blind, as in the in- sistence of meritocracy; and sometimes it is not, as when the Constitution was amended to allow for Group Representative Constituencies with mandated minority representations. So far, the juggling has worked. Each year that passes without cultural nationalisms coming into conflict with each other or challenging Singaporean nationalism is a pure plus. In time, perhaps, the necessity of juggling would cease. In time, perhaps, the different cultures, races and religions can be a complete consort dancing together. But, there is absolutely nothing natural or organic or inevitable about what we have. This peace - inter-racial, inter-religious peace - cannot be taken for

86 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 granted. We made this; we engineered this. Singapore is a human-made miracle. And, like all human-made miracles, it can be taken apart by human hands. How might this miracle unravel? Well, I don’t think it will, but, let’s consider the challenges. But again, let me go back to history first. Every one of our founding fathers - the people who built independent Singapore - began their careers believing Sin- gapore couldn’t possibly be independent. Mr Lee, Dr Goh, all of them, including the extreme leftists and the Town Committee of the Communist Party of Malaya, believed Singapore was an inextricable part of Malaya. We stumbled, we tripped into independence, into our identities as Singaporeans. I myself was born a British subject, became a Malaysian briefly and then a Singaporean at the age of 10. My father was born a British subject, was subjected to Japanese rule for three years, became a Malaysian for six years - indeed, established a political party there, the Democratic Action Party or DAP - and then became a Singaporean at the age of 46. He got his IC very late in life. I remember singing God Save the Queen in kindergarten, then Majullah Singapura in primary one, then Negara Ku from primary three to five and then back to Majullah Singapura in primary six. Perhaps inevitably, given this mem- ory, I have a greater sense of life’s fragility than someone born after 1965, though perhaps not as much as someone of my father’s generation, who suffered so much and witnessed so much tragedy.

Challenges to our unity

Remember this: we weren’t supposed to exist as an independent country. With that at the back of your mind, I will ask you to consider two major challenges to our unity. One: income divide. There were always rich people in Singapore and poor. But, the differences now are much sharper, our society very much more stretched out. This is the same in every advanced economy. Only in Mr Janadas Devan (right) receives a our case, the distinctions seem sharp- token of appreciation from the Guest of er because we are a city. People in Ne- Honour, Minister Chan Chun Sing. braska don’t know how people live in

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 87 Beverly Hills. In Singapore, we all know how people live in Sentosa Cove. Mer- itocracy is an indispensable value. We really have no alternative but to judge people by the content of their character, as Martin Luther King put it, and their abilities, not by the colour of their skin, or their religious affiliation or their par- entage. This is absolutely fundamental. We got kicked out of Malaysia because of this. But, the truth is meritocracy now risks becoming self-perpetuating because the advantages that accrue to the successful have become so incredibly outland- ish compared to the rest. We really have to wrestle with this problem, somehow oil social mobility. That is why Mr Heng Swee Keat’s announcements on pre- school education are so important. Two: the foreigner-Singaporean divide. As a result of immigration, especially among the Chinese and Indians, the divisions within each race in Singapore are now greater than the differences between the races. Chinese Singaporeans are much more comfortable with Malay Singaporeans or Indian Singaporeans than they are with fellow ethnic Chinese from China or elsewhere. And, this is quite extraordinary.

Cultivating a Singapore identity

Because of both these developments, the Singapore identity has come into question. Who are we? I met a sociologist recently by the name of Saskia Sassen. She is an expert on global cities. I asked her what the first thing is that she looks for when she visits a global city. She told me that she always asks who in that city believes they belong to that city. Who believes they are a member of the club - Club Singapore, in our case? I think that is a very interesting way of looking at ourselves. So, who all here in Singapore think they belong? Two things can be said about this: • We now have a strong Singapore identity, a strong sense of ‘ We’. We became Singaporeans by accident, but we have established our identity fairly firmly. • But, a strong sense of ‘we’ has also come to mean we have a strong sense of a ‘them’. It stands to reason. And, they are not us. Because of the foreign presence, this has become a less familiar city. The global, as it were, feels as though it has overwhelmed the local. We have a strong sense of an inner identity, stronger than ever before in our short history. That sense of an inner membership is not always reflected on the outside, where we see many whom we do not consider to be members of the club, in Saskia Sassen’s

88 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 terms. There is, if you like, a disjunction between your sense of membership and what you see outside. You feel at home among ourselves, with people like you. And, you feel at large among others, foreign. How do you solve this problem? Besides just becoming accustomed to the new milieu, I think we need to learn that our identity is not done, established. I have a feeling that a significant number of Singaporeans think we are finished, established, accomplished, complete. In a way, we should celebrate that there is such a strong sense of identity. On the other hand, I wonder at this definiteness, as though history has come to an end. A people absolutely sure of themselves tend to be closed. In every instance of chauvinism that you see elsewhere, what you see behind it all is a sense of a convinced identity. Tolerance, however, requires a certain humility. Let me end by showing you a US dollar bill. On its back is the drawing of a pyramid, and the words ‘Annuit coeptis’ which means, ‘He (which could be Providence or God) favours our undertaking’. The important thing about this seal is that the top of the pyramid is not finished. Americans are confident of what America means. There are certain things that are iconically American. But there is, nevertheless, a sense that it is an ongoing project. Similarly, I think we need to think of Singapore as an ongoing project. Who are we? We are still a people forming.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 89 KEYNOTE SPEECH The fight to preserve one’s humanity Mr Jakob Finci, Ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina to Switzerland and President of La Benevolencija, talks about his experiences during the Bosnian War in the early 90s, in dealing with crisis.

know that history is different in each part of the world. But, there are some similarities between Bosnia and Singapore. Here, you have different races living together. There, we have different religions living together. From outside it is easy to distinguish who is who here. But in Bosnia, everyone Ilooks alike. We have four traditional religions: Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Serbs who are Orthodox, Bosnian Croats who are Roman Catholics as well as a small group of Jews. Yugoslavia was a country that existed for only about 70 years as a state. Be- fore that, there were a lot of small states like Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia that had existed for more than 1,100 years. For a long period of history, Bosnia was part of the Ottoman Empire, after which it became a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then it became a part of Yugoslavia. After the Second World War, Yugoslavia became a socialist country under the name Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Generally speaking, socialism is associated with the colour red. You could say that the form of socialism that existed in Yugoslavia was pink. It wasn’t really red. We were free to travel all over the world. And, we could own cars, houses and other commodities that were out of reach for people behind the Iron Curtain. But, when the Berlin Wall fell in 1990, I am afraid that it fell on the head of Bosnians. I say this because we have been one of the biggest victims of the fall of socialism.

Socialism turned to nationalism

Yugoslav leaders lost their way after that. They had not been ready for the transi- tion from state-owned economy to a free-market economy. But, instead of working on this, they turned to nationalism. They started to speak about independ-

90 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 UNITED NATIONS A woman and child in war-torn Bosnia in 1994.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 91 ence for each of the Federal Republics. We used to have six republics: Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. As the leaders played their cards of nationalism, they tried to explain that all our problems were caused by others. They would point their fingers at members of different ethnic groups. Unfortunately, the media was used for this propagan- da very successfully. If, every day, we watch on television and read in newspapers that you should blame your neighbours for all your troubles, it is normal that you will start to hate your neighbours and even, very easily, start to kill them. First, Slovenia declared independence. The war against the independence of Slovenia lasted seven days. Then, Croatia declared independence. The war led by Serbia against Croatia lasted around three months.

Bosnia prepares for war

After these two wars, we started to prepare as well because it was almost clear that the war would soon reach Bosnia. We sent a letter to all our members in the Jewish community asking them to extend the validity of their passports and to apply for an exit visa to visit Israel. Normally, about 30 to 40 people would visit Israel every year, to see relatives or to visit the holy places there. So, when sud- denly, 400 people asked for the exit visa, it raised concerns. An article appeared with the headlines, ‘When the Jews are leaving the city, it is a bad sign for the city’. I went on television to explain that in 1992, the Jewish community in Bosnia would be commemorating 500 years of expulsion from Spain in 1492. Ceremo- nies were being planned, first in Spain, then in Bosnia and finally in Israel. And, that was the reason why everyone was asking for the exit visa. At the same time, we called our medical doctors and pharmacists asking them to get ready a list of medicines. We thought that we might need them for the 1,500 members of our community, aged members mainly, to survive for three months, just in case something was to happen. We also bought food that would not go bad, like beans, rice, oil, flour, sugar and canned food. When the war started in Bosnia, I think on 6th April 1992, we could organize the first evacuation of all our children in a few days. After that, we made several other evacuations of children and elderly people. We organized 11 evacuations totally, three by planes and eight by buses. We sent 2,500 people out of Sarajevo, including about 1,000 Jews and 1,500 others, including Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox. A small group of about 500 Jews remained in Sarajevo. Together with our

92 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 friends we started La Benevolencija. With the medicines we had at hand, we opened something like a pharmacy. The citizens had looted each and every shop including the pharmacies. Everything had been looted except the bookshops. Later on, when they discovered that books could be used for making fire, even the bookshops were looted. “War cannot solve Since it was a little complicated any problem. There to pronounce ‘Benevolencija’ in Bos- nian, people gave a nickname to the is no good war. Even pharmacy – the Jewish pharmacy. the worst peace is And very soon it became clear that if better than any kind you were running out of medicines, you should go to the Jewish pharma- of war.” cy, and if they didn’t have your medicine, don’t try anywhere else because it meant that this medicine did not exist in town. Very soon, because Bosnians are similar to people in Singapore, they started to complain, “Why should we cross the bridge to reach your pharmacy?” The pharmacy was on the left hand side of a river and the bridge was an excellent target for sniper fire. And so, we opened another pharmacy on the other side of the river at the Olympic Centre. This was apparently a very good place for a pharmacy because even today, there is a commercial pharmacy at the same place. We soon came to the end of 1992 and it was time to commemorate the expulsion from Spain. So we organized the first of the cultural events during the middle of the war in Sarajevo. All the members of the government, a lot of digni- taries as well as the international media were present. Sarajevo and Bosnia were permanently on television because of the war. All the international TV compa- nies had crews in Sarajevo. And so, this event was covered in the front page of The New York Times because it was really a miracle to have a cultural event in the middle of a war, with concerts, round tables, exhibitions and so on. During this event, we met a guy who was a medical doctor. He was a Pal- estinian studying in Sarajevo. He had also gotten married in Sarajevo. He was running a small hospital in the neighbourhood of the airport, far away from downtown Sarajevo. He approached us during the celebrations and said, “You know, you are Jews, I am a Palestinian. We are almost relatives. It will be very good to open a pharmacy in my hospital because the people from my neighbourhood cannot reach your pharmacy in town.” We said, “We give everything free of charge.” And he said no problem.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 93 “You should put down the names of all those who take these medicines so that we can report to our donors how we spent that money.” He said no problem. “You should not ask the patients their nationality because everyone is eligi- ble to receive the medicine.” He said no problem. And then he said, “Don’t worry. I know what you need and I will take care of the pharmacy.” I can bet that this was the only Jewish pharmacy run by a Palestinian. It was very successful and it goes to show that anything is possible when you work together. At the same time, dozens of people joined the community by showing pa- pers that they were of Jewish origin even though they hadn’t declared themselves as Jewish earlier. With them were a group of 20 children. These children didn’t know anything about Judaism. They hadn’t even imagined that they were of Jew- ish origin. So, we started something like a Sunday School to teach them a little bit about Jewish history. Jewish history is almost like a fairy tale and it was very interesting for the children. We showed them some movies on television. We offered them some cookies and soft drinks from our reserves. After the second session, a lot of them asked if they could bring their best friends to this school because it was so wonderful. The answer was naturally yes!

Mr Jakob Finci discusses learning lessons.

94 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 So, during the war, we also ran the Jewish Sunday School with 20 Jews and their 30 best friends. It was a very successful school because they learned to live with each other. They learned that there were no differences between them, and that religion should not be used to make distinctions. Some of them later fell in love with each other. We have three or four couples from this Jewish School but all of them are mixed couples – Jewish and non-Jewish. At the end of the war, like at the end of every war, we got peace. This peace was negotiated in Dayton, Ohio and it is well known as the Dayton Peace Ac- cord. Parts of this peace accord are also part of the Bosnian constitution. We have not been lucky with our constitution because it was imposed on us. But, it was a result of the war and our leaders on all three sides signed such a document. So that is what we have in hand.

Vital to preserve peace

The first lesson that we can learn from all this is that war cannot solve any problems. There is no good war. Even the worst peace is better than any kind of war. It is vital to preserve the peace because once war erupts, it is very difficult to establish peace after that. Lesson number two is that even if war starts, we should remain human. We should try to help our neighbours. You saw in the movie how Zejneba Hardaga was the first Muslim woman to receive the ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ title for helping Jews during the Holocaust. When she received this from Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, he asked her, “Why did you help the Jews during the war? You, a Muslim lady.” And she said, “I didn’t help the Jews. I helped my neighbours.” So it is always important to take care of your neighbours. It was very dangerous to be in Bosnia and Sarajevo during the war. There was daily shelling. I had to travel through this several times, leading convoys or bringing in humanitarian help. I would pass through enemy lines with different documents, almost like James Bond. This makes me think I am brave. But, I am not brave enough to stand between you and the tea that is waiting for you. So I will now conclude by saying that I am open to any questions. Thank you for listening to me.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 95 PLENARY DISCUSSION Marching forward as a nation

Panelists answer questions from the audience on issues such as integration and identity.

Question: Would there come a time when our national leaders may put forth their personal interests at the cost of the nation and the people? What safeguards can we put forth to ensure that such things do not happen?

Mr Chan Chun Sing: This is a very serious issue. The first thing that we all have to decide is how to define our sense of identity. Usually if you ask anybody, there are two ways to define one’s sense of identity. One is to look at the past and one is to look at the future. For countries with a homogeneous population and unified religion, looking at the past tends to be easier. But, for countries that have people from all walks of life, different races and different historical backgrounds, it is very difficult to define a common identity based on the past. Having said that, we don’t want to forget our past but, the more meaningful and uplifting way may be to define a common future. The history of Singapore is very short. Our ancestors came from different lands. We speak different languages, our skin colours are different and so on and so forth. But, having said that, we can always define a common future - a future where we have a shared sense of purpose and a set of shared values. But, even if we define our identity with a common future, how do we get the correct people into leadership? This is a really big challenge. I would say it requires two things: one, for the current set of leaders to be able to identify and groom the next set of leaders with the correct set of values. That is only half the equation. The other half of the equation requires the leadership to convince the population that it is leaders with these kinds of values that are deserving of their support and not those that play either the racial or religious card. This is the difference between politicians and political leaders. We all hope to have more political leaders and not just politicians who exploit the sentiments of

96 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 Minister Chan Chun Sing (right) answers a question from the floor. Other panelists were Mr Jakob Finci (left), Mr Janadas Devan, Mr Zainudin Nordin and Sister Theresa Seow. The panel was chaired by Vice-Chairman, OnePeople.sg, Mr Gerald Singham.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 97 the day. Perhaps in English, the words ‘politician’ and ‘political leaders’ do not sound so different. In Bahasa In- donesia, the difference is clearer. One is ‘politikus’, which is politician and the other is ‘negarawan’ which is a statesman. A statesman or a political leader rises above divisive sentiments. In Indonesia they look at the politikus with disdain (‘tikus’ in Indonesian means rat or mouse). But, they always Some community leaders raised seek the negarawan. questions about Singapore’s identity and That is where the role of leader- culture, especially among the younger ship is vital. We have to find the cor- ones in the community. rect people and groom them, as well as make sure that we convince our people that we need to select leaders who will unite us and bring us forward rather than split us apart. It is not a given. If we look at the history of the world, there are many examples that will cause us to pause and reflect that we have to be careful. It is always easier to seek issues that will stir emotions and divide people. And, that is another way we can define our national identity. Should we have an inclusive identity or an exclusive identity? Most countries define their identity using the exclusive method, which is against somebody, which is against a particular cause. It is always easier psychologically to identify a common enemy and to have a bogeyman. To define our identity by being inclusive is to be open and yet anchored in what we believe in. This is a challenge. If we look at Singapore, there may come a time in our journey when we may have to go through this stage as well. We have been fortunate so far. Since the 1960s, our relative economic success has bought us time and space to deliver this sense of identity. Suppose our economic development had not been as robust. Perhaps we would have faced this challenge much earlier. But, let us make full use of this opportunity that we have to make sure that we build values and a sense of identity. Hopefully, this sense of identity, this sense of bonding and cohesion, will allow us to ride through the tough times in the future when economic growth slows, when competition for resources becomes more rigorous and the competition with other people becomes more intensive.

98 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 Mr Gerald Singham: I learnt something from Ambassador Jakob Finci when I spoke to him this “We are used to afternoon. I remember the Bosnian working with people conflict as an ethnic, racial and reli- from different gious conflict. And I asked him how a nation that has been together for races and different more than a thousand years could dis- religions…It is integrate all of a sudden. Ambassador something that Finci reminded me that the issue was one of leadership. The economy had comes very naturally taken a nosedive and the leaders from to all of us. Most different communities provoked the division of Yugoslavia. That was when of us embrace this ethnic strife started. But, maybe, Am- diversity among us. bassador Finci can further explain And yet, we take this point. that for granted.” Mr Jakob Finci: Sister Theresa Seow Our political leaders from different sides were unable to cope with the problem of socialism falling apart. Yugoslavia was no longer the type of state that they knew how to run. That was the first problem. The second big problem was the influence from abroad. When mixed societies, like the one here in Singapore, are building their national identity, sometimes your neighbours can be huge ob- stacles. They can try to push you in the wrong direction. This was the case for Yugoslavia. I hope something like that will not happen here or anywhere else in the world.

Member of audience: Firstly, I am not sure whether it is fair to label Singaporeans as a nation of complainers. Because the moment we start labelling, you are not allowing for a natural outflow of sentiments. Race, language, religion are very primordial emotions. We have to be careful not to intellectualize or rationalize these emotions. And, so I would caution against labelling. The moment we do that, there is a risk of us glossing over these emotions. Instead, I think we need to look at managed ways of allowing people to air their views. Sometimes they could come across as complaints. Not everybody has the facility of the language to articulate in a

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 99 manner that is palatable. So I think that different people will express themselves differently, but the expression is coming with sincerity. The second thing is that I am not sure that I agree with Mr Zainudin when he said that when people come to our shores, we will accept them as they are and not expect them to be like we are. I am not sure I agree with that. In any country, the people who go into the country are expected to adopt the lifestyle and the behaviour and the norms of the host country. Of course, you can be who you are in your private space. However, when you have new friends coming in as immigrants, whether as PR or as citizens, I think it is reasonable for us to expect them to adopt our ways of life, our norms and our traditions. The third and final point is that we also have examples in our history where people stopped seeing each other as Jews or Muslims or Christians or as Indians, Malay or Chinese, but as neighbours. In 1964, I was growing up in Kampong Bahru, which we all know as a Chinese-dominated area. During the racial riots of 1964, I remember my Chinese neighbour-aunty walking my Malay neighbour-aunty to the market to protect her. That picture is indelible. It may be one incident but that made me believe that the feeling of multiculturalism is there in each one of us and that we need to celebrate it and talk about it more.

Participants sharing a light moment.

100 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 manner that is palatable. So I think that different people will express themselves Mr Janadas Devan: differently, but the expression is coming with sincerity. If you remember, it was Napolean that called England a nation of shopkeepers. The second thing is that I am not sure that I agree with Mr Zainudin when So that was what Dr Goh was playing on when he called Singapore a nation of he said that when people come to our shores, we will accept them as they are and complainers. It is not a big point. You can be a nation of complainers if you are not expect them to be like we are. I am not sure I agree with that. In any country, justified about your complaints. the people who go into the country are expected to adopt the lifestyle and the Regarding the second point, if I recall correctly, what the survey showed was behaviour and the norms of the host country. Of course, you can be who you are that Singaporeans accepted a model of integration as opposed to assimilation. in your private space. However, when you have new friends coming in as immi- Let me explain the distinction. In France, you are French as long as you accept grants, whether as PR or as citizens, I think it is reasonable for us to expect them French culture and you speak French. In America, the model is different. It is not to adopt our ways of life, our norms and our traditions. assimilation. You do not become like everybody else in the country. It is integra- The third and final point is that we also have examples in our history where tion. In other words, you maintain your own identity but you join together and people stopped seeing each other as Jews or Muslims or Christians or as Indians, form a greater entity. Out of many, one - which means you remain many and you Malay or Chinese, but as neighbours. In 1964, I was growing up in Kampong become one as a result of combining but retaining your own identity. So in Sin- Bahru, which we all know as a Chinese-dominated area. During the racial riots gapore, the metaphor we use is that of a rojak. I think it is a good sign that Singa- of 1964, I remember my Chinese neighbour-aunty walking my Malay neigh- poreans do not insist on assimilation. In other words, the foreigner does not have bour-aunty to the market to protect her. That picture is indelible. It may be one to become like us just as a Chinese Singaporean does not expect a Malay Singa- incident but that made me believe that the feeling of multiculturalism is there in porean to become Chinese in culture each one of us and that we need to celebrate it and talk about it more. or habits. We have separate identities, we retain our separate identities. We “Each generation in do insist on bilingualism, in retaining Singapore preserves your mother tongue, your own cultural identity. But, we also believe that some of their a larger whole is possible. I don’t think memories and yet, that there is any alternative to that. gives up some of Every successful multiracial country is in fact a rojak. You must allow their spaces for the people to maintain their own separate next generation identities while insisting that there is a larger identity that subsumes the to build their various different identities. memories. This is the inevitable fact Sister Theresa Seow: I think that having been away from for a small country Singapore for so many years, I really with a finite space discovered my own root and my own identity. If you were to ask me to de- like ours.” fine what it is that makes me Singa- Mr Chan Chun Sing Participants sharing a light moment. porean, I am not very sure. But, when

100 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 101 we walk around St Peter’s Square, you can immediately identify another group of Singaporeans. Maybe it is the way we speak. And, Singaporeans, true enough, will find many things cheap. But, I think there is something more than that. One of the first surprises I had in Italy was when I walked into my office at the Vatican for the first time. I discovered it was actually full of other Catholics like me. That is very rare here. We are more used to working with people of different races and different religions. It is a given, here in Singapore. That is why very often the first thing that visitors notice in Singapore is the diversity of races and religions. It is something that comes very naturally to all of us. Most of us embrace this diversity among us. It is a given. And yet, we take it for granted.

Question: In Bosnia, during the war, many buildings disappeared. So today’s young citizens may have no sense of the physical presence of their country. In Singapore too, we are constantly pulling down buildings and constructing new things. I think older citizens feel that our historical buildings have more or less generally disappeared. In such a situation, how do we instil a strong sense of citizenship among our young ones, especially since they have really not undergone any crises or any shared incidents?

“Every successful Mr Jakob Finci: At the end of the war in Bosnia, all multiracial country three sides thought that they had won is in fact a rojak. the war. And, since it is winners who write history, we had three different You must allow histories of the war in Bosnia. As a people to maintain result, we were teaching our chil- their own separate dren that our neighbours were our enemies. We have tried to change the identities while textbooks, but, even if it was not writ- insisting that there ten in black and white, you could still read between the lines. That has made is a larger identity it difficult for people to believe that that subsumes the they belong to the country. various different Citizenship has been another issue. In Bosnia, a lot of Bosnian Croats identities.” also have Croatian citizenship. A lot Mr Janadas Devan of Orthodox Serbs have Serbian citi-

102 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 we walk around St Peter’s Square, you can immediately identify another group of Singaporeans. Maybe it is the way we speak. And, Singaporeans, true enough, will find many things cheap. But, I think there is something more than that. One of the first surprises I had in Italy was when I walked into my office at the Vatican for the first time. I discovered it was actually full of other Catholics like me. That is very rare here. We are more used to working with people of different races and different religions. It is a given, here in Singapore. That is why very often the first thing that visitors notice in Singapore is the diversity of races and religions. It is something that comes very naturally to all of us. Most of us embrace this diversity among us. It is a given. And yet, we take it for granted.

Question: In Bosnia, during the war, many buildings disappeared. So today’s young citizens may have no sense of the physical presence of their country. In Singapore too, we are constantly pulling down buildings and constructing new things. I think Vice-Chairman, OnePeople.sg, Mr Gerald Singham (left) with Sister Theresa Seow, older citizens feel that our historical buildings have more or less generally disap- Asst. Secretary of the Inter-Religious Organisation, agrees that most of us embrace the diversity in Singapore but we take this for granted. peared. In such a situation, how do we instil a strong sense of citizenship among our young ones, especially since they have really not undergone any crises or any shared incidents? zenship. So, in Bosnia, lots of people have two different passports and different citizenships. So, during a football match, when Bosnia is playing against Croatia “Every successful Mr Jakob Finci: or Serbia, half of Bosnia is against Bosnia! It is very difficult to feel like real Bos- At the end of the war in Bosnia, all nians. multiracial country three sides thought that they had won I remember a representative from the international community once asking is in fact a rojak. the war. And, since it is winners who me what they could do to help the Bosnians feel that they are Bosnians and to be write history, we had three different proud that they are Bosnians. I said that the only thing that anybody could do You must allow histories of the war in Bosnia. As a would be to arrange for Bosnia to become a world champion in football. Then people to maintain result, we were teaching our chil- everyone would be proud that he is Bosnian. He said, “Unfortunately, this is not their own separate dren that our neighbours were our my mandate.” I said, “If you don’t have a mandate, you don’t have a chance.” enemies. We have tried to change the identities while textbooks, but, even if it was not writ- Mr Chan Chun Sing: insisting that there ten in black and white, you could still Some academics have debated whether today’s definition of nationhood and cit- is a larger identity read between the lines. That has made izenship applies to the modern world. Some people say, “I can be a citizen of it difficult for people to believe that Microsoft or a citizen of Google.” that subsumes the they belong to the country. What does citizenship mean? Is it a passport? Then I can take any passport. various different Citizenship has been another is- A passport is just a legal document that allows me to travel from country A to sue. In Bosnia, a lot of Bosnian Croats country B, that is all. So, what defines citizenship? Is it shared memories? I think identities.” also have Croatian citizenship. A lot it helps. But, for a young nation, that is always problematic because we have only Mr Janadas Devan of Orthodox Serbs have Serbian citi- that many shared memories. Then, is it looking forward or looking back? Of

102 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 103 course, you want to be anchored on “We have to define some things in the past, but, we must also constantly look forward. What the way forward is our shared destiny? This is anoth- for ourselves. I er question to ask beyond what is our shared past? don’t have a magic We all have our different cultures. formula but, I But, we all can have a common desti- believe that looking ny. I go back to the point made earlier about the rojak and a mash. You don’t forward and defining put all the ingredients into a blender a common future and smash them up. That is assimi- for all of us are the lation. Instead, we can acknowledge that we all have a different part to things that will hold play, we all bring in different tastes, us together.” but together, we bring out something of a higher order. That is what we have Mr Chan Chun Sing to aspire to. When it comes to historical buildings, we have a practical problem. Our space is finite. Every generation will want to preserve what belongs to them. I think that is natural human instinct. But, it is also important for us to be aware that our memories are built on somebody else giving up their memories. If you look at my constituency now, Buona Vista, we are very emotional about our old Buona Vista. But, which is the old Buona Vista? When I talk to the older people, they have a different version of what that is. They will tell you that the older Buona Vista used to be a cemetery of a particular Chinese clan. I think it is the Hakka. There were more than 3,000 graves scattered around the area. The government asked the clan for permission, took the land, exhumed the graves and had them set up in their current location. Then, a new set of memories were built on top of the old cemetery. Moreover, the place didn’t start of as current Buona Vista. It started of as kampungs, plantations and so on. That grew to eventually become the Old Hol- land Village, parts of Buona Vista, Ghim Moh and so forth. And now, we are seeing another wave of change, where the 10-storey, 16-storey buildings that used to be common in the area are being replaced by 40-storey buildings. So each generation in Singapore preserves some of their memories and yet, gives up some of their spaces for the next generation to build their memories. This is the

104 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 inevitable fact for a small country with a finite space like ours. It is very different if we go to a larger country. For example, when I was in Jakarta after the financial crisis of 1997, one of the first things I noticed were unfinished construction sites. In Singapore you never see this. If a project goes bust, somebody will take over the place and quickly build something else in its place. But, in Jakarta where there is a lot of land, it is not like that. You just wait for the time to be good again and continue building. If they want to build something new, they will just expand to the outskirts. That is how cities grow. But, for us, we just can’t keep expanding. Even if we reclaim land, there is only so much land that we can reclaim. Take this place, where we are sitting now. This will be part of the memories of this generation of Republic Polytechnic students. But, do you know what this place used to be? It used to be our training area. If you take the old maps of Sin- gapore, the SAF used to train here. I dug a trench here. I got soaked through my skin digging the trench here. If you look at the maps of the 1990s, it is a totally different place. There is no Woodlands New Town. The only Woodlands Town was where the old Woodlands Terminal is. That was Woodlands Town Centre. It is not here. This is my training area. This is where we built our memories. But, I can’t be selfish and say, “Excuse me, this is my training area. How dare you take it away?” If I did, many thousands of people who are staying in Woodlands now would not have the space to build their memories. There wouldn’t be a Republic Polytechnic. If I were to hold onto all my memories, then the next generation will not have the space to build their memories. This is the inevitable balance that we have to strike. Having said that, it doesn’t mean that we are going to eradicate everything. In land- scarce Singapore, a place available for large-scale, intensive construction is Chinatown because it is not constrained by height regulations because of our airways. But, we are not going to tear down Chinatown because that is part of our memories. So, we try to find our balance and find other ways to make places for our emerging needs and at the same time preserve some memories. And, since I have the mike, I just want to make one comment about Singa- pore being a nation of complainers. I am actually okay with that. Complaining is not a sin. Actually, we can put it nicely and call it feedback. It doesn’t matter. It only becomes a problem if, after we complain, we don’t do anything about it. If we complain and do something about it, it is actually our drive to improve. It becomes a problem if we expect somebody else to solve our problem. Then, I worry for the future of Singapore. But, if that becomes a driving force for us to do better, I think it is fine.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 105 Question: The public discourse on the management of diversity has always been about race, religion and more recently, nationality. What do you think are some of the other possible emerging social fractures?

Mr Chan Chun Sing: We have been rather fortunate. In our founding years in the 1960s, the thing that worried us most was the fact that the economic and social divides were overlaid with ethnic and racial divides. We have worked very hard to change that. But, in every stage of our development, there will be challenges that can divide us. I don’t think we can ever say that we have arrived because you never know. The real test is not the little survey that you might be asked to do. If you are asked, Hey, do you believe in racial harmony? Sure, you won’t dare to say no, right? If you ask anybody, they will profess the correct values. This is at least a start. But, the real test comes when the crunch comes. We hope that we never have to take that test. But going forward, new divides can occur between people of different economic backgrounds, different achievements, different educational backgrounds and even people with different world views. Part of the challenge of being a small country is that our values are shaped by things from outside. Look at a very simple example. Where do our kids learn their values? Not just from the family, but from the kind of movies that they see, from the kind of things that they come across. And in a globalized city like ours, where we have access to everything and everybody has access to us, that will be a big challenge. The Japanese tell me that they have language as a barrier. This insu- lates them, to a degree, from new values and perspectives because things

106 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 have to be translated into Japanese first. And, not every Japanese can speak English. But, Singapore is very unique. What are the main languages we speak? English, Mandarin, Tamil, Malay - all of these come from larger external contacts. We are buffeted by influences from the entire global village. The question is whether, in the midst of these waves of influences that hit our shore, we will still be able to find an anchor. Will we be able to find something uniquely Singa- porean? It is perhaps as a reaction to all these that Singaporeans cling onto what we perceive as our uniqueness – whether it is the way we speak or the way we behave. For a young nation, it will always be a work in progress. We don’t have the cultural ballast of nations like China and Japan. They have a long history, with a very strong cultural ballast, to insulate themselves from the rest of the world’s

Over 200 people comprising of religious, community and government leaders attended the conference.

COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 107 values which may or may not coincide with theirs. We have to define the way EMBRACING DIVERSITY forward for ourselves. I don’t have a magic formula but, I believe that looking OnePeople.sg (OPSG) was launched by forward and defining a common future for all of us are the things that will hold Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 27 us together. May 2007 to champion racial harmony initiatives in Singapore. OPSG works Question: I feel that different races are still viewed differently in Singapore. I would hand in hand with the Community like to question if what Singapore has achieved is racial tolerance and not racial Development Councils, Self-Help harmony. Groups and People’s Association to bring Singaporeans together as one people Mr Chan Chun Sing: regardless of race or religion. You interpret racial harmony as a higher value than racial tolerance, right? I think achieving racial harmony is a work in progress. We do some things very The HarmonyWorks! Conference and well. George Yeo used to tell me that when Singaporeans organize a dinner for the Community Leaders’ Conference – ONEPEOPLE.SG different races and religious groups, we are very sensitive. We order halal food, aim to provide a platform for youths vegetarian food. We do it very naturally. It might seem very simple, but some and community leaders to discuss issues Embracing other countries do not do this. And yet, we also have our weak spots. related to race and religion in Singapore. But having said that, have we made progress? Yes, I think we have made pro- These are part of OnePeople.sg’s gress. Recently, there was a sad incident where a Chinese national hijacked a taxi continuing efforts to champion the cause and knocked down an Indian man at the Budget Terminal. If this had happened of racial harmony. Diversity in the 1960s I think that the Singaporean reaction would have been quite different from what it was today. Today, we call it a road traffic incident. Someone hijacked a taxi and someone knocked down somebody. And, we deal with it at that level. But, if it was in the 1950s or 1960s, the story could have been different. The emphasis would have been on a Chinese knocking down an Indian, and the consequences might have been quite different. It shows that we have made progress. But, we need to continue to work very hard. Let me quote Mr Hri Kumar’s comments in Parliament. He mentioned that two friends were walking in Bangkok. They wanted to buy a drink since it was a hot day. As they approached the Thai stall keeper, he looked at them and called out, “Hey, you Singaporean!” They asked him how he could make that out. The Thai stall keeper said, “Different colours, walking together - Singaporean!” This says a lot. But, it takes tremendous effort. We must get out of our comfort zones Proceedings of OnePeople.sg events and get to know people from different backgrounds. It is natural human tenden- HarmonyWorks! 2012 cy to remain in our comfort zones, to stay amongst people that are of the same ‘Regardless of Facebook, Twitter or YouTube’ race or religion. We have to make an effort to break out of this. We must continu- Community Leaders’ Conference 2013 ously challenge ourselves to get to know somebody from a different background. ‘Securing Peace: Lessons from History’ This is the true meaning of being an inclusive society. HarmonyWorks! 2013 ‘Generation Next: The Future of Harmony’

108 COMMUNITY LEADERS’ CONFERENCE 2013 EMBRACING DIVERSITY OnePeople.sg (OPSG) was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 27 May 2007 to champion racial harmony initiatives in Singapore. OPSG works hand in hand with the Community Development Councils, Self-Help Groups and People’s Association to bring Singaporeans together as one people regardless of race or religion.

Embracing diversity ISBN: 978-981-07-8873-5

Copyright © 2014 Proceedings of OnePeople.sg events Published by HarmonyWorks! 2012 OnePeople.sg 381, Toa Payoh Lorong 1 ‘Regardless of Facebook, Twitter or YouTube’ Singapore 319758 Community Leaders’ Conference 2013 First published 2014 ‘Securing Peace: Lessons from History’ All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted HarmonyWorks! 2013 in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior ‘Generation Next: The Future of Harmony’ written permission of the publisher.