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Why is it important to foster social cohesion?

2008-08-28T21:33:00.000+08:00

We all want peace and harmony in Singapore, where we live. And we will be able to lead a better life if everyone lives together in peace. Therefore, it is important to maintain social cohesion in a multi-ethnic community like Singapore

Security and peace, is one of the benefits we Singaporeans enjoy as we live together in harmony and people would feel safe in Singapore due to this harmony we have within us.

Economic progress, would be another benefit we would get when stability and peace comes together. Foreign investors would prefer safe countries, as their investments would not go to waste, and they are able to set up companies in safe Singapore. Our tourist industry is one of the main reason of our economic progress, as tourists would come to safe, blooming and harmonious countries like Singapore, thus the tourist industry progresses with economic progress.

-Ming Wei

Exploring other ways to foster social cohesion in Singapore

2008-08-28T20:41:00.000+08:00

In Singapore, social cohesion is always viewed in terms of race relations and not social class relation. The city-state has a multiracial population, with a Chinese majority of nearly 77%, Malays about 14%, Indians about 8%, and others 1.7%, research done by the Department of Statistics in 2003. Hence nation-building or national identity construction exercises were undertaken to overcome the racial and cultural divide .

But more importantly, its failure can also be attributed to the fact that unity or tolerance? in maintaining harmony in multicultural relations are not valued on their own right as opposed to being important pre-requisites for ensuring societal stability to enable economic success.
Popular political participation is also severely regulated for the same reason ? to ensure social cohesion. The primary concern is economic development hence strict control was placed over civil liberties and organised political action. The government has a full set of laws and practices that restrict the opposition and government critics. These include: defamation law suits, the Internal Security Act, the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act, the Societies Act, the Undesirable Publications Act, the Political Donations Act and government ownership of the media. Further the government controls the election machinery, determines the timing of elections and boundaries and continuously amendments the electoral rules (National Democratic Institute, 2001).
Government policies since Singapore's independence in 1965 have emphasised asset accumulation as a measure of success, prosperity and social cohesion. Economic development was to provide the focus and common building block for a disparate migrant community to evolve into a nation. The continuous pursuit of a higher standard of material living, even at times of difficulty, is equated with the meaning of life. This extreme emphasis on materialism has been at the expense of social cohesion where being a people and achieving a sense of community has been lost.
For most Singaporeans there has been no significant improvement in economic conditions, and many face deepening structural poverty. This is poverty caused by changes in the structure of society such as the emergence of the knowledge society, which builds on education and lifelong learning for the integration of all members into social and economic life. Retrenchments continue, many businesses either continue to post losses, down size or relocate elsewhere, job prospects look bleak, the cost of living and doing business in Singapore remain relatively high, our young people joining the work force for the first time find it harder to secure jobs and start at much lower salaries. More families and individuals are unable to pay their mortgages, utilities and other bills. A principle cause in the deterioration of the present economic situation is in part the absence of checks and balances and part in the elite management of the Singapore economy.
In light of these inadequacies, there is a need to put forward different policy options through ideas and solutions derived from Singaporeans and provide those essential checks and balances and non-elitist practices to ensure social cohesion and to repossess ownership over the policy making process. One way to achieve this is by initiating wide public consultation to find out what Singaporeans want and how they would like to rectify the problem.

Credits : http://www.jamesgomeznews.com/article.php?AID=13

-Jonathan

What were the measures taken to foster social cohesion in multi-ethnic Singapore?

2008-08-27T15:52:00.000+08:00

There are many measures taken to foster social cohesion in Singapore.

The first point is building a national identity among Singaporeans.

-Multi-racialism.
This policy promotes equality among the races, with fair rights given to all races and religion.
Everyone is given equal opportunities to succeed and excel regardless of their background.
Since everyone is a valued member of the society of Singapore, a sense of national identity of being a "Singaporean" is created among the people residing in Singapore.

Picture of primary school children in different traditional costumes

-Common practices.
These are actions that Singaporeans carry out together, to build a strong sense of belonging/national identity in Singapore. Examples are singing the national anthem and taking pledges together during the morning, having a Racial Harmony day and National day where all races get together, etc.
Inculcating loyalty and national pride towards Singapore is one way to create a sense of identity as one people among Singaporeans.

-Bilingualism.
This policy was introduced in 1966, where students were expected to learn English and their Mother Tongue language. With this, English is used by many people, therefore enabling different types of ethnic group to communicate and understand each other better through talking with English, while Mother Tongue languages are used to cultural traditions and moral values of each race.

Picture of a "Danger" sign written in the four most commonly spoken languages in Singapore.

The second point is safeguarding the interests of the minority groups.

-Minority representation.
This policy gives minority groups a say in governance, and it is also a way to safeguard the interests of the groups. Examples of the groups are the Presidential Council of Minority Rights and Group Representation Constituency.

The PCMR ensures no racial or religious group is at a disadvantage, while the GRC ensures that the minority racial groups are represented in the Parliament, in which they can make known their concerns to the government.

-Self-help groups.
The different racial self-help groups plays an important role in helping members of their community who are not fortunate enough and also give moral support to the community members. Therefore this helps Singaporeans cope and compete with equal opportunities.

Since 2002, the self-help groups have embarked on joint projects, to allow students from different ethnic groups to attend the same tuition classes in centres, which also provides the opportunity for youths of different ethnic groups to interact together.

The third point is developing common space.

-Events and programmes organised by grassroots organizations.
Grassroots organisations usually organise programmes where there are home visits for students, as to gain a better understanding of the different cultures and customs found in Singapore. It also build strong racial bonds between different ethnic races and strong friendship.

Here is a link on what one of the grassroots organizations are doing.
http://www.muis.gov.sg/cms/news/press.aspx?id=8094

-Opportunities offered by educational instituition.
Every school has their mix of races of students, and the daily interaction between different races takes places during lessons and activies in schools, providing opporturnities to build friendship within the different races.

The implementation of CCAs also helps in promoting bonds among youths in all races, in which there are activities where they work and cooperate with each other to get a job done on whatever they are doing, building teamwork and team spirit within them.

-Common living space provided by public housing.
Nowadays housing estates contains a balanced distribution of all races, providing a chance for different ethnic groups to interact together.
Here is a picture of a HDB estate, residing people of different races

-Activities conducted by Inter-Racial Confidence Circles and Harmony Circles
Introduced in 2002, its main objective was to foster greater inter-racial understanding. Occasional visits to places of worship, create a chance for Singaporeans to understand the other culture more and better, and also to build strong bonds between racial communities.

-Shared experience through National Service
National Service, first introduced in 1967, requires all able-bodied men to serve and protect the country. The tough military trainings included in National Service helps bonds to strengthen among the men, as "brothers" who are willing to fight for their country.

Credits : Photos from
http://www3.moe.edu.sg/corporate/contactonline/2005/Issue07/big_pic/national.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Singapore

-Javan

2008-08-27T11:32:00.000+08:00

What are the challenges of multi-ethnicity in Singapore?

How racial issues could divide the people.

In 1964, the PAP participated in the Federal Election in Malaysia, with a fresh mind of how to create a Malaysia where everyone is given equal rights,opportunities and privilleges.
This sparked anger within the UMNO, as they did not want Singapore to have a hand in the affairs of Malaysia, which then led to an anti-PAP campaign set up by some UMNO leaders.
UMNO also found blame on PAP's resettlement and redevelopment programme launched to uproot the Malays from their homes in traditional Malay-populated areas, although the Chinese were also affected.
Utusan Melayu, was used by UMNO, to spread the anti-PAP campaign, fabricating lies about the number of Malay families affected by the government's decision for resettlement in an area. They also highlighted that the PAP did not bother about the Malay population in Singapore.
The riots occurred during the period due to the strains in the PAP-UMNO relations after the PAP's attempt to challenge the UMNO in the March 1964 Malaysia Federal Election with the campaign slogan of "Malaysian Malaysia".
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and several other foreign observers also attributed the riots as the result of agitation by Syed Jaafar Albar and other elements of the ultra-nationalist faction in UMNO.

On one fateful day in July 1964, a clash between a Chinese policeman and a group of Malay participants of the procession of Prophet Muhammad's birthday led to a racial riot before the group of Malays started attacking Chinese passers-by and spectators.
In total, the violence killed at least 36 people and injured another 556. About 3,000 people were also arrested for participating in the riots, including 600 secret society members and 256 people arrested for possession of dangerous weapons with the rest arrested for violating the curfew given.

The aftermath of the racial riot in July 1964 was quite fatal, and Goodwill Committees were formed, made up of community leaders from the various racial groups to help foster the racial bonds of the people in Singapore. Their main task was to restore peace and harmony between the Malays and the Chinese by addressing the concerns of the residents, and spreading the message of peaceful living with each other.
The lessons learnt was that racial tension between both races could provoke a riot, which may turn fatal if not hastily handled. It also teaches us that we have to maintain the racial bonds between the people of Singapore, as stated from our Pledge.
" We, the citizens of Singapore
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society,
based on justice and equality,
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation. "
People are sensitive to race issues as they do not like to be generalized as "lowly humans" or even like being insulted by another race, which promotes suspicion, distrust and hostility among the people of Singapore.
And thus, a trigger of an issue of race will result in a deadly full-blown racial riots.

Here's a video of the what happened in the 1964 race riots

How religious issues could divide the people.

The Maria Hertogh riots of 1950 first started when the biological parents of Maria wanted their daughter back , which was under the care of a Malay lady when her biological parents were imprisoned by the Japanese. Maria was then raised as a Muslim, and also was married to a Malay teacher.
A court trial followed, and the court threw out the appeal within five minutes, which had wide media coverage. The brevity of the hearing convinced the gathering of a large crowd of Malays that the colonial legal system was biased against Muslims.
The riots then erupted, attacking any Europeans and even Eurasians in sight. Cars were overturned and burnt, and the police, populated of Malays, could not do much in the quelling of the riot. The British military was then sent to control the situation, while various Muslim leaders appealed over the radio for the riots to cease.
18 people were killed, among whom were seven Europeans or Eurasians, two police officers, and nine rioters shot by the police or military, 173 were injured, many of them seriously, 119 vehicles were damaged, and at least two buildings were set on fire.
The lessons learnt was that we must not be biased against different races, and we must maintain equal treatment of every race in Singapore.
If religious issues are not handled carefully, hostillity and distrust among the people might occur, thus affecting the relationships among different religious groups.

Here's a video of the story on the Maria Hertogh riots.

How issues relating to transnational terrorism could divide the people.

Transnational terrorism refers to acts of global violence in terms of aims, organisations and impact. These acts of violence tests the social bonds of people in Singapore, and Singapore needs to handle it carefully as it could result in the dividing of people. In multi-ethnic countries like Singapore, race and religion can be used as a tool to create tension among the different ethnic groups, which therefore, could endanger the safety of the people of Singapore and also destroy Singapore's image of having racial and religious harmony in them.

Credits :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Hertogh_riots
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Race_Riots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLt1Gj2IhvQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekpJL6z8Bgs
Social Studies Textbook.

-Javan

Multi ethnic groups in Singapore

2008-08-24T16:42:00.000+08:00

We, Singaporeans are very lucky to be in a society which is multi-ethnic.
Every where you look, you will see different race, religion, skin-colour people interacting with each other. Friendships are made regardless of race, language or religion.
Such as our pledge would state.
There are quite a number of advantages in being a multi-ethnic country such as Singapore. One example is that economic will be very good and harmony is emminent. This is evident by looking at Singapore now, which is one of the most successful countries in the world even though we are only a tiny red dot on the bigger Earth scale.
Children play around with friends of different culture and grow up to understand and get along with the other party.
Our grandfathers have brought this multi-ethnic to life and its our turn now.
Team Dunno also is a team made up of friends from different religion, such as Muslim, Buddhist, Catholic and Christians.
We work together well and the result will be as equal as how strong our believe in each other. We were taught to trust each other and develop a deep love for each other.
That's how great Singapore is.

-Wafir

History of Singapore

2008-08-22T09:32:00.000+08:00

Background of Singapore:
Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819. It joined the Malaysian Ferderation at 1963 but separated two years later and became independent. Singapore subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links with many countries.

Economy - overview:
Singapore has a highly developed and successful free-market economy, which enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of the four largest West European countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in consumer electronics and information technology products. Fiscal stimulus, low interest rates, a surge in exports, and internal flexibility led to vigorous growth in 2004-07 with real GDP growth averaging 7% annually. The government hopes to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub.

credit to : https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/sn.html

-Keng Ann