Singapore— While Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam readily admitted to the presence of racisim in Singapore, as there bound to be in every multiracial society, he recently asserted that “the situation now is much better than before, improving over the years.”

In a video from Channel NewsAsia (CNA) and reposted on the Minister’s Facebook page, Mr Shanmugam spent some time discussing the issue of racism, specifically in the context of the recent controversial Nets Pay ad, as well as the youtube video released in reaction to it by Preetipls and Subhas Nair.

https://www.facebook.com/k.shanmugam.page/videos/vb.203314719715066/2282070435456297/?type=2&theater

One advantage Mr Shanmugam mentioned is the open discussion and studies on issues of race, giving the latest and recently-published IPS survey as an example, which “showed in fact a slight increase in perception of workplace racial discrimination. In some other areas of race relationships, there was some improvement.”

He also said that racism is a concern that the MHA and other ministries take seriously, since it “corrodes and deepens the fault lines in society.”

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And while Preetipls and Subhas Nair have the right to bring up racism as an issue, Mr Shanmugam said, and he does not agree with the manner in which they did so, as this could lead to more racism, instead of less. He also took exception to the Nair siblings using “the language of resistance in America.”

He wrote, “So, I agree with their right to raise it, but question the way it was done. If everyone starts discussing race and religion in the way they did, then you will in fact get more racism, not less. That is our key concern. They have used the language of resistance in America, but we thankfully are in a very different situation.”

He reiterated the need to how awareness must be increased, which for him is through civil discussions that must continue, calling it “always a work in progress.”

“There are areas where the Government can do things, there are aspects where people have to become more aware, and more sensitive. We have made much progress from that day on 9 August 1965, when Mr Lee Kuan Yew very powerfully said, “We are not a Malay nation, we are not a Chinese nation, we are not an Indian nation. This is a country for all Singaporeans.” That is a very powerful idea. We have progressed by having clear government policies and Singaporeans generally accepting multi-racial values. As I said, we are not in the American situation. And we must see how we can progress further, because as many of us recognise, there continue to be racial fault lines and religious fault lines. It is always work in progress.”

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The Law and Home Affairs Minister also circled back to the event which started the whole controversy, the Nets advertisement, which he pronounced to have been ‘in poor taste.’

Mr Shanmugam ended his discussion with mentioning issues in other countries which he says he is thankful Singapore does not need to face, such as the protests in Hong Kong, mass shootings in the US, and unrest in Kashmir and Russia. -/TISG

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