‘Nearly 1 in 5 marriages in Singapore today are inter-ethnic. Yet harmony isn’t something we can take for granted,’ says PSP

SINGAPORE: On July 21 (Monday), Progress Singapore Party marked Racial Harmony Day with a social media post that highlighted the high number of inter-ethnic marriages in the city-state, but noted that harmony between Singaporeans is not something to be taken for granted.

Underlining that Singapore is one people and one nation, PSP wrote, “Behind the bright traditional outfits and the vibrant school celebrations lies a quiet, beautiful truth. Racial Harmony Day is a gentle reminder that our peace is never accidental.”

Instead, the opposition party wrote that peace and harmony are choices that Singaporeans need to make daily.

“It is about the gratitude we owe to the generations before us who built this bridge. It is found in the neighbours who look out for one another, the colleagues who share their cultural celebrations, and the everyday moments where we choose empathy over division,” the post reads, adding that Singapore’s diversity is its very foundation.

Although nearly one in five marriages in Singapore are inter-ethnic, harmony is not a given, and PSP added that peace between different ethnic groups entails a respect for differences amid believing that the uniting commonalities are stronger than factors that cause division.

“As our National Pledge reminds us, we are ‘one united people, regardless of race, language or religion,’” PSP wrote.

The party added that in celebration of Racial Harmony Day, asking oneself how one can be a better neighbour, colleague and friend is far better than asking someone what race they are.

“We don’t just live alongside each other. We live with each other, bound by shared dreams, mutual respect, and a common future. Let us continue to protect this peace, listen to one another with open hearts, and build a home where everyone belongs,” the party added.

Singapore started celebrating Racial Harmony Day in 1997, when it was launched by the Education Ministry to commemorate the July 21 and September 2 race riots of 1964, the year before the city-state’s independence from Malaysia.

“We embrace our diversity and celebrate each other’s customs and cultures, but also remember the times when tensions between the ethnic and racial groups boiled over into conflict and violence,” former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in 2019.

He also noted then that this is not the same in other countries, where, “Race and religion have sadly become divisive fault lines.” /TISG

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