Singapore – Finance Minister Lawrence Wong touched on Singapore’s multiracial society, calling for more understanding on the preservation of cultures and traditions and the possibility of an ideal society without the need of a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system.
Mr Wong shared his thoughts on multiracialism and faultlines during a forum hosted by the Institute of Policy Studies and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies on Friday (Jun 25).
He noted how it was harder to be a minority community than a majority in a multiracial society.
Despite the majority community in Singapore already understanding this concept, Mr Wong urged the public to do more and take the extra step to make the minority feel comfortable.
He called for parents to teach their children and remind others of the importance of racial harmony.
Chinese privilege does not feel like privilege
“It is important to realise that the Chinese community in Singapore is not monolithic,” said Mr Wong, referring to the topic of Chinese privilege in Singapore.
He explained that there is still a whole generation of Chinese Singaporeans who are comfortable speaking in Chinese than English and consider themselves at a disadvantage, hence not feeling privileged.
“They feel they have already given up much to bring about a multiracial society,” said Mr Wong. “They do not feel privileged at all.”
He also illustrated examples when race becomes an issue, such as discrimination in looking for a job, speaking a language no one understands or even tenants faced with landlords that don’t prefer their race.
Although they don’t happen often, they cause real hurt when they do, said Mr Wong.
“Ours is not the French way of insisting on assimilation into one master language and culture,” he said.
“Instead, we preserve, protect and celebrate our diversity.”
Mr Wong added that the question of race had been a fundamental issue from the beginning.
He noted that if it did not pose an “existential challenge, Singapore would never have separated from Malaysia,” thus becoming an independent sovereign state.
“I know not all agree with the policies we have put in place,” said Mr Wong.
He used the GRC system as an example, with some believing that it was not necessary because “Singaporeans can be trusted to vote for the best candidates of whatever race without the aid of the GRCs.”
Mr Wong used the United States’ polyglot society as an example and highlighted that the courts have intervened to ensure electoral districts with built-in majorities of African Americans and Hispanics had diverse representation in legislation.
“In Singapore, because we want racially integrated rather than segregated housing, we no longer have constituencies with built-in majorities of Indians and Malays.”
“Instead, we have the GRC system to ensure at least a minimum number of minority legislators in Parliament.”
“Believe me, nobody would be more pleased than the PAP (People’s Action Party) leadership – past and present, from Lee Kuan Yew and S Rajaratnam onwards – if one day we no longer needed the GRC system to ensure sufficient minority representation in Singapore,” said Mr Wong./TISG
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