SS revision paper

Challenges of a multi-ethnic society

1. Managing perceptions of different racial groups
a. Lack of understanding
b. Create suspicion and unhappiness
c. Lead to outbreak of violence
d. 1964, Singapore race riot
e. 1963-1965 Singapore and Malaysia riots
i. Different political views
ii. Singapore non communal politics, equality for all races
iii. Malaysia communal politics, special rights for the Malays
f. Tension created after pap won a seat in federal election
i. Umno threatened, organised anti-pap campaign
ii. Highlighting poverty of Malays in Singapore
iii. PAPs resettlement and re delovepment taken as anti-Malays
iv. Utusan Melayu falsely claimed that 3000 Malays families were affected by
the resettlement
g. All these stirred the Malays
h. Resulting in riots, during prophet Muhammad birthday
i. Clash between Chinese policemen and Malays
ii. Turned into a full blown riot
i. This shows how irresponsible media reporting can cause suspicion and distrust
among Singaporean

2. Managing perceptions of different religious groups
a. Differences in religious belief can also cause tension among people of Singapore
b. Maria Hertogh riot In 1950
i. Ducth couple prisoned by the japs
ii. Put their daughter maria under care of malay lady, aminah
iii. Maria raised as a muslim and married a malay teacher
iv. When the dutch parents was released, demanded maria back
v. Court trial followed
vi. Months to make decision, the media blow the case
vii. Newspapers claimed is a religious issue between islam and Christianity
viii. Court gave the dutch parents custody, caused unhappiness
ix. Large crowd felt that british legal system was unfair to the muslim
x. Sparked off anger towards the Europeans and resulted in riots
c. This showed that if religious issues are not handled carefully, hostility and distrust
can occur among the people, affecting the relationship between the different
religious groups



3. Threats from external forces
a. Refers to transnational terrorism, acts of violence which are global in terms of aim,
organization and impact
b. Jamaah islamiah arrest in 2001
i. Active in SEA countries which aims to set up and Islamic state in asia
ii. Responsible for attacts in region such as us embassy bombing and moe
iii. Political leaders and religious leaders ensure that they did not support JI and
asked the people to remain calm and committee
c. This shows that external threat can cause distrust among Singaporean of different
racial and religious group if they are not handled properly

Efforts to manage ethnic diversity in Singapore
1. Building national identity
a. In Singapore, various measures are introduced to build a
sense of identity
b. Multi-racialism
i. Promotes equality among races
ii. No special rights granted
iii. Everyone has equal opportunities to succeed
iv. Everyone valued equally, sense of national identity
is created
c. Common practices
i. Singing national anthem
ii. Taking pledge
iii. Attending flag raising in schools
iv. Foster national identity as they are actions carry out
together by Singaporean
d. Bilingualism
i. Ensures all students learn English and their mother
tongue
ii. English is the language linking between diff ethnic
groups
iii. English as a non-native language for all ethnic
groups and so no one has an advantage over others
e. These thus make Singaporean feel united as a people

2. Safeguarding the interest of the minority group
a. Minority representation gives minority groups a say in the
governance and also safeguard their interest
b. Presidential Council of Minority Rights (PCMR)
i. Made up members from diff minority group
ii. Ensures that no minority religious or racial groups is
not being disadvantaged as results of a law passed
in the parliament
c. Group Representation Constituency (GRC)
i. Ensures that minority racial groups are represented
in parliament
ii. Ensuring their needs and concerns are made know
to the government
d. Self Help Groups
i. Such as CDAC, Sinda, Mendaki
ii. Help the less fortunate in their communities
iii. Ensuring that they can cope and compete with
others on an equal footing
iv. Started joint projects which provide the opportunity
for youths from diff ethnic groups to interact
e. By safeguarding the minority interest and opinions, they
will feel that they are not treated differently and thus
make them feel accepted in the society