Suggestions to scrap the traditional Chinese, Malay, Indian, Others (CMIO) categorisation may seem viable to young Singaporeans, but it would spark unease among the minority races even today, believes Professor Chan Heng Chee.
“The majority community doesn’t feel uncomfortable. It’s (with) the minority community (where) you have to keep emphasising it’s equal language, religion, culture (and) race,” the Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday (Oct 4).
“Every race has the same standing. It is very important going forward.”
Speaking at the Community Leaders’ Conference, Prof Chan, who was Ambassador to the United States for 16 years, added: “There’s a supra-ethnic identity we all share — we’re CMIO Singaporeans.”
This umbrella identity is created through housing, education and National Service policies, she pointed out. Singlish, for instance, is a unifying variant of English.
Taking a question from the floor on youths growing increasingly distant from their roots, Prof Chan acknowledged that young Chinese Singaporeans, for instance, would be “far less Chinese” than their elders.
But, the CMIO categorisation remains a “signal”, offering assurance to other races that their place in society has not been threatened. A new challenge to preserving racial and religious harmony, however, comes from the inflow of foreigners, she said.
“Some people say … we’re Singaporean Chinese and they’re PRC (People’s Republic of China) Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, Taiwanese Chinese. The rift is there,” she added.
Drawing on her experience in the US, Prof Chan pointed out that while Singaporeans complain about the accents of foreigners, the Americans do not. “The Americans don’t say, ‘You’re speaking Singlish. You’re not one of us,’” she said. “The challenge for us in Singapore is: How do we integrate the new citizens who’ve become part of our ethnic groups, and how do we make them feel Singaporean?”
Time could be a solution, she suggested. Over time, new citizens would pick up the values here, although she noted that the emergence of social media means they can also keep abreast of news and happenings in their hometown, which could impact integration.
Should they stick out as a separate community, it could lead to “new cleavages” in society, she said.
Another participant asked about the increasingly diverse slate of religions in Singapore, and if that changed the “balance” between racial and religious harmony.
Agreeing that there was increasing religiosity, Prof Chan said: “How do you make sure it does not attack another religion? … This is something that we have to watch out for.”
She added: “I’ll be quite frank here … it’s live and let live with LGBTs (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender), but it’s going to get more difficult because religious groups have attitudes. But, LGBTs are Singaporeans. How do you deal with that?”
As for the school environment, the splitting of classes according to pupils’ mother tongue could lead to a situation where students interact primarily within their own races, said Prof Chan.
“When all those who study Chinese are put in one class, so that their subjects make it easier for them to move around, you only have Chinese friends in your class … I think we could try to change some of that.”
Source: www.todayonline.com
