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Tag: diversity

  • Celebrity Judges: The Voice Singapore, Malaysia Must Embrace Diversity

    Celebrity Judges: The Voice Singapore, Malaysia Must Embrace Diversity

    The celebrity judges of the inaugural Singapore/Malaysia edition of reality singing show The Voice agree that in future, the show should consider lifting its Mandarin-speaking requirement.

    At the show’s first press event held at Hotel Jen in Johor Baru on Tuesday (July 4) evening, Malaysian singer Gary Chaw, one of the four mentor-judges on the show, told The Straits Times that the show should “diversify”.

    The 37-year-old said in a mix of English and Mandarin: “This is just the first season, but going forward, perhaps the producers could work out something with the franchise rights holder where the show could work in many languages.

    “After all, Singapore and Malaysia are multi-racial countries, and so we should diversify.”

    The producer of the show, mm2 Entertainment, had told The Straits Times in May that it had acquired the format licence to produce the Singapore/Malaysia version of The Voice in Mandarin “based on the assessment that it is most commercially viable.”

     

    Source: www.thestraitstimes.com

  • Call To Embrace Diversity In Islam

    Call To Embrace Diversity In Islam

    There is a growing confidence in the Malay-Muslim community about its place in Singapore, said Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim.

    But even as it enjoys successes, challenges remain, he said, highlighting the need for the community to embrace diversity in Islam.

    In an interview with Malay newspaper Berita Minggu, Dr Yaacob said the community has made progress in three areas.

    First, Malay students are doing better in education. Besides more of them scoring well in national exams at the primary, secondary and polytechnic levels, there were also more who achieved first-class honours in universities last year, he said.

    There was progress made in the religious life of Malay Muslims too, he added. He cited how donations to mosques have increased, and low-income families are getting help through their programmes, among others.

    A third area of progress, which Dr Yaacob described as “more innate”, is that more Malays are stepping forward to do more not just for the community but also for other Singaporeans. Some have launched start-ups, while others do community work such as serving food and cleaning the homes of poor Singaporeans of other races.

    The community has progressed on many fronts, Dr Yaacob said. “Divorce rates are coming down, our educational achievements are going up, home ownership is stabilising, wealth is increasing in the community, (there are) better jobs and there is a greater diversity of talent.”

    But as the community grows in self-confidence, it also has to embrace diversity in Islam. The Islamic faith is “very diverse” and there is a need to respect differences, he said.

    As a vocal minority online and in the region has sought to sow discord against Shi’ites, Dr Yaacob said there is a need to respect minority Shi’ite Muslims in predominantly Sunni Muslim Singapore, noting that senior Muslim scholars have all along considered Shi’ites as part of the mainstream in Islam.

    “They pay MBMF (Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund). They come to our mosques. They pray together with us. They celebrate the same Hari Raya. So why are we not treating them as fellow Muslims but different?” he said.

    He gave the example of how the chairman of the Moulana Mohamed Ali Mosque at UOB Plaza, Mr Mirza Namazie, is Shi’ite while the majority of its board is Sunni. “That’s a great example of how we deal with diversity, and we have to continue with that,” he added.

     

    Source: The Straits Times

  • Joshua Simon: What Is Racial Harmony?

    Joshua Simon: What Is Racial Harmony?

    I propose a challenge.

    Go to town. Ion, 313, Orchard Central, Wisma, Takashimaya – any mall in town. I want you to count how many Malay/Indian men and women featured on the posters.

    Ok now out of town. Wherever you go in Singapore now open your eyes to it and really count. On the bus. On the train. On the commercials before the movie starts. On the newspapers. On the magazines. On the tv commercials.

    Are you cool with that?

    Because it seems to me the ‘Singaporean Look’ is a skinny Chinese girl with long hair and a big smile! ☺️ Yay and her boyfrend smiling right behind chasing after her is a slim fit Chinese boy with straight hair and a big smile! Tee-hee!

    Are you cool with that? Seems to me we are. Coz if this was the US we’d bring this up and talk about it. Really, talk about it and fix it. But Josh this is Asia! And this is the Asian look! Ah, see that’s the problem right there.

    As a young kid growing up in Singapore, I’d never see someone of my skin color rocking ads and headlines unless it’s Singapore Idol Season. I couldn’t entertain my first ambition of being an actor coz every role (although said open to all races) would go to the man with the Singaporean Look.

    I do music, I do radio. I’m behind a microphone. If I had a dollar for every person that has come up to me saying “OMG I didn’t know you’re Indian!” I’d be able to afford a down payment for an HDB flat.In the industry, I’ve had peers get turned down gigs because they were too “ethic looking”. I don’t watch Channel 8 or Vasantham but… off the top of my head I can name you 10 Chinese local celebrities (includes Rui En). Is it just me?

    Maybe there isn’t enough talented Indian and Malay celebrities. Or maybe we’re not given a chance to see them.
    Who’s stopping them? Who’s saying no to these people? Who’s decided what the Singapore Look is?

    I’m not celebrating Racial Harmony in Singapore till I get my answers and see some change. It’s 2016. Do not get complacent. I represent the next generation that isn’t gonna just keep quiet and nod my head and say it’s all okay.

    Racial Harmony isn’t just about us getting along. It’s equal opportunities. Equal chances to shine. I wanna see diversity.

    I can smell the smoke and tell that something ain’t right. Now I wanna see people move. Share that spotlight.

     

    Source: Joshua Simon

  • Walid J. Abdullah: Singapore Must Foster A Culture Of Intolerance Towards Intolerance

    Walid J. Abdullah: Singapore Must Foster A Culture Of Intolerance Towards Intolerance

    Of the recent speeches by our politicians, two in particular stood out for me.

    First was the one given by Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, in which he said Singaporeans must be tolerant, and the only thing we should be intolerant towards is intolerance.

    This is most definitely a welcomed speech; the idea of accepting and tolerating different viewpoints is wonderful. (of course, intolerance needs to be defined properly first.)

    In this spirit, i hope more politically diverse opinions will be tolerated. I hope the media will give more coverage to different viewpoints. I hope serious discussions will take place on important issues: for example, the discourse on terrorism has been heavily skewed towards religious ideologies. While religious ideology is undoubtedly a factor, almost every major and serious research on terrorism states that other factors (foreign policy, socio-political conditions, loss of trust in authority etc) matter in radicalization too. Therefore, we must be tolerant of different viewpoints and discuss these issues openly and honestly. I further hope those with different standpoints will be met with reasoned argumentation, rather than the full force of the law.

    I truly hope, that we are indeed intolerant towards intolerance; whether it is religious or political.

    The second was by WP’s Leon Perrera, where he argued for a culture of diversity of opinions. Again, this would be a fantastic thing to have in our society. I hope WP will put its money where its mouth is: in the last parliament, there were occasions in which WP refused to take a stand on some issues or just ignored discourses that were going on in society, perhaps to not offend anyone and reach out to the median voter. I fail to see how keeping silent in important moments contributes to creating this culture.

    Hopefully, WP will truly exemplify the culture of diversity, not only by taking a stance on important matters, but by allowing its own members to take different positions on issues.

    If one is familiar with parliamentary speeches throughout the world, one would notice that they are often filled with grandiose plans and bombastic words, but unfortunately, with little outcome. One can only hope, that is not the case with these two promising speeches.

     

    Source: Walid J. Abdullah

  • Analysts: Critical For Diverse Views To Be Heard

    Analysts: Critical For Diverse Views To Be Heard

    The need to refresh the political system as Singapore’s circumstances change highlighted by President Tony Tan in his opening address to the 13th Parliament last night (Jan 15) caught some political observers’ eyes, as they suggested the Government could tap new approaches to better capture the full spectrum of diverse perspectives on the ground.

    While they acknowledged the Government’s efforts to this end, in terms of dialogues and public consultations, the analysts said going beyond these existing initiatives would go towards Dr Tan’s call for Singapore to stay cohesive and move forward together.

    Calling for views to be gathered from avenues beyond Government-endorsed dialogues, such as blogs, forums or civil society, former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Siew Kum Hong said: “There needs to be the recognition that disagreement, dissent and conflict are not necessarily unhealthy, as without those things, we are doomed to fail.”

    “If you want to be fully inclusive, bring (these groups) in and engage them on their own terms.”

    In the face of greater diversity of views in society, changing Singaporeans’ mindsets is also important, said former NMP Eugene Tan. Singaporeans also need to be open-minded when considering different perspectives and allowing robust debate could help drive this mindset change, he added.

    “(Diverse views) reflect a society that is becoming more complex … The only way you can deal with it is for people to be able to engage in robust debate … and not treating the differences in values as existential challenges,” said the Singapore Management University law don.

    Institute of Policy Studies’ deputy director Gillian Koh noted, however, that a government-society partnership is not without challenges since ideas being pushed for may be driven by personal interests.

    “The argument should be done with integrity and for that purpose and not with some hidden agenda … We want shared governance, but this is the real danger of that shared governance going wrong,” she said.

    The experts also cited a list of other possible tweaks when it comes to refreshing the political system, including expanding the Non-Constituency MP slate and changing the selection process for NMPs.

    Smaller Group Representation Constituencies could also be instituted, they said.

    On the five key aims set out by Dr Tan for Parliament’s new term, the political observers flagged the focus on renewing the economy as the most pressing concern to Singaporeans.

    Not only will Singaporeans be keeping close tabs on how the Government rejuvenates the economy, Associate Professor Tan said they will look at how the authorities will help those who could emerge as “losers” with economic restructuring.

    Dr Alan Chong from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies also flagged the dark clouds over the economy now, citing the stock market turbulence in China and the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates.

    The economy and urban infrastructure like transport are naturally closely-watched as they are tangible aspects that will affect daily lives, he added.

    Assoc Prof Tan said security is also likely to be one of the Government’s top priorities, given the string of Islamic State terror attacks, including most recently in Jakarta two days ago.

    “(The Government will) want to assure not just people living here but people who are invested in Singapore, people who might want to invest in Singapore,” he added.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com