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2.6 Living in a Diverse Society (Exchange and appreciation in a diverse…
2.6 Living in a Diverse Society
Interactions in a diverse society
Immigrants consist of
naturalised Singapore citizens, permanent residents and foreigners
.
It is essential to ensure
harmonious interactions
between immigrants and locals.
Done so through
common space
.
Common spaces are
physical space, shared values and common experiences
that build our national identity.
This allows people of different nationalities, races and ethnicities, religions and socio-economic status to
come together
and have
common experiences
.
The Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles (IRCCs) are community inter-racial and inter-faith platforms that promote racial and religious harmony, and can be found in every constituency. Through inter-faith and inter-ethnic themed activities such as heritage trails, talks and dialogues, and various ethnic and religious celebrations, the IRCCs help deepen people's understanding of the various faiths, beliefs and practices in Singapore.
OnePeople.sg was formed since 1997 to spearhead programmes and initiatives to foster interactions and friendships among different ethnic communities. An example is CampTeen, a youth racial harmony ambassador programme where youths dedicated to the cause of promoting harmony, brings youth from all race together to participate in bonding activities. This promotes interaction and understanding among different groups, fostering social harmony.
The People's Association is a statutory board established on 1 July 1960 to promote racial harmony and social cohesion, and act as a bridge between the government and the people. The PA creates common space by offering a wide range of community programmes and volunteering opportunities for Singaporeans from all walks of life. This promotes interaction and understanding among groups, fostering social harmony.
Exchange and appreciation in a diverse society
Exchange and appreciation of culture
Our diverse society provides people with many
opportunities to interact and learn
from those who hail form different countries and cultures.
This can result in
fusion between different local cultures and foreign ideas
.
One chef who specialised in fusion food is Chef Willin Low. He has created fusion between Singaporean and modern European dining like soft shell chili crab squid ink mantou and char siew burger. His approach to fusion includes awards from New York Times and Financial Times.
Exchange of skills and knowledge
Foreign scientists can
share their knowledge and expertise
to help
strengthen research competencies and collaborations
with Singaporeans.
The Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A^Star) funds and supports public research initiatives in Singapore. Under BMRC, internationally renowned scientists with the expertise and knowledge to jump-start the country's biomedical sciences moved to Singapore. Dr Sydney Brenner was a distinguished 2002 Nobel prize winner who helped to star the Molecular Engineering Lab in Singapore in 2009. This led to the discovery of the H1N1 flu vaccine.
Challenges in a diverse society
Prejudice and misconceptions
Hate Crimes
Arabs and Muslim Americans became victims of hate crimes in America after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many Arabs and Muslim Americans were stopped for questioning by public officers because of their appearance or Muslim names.
Denial of rental accommodation
Prejudice can create an environment where
discrimination can happen
more often. This can
cause inconvenience
and give
the impression of xenophobia
.
The denial of rental accommodation to some foreign race and nationalities in Singapore.
Hurtful Remarks
Prejudice can arise form misconceptions
linked to nationality, race and ethnicity, religion or socio-economic status.
This in itself can cause
further misunderstanding
.
In 2010, a pastor from a large Christian Church was questioned by the Internal Security Department (ISD) for contentious remarks about Buddhism made in a video of a sermon. It created a huge uproar on the internet. Despite the public apology made specifically to Buddhist leaders, inter-religious harmony in a multicultural Singapore was shaken by the incident.
In 2012, there was an incident involving a university student from China who refer to Singaporeans as 'dogs' leading to much debate on social media about prejudices of various nationalities. This also demonstrated the potential for prejudices and misconceptions to grow via cyberspace.
Competition for Resources
Concerns over standard of living
Concern over employment
Some Singaporeans hold the opinion that young foreign workers have caused t
he loss of jobs
for some of the older white collar Singaporean workers.
This is because employers
would rather hire a foreign worker
than to pay more of local workers because of the lay pay they are willing to earn.
Foreigners in the construction sector.
Some jobs have
challenging job conditions
that many Singaporeans detest
Construction sector
Shipping sector
Measures to tackle concern over employment
The government has
tightened the immigration framework
and put in place
more stringent foreign workforce controls
to reduce the inflow of foreign manpower.
The monthly levy for Work Permit holders has been increasing since 2010. The quotas for S Pass and Employment Pass holders have also been reduced. In addition, eligibility criteria like mostly salaries were also tightened since 2010.
Under the Fair Consideration Framework, companies who intend to submit Employment Pass applications would need to advertise the vacancies in the Jobs Bank administered by the Workforce Development Agency.
Concerns over living space and infrastructure
These concerns wer over an
increasingly congested public transport system
,
competition over healthcare resources
as well as
the availability of public housing
.
Measures to tackle concerns over living space and infrastructure
The rail network will be expanded by about 100km to a total length of 280km by 2021.
More public housing hospitals and healthcare facilities will be built.
Park connectors will be built across the island. Singaporeans will continue to enjoy accessible and interconnected green spaces all around the island.
Concerns over social mobility
Concern over social mobility
Social mobility refers to t
he movement of individuals between different socio-economic status
, from high to low or vice versa.
One sign is
the improvement of income levels
.
However, t
he income gaps between the lower and higher income groups have increased over the years
in Singapore. This has led to many Singaporeans feeling that social mobility is being limited.
The lower income groups working in the manufacturing sector were affected by the shifting of jobs to regions which offer lower about costs.
Measures to tackle concerns over social mobility
Re-training and the learning of new skills
enables Singaporeans of a lower income group to
stay relevant to economic demands
.
Upholding
meritocracy
is another means of improving social mobility.
The Edusave Scholarship and Merit Bursary Schemes reward the top 10% and 25% of students in schools respectively.