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Experiences and effects in living in a diverse society - Coggle Diagram
Experiences and effects in living in a diverse society
Diverse society
What
Harmonious and meaningful interactions
Agreement in actions, opinions and feelings
Why
Due to immigration
How
Promote more social interaction between different racial groups, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and socio-economic status
Creation of more common spaces: Physical space, shared values and common experiences
In 2012, approximately 6000 people. from the 5 community development council (CDC) districts, self-help groups, workplaces and schools participated in the Orange Ribbon Walk -- an annual event organised by OnePeople.sg to promote racial harmony
Inter-racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCCs), community inter-racial and inter-faith platforms that promote racial and religious harmony, found in every constituency. They conduct inter-faith and inter-ethnic themed activities such as heritage trails, talks and dialogues, various ethnic and religious celebrations to deepen people's understanding of various faiths, beliefs and practices in SG
OnePeople.sg, spearheading programmes and initiatives since 1997 to foster interactions and friendships among different ethnic communities. CampTeen, a youth racial harmony ambassadors programme where youth volunteers dedicated to the cause of promoting harmony bring youths from all races together to participate in bonding activities.
People's Association (PA) A statutory board established on 1 July 1960 to promote racial harmony and social cohesion, act as a bridge between government and people, creating common space by offering wide range of community programmes and volunteering opportunities for Singaporeans from all walks of life
Integration and Naturalisation Champions (INCs) initiate and spearhead integration and naturalisation programmes in the local community. INCs actively reach out to new citizens/PRs by conducting house visits to welcome and invite them to join grassroots activities to expand their social network. INCs also organise various grassroots activities such as welcome tea parties and festive celebrations to engage new citizens/PRs. PA also conducts House Visits and Welcome/Floor Parties
Attitude of openness in interactions
Agreeemnts, Allows for respect and meaningful exchanges
Deveops deeper appreciation, understanding and appreciation of culture
Exchange of skills and knowledge
disagreements and lack of trust and harmony
prejudicsm and misconceptions
Exchange and appreciation in a diverse society
Exchange of Appreciation and Culture
Many distinct experiences due to diversity in nationality, ethnicities, race, religion and socio-economic status
Interact and learn about different cultures
Fusion between local cultures and foreign ideas in areas such as food, music and fashion
Food: Chef Willin Low created fusion between Singaporean and modern European dining, such as soft shell chilli crab with squid ink mantou and char siew pork burger
Music: Krsna and Govin Tan play Indian musical instrument and represent an ensemble that plays various genres of music such as Western and Eastern in both classical and pop
Fashion: Priscilla Shunmugam and Hayden Ng, two fashion designers in SG creating fashion wear inspired by rich cross-cultural influences
Exchange of skills and knowledge
Exchange of knowledge and skills in fields of research and development with overseas experts
Foreign scientists share their knowledge and expertise to help strengthen research competencies and collaborations with Singaporeans.
Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) funds and supports public research initiatives in Singapore. These foreign scientists has helped jump start Singapore's biomedical sciences, provided leadership to local research institutes and mentored young local students. The openness to learn and collaborate with overseas scientists led to robust research, leading to significant discoveries made in SG like the H1N1 flu vaccine.
Challenges in a diverse society
Prejudice and Misconceptions
Differences in cultural background can lead to misunderstandings, jumping to conclusions and incorrect judgements, due to the lack of awareness, insufficient understanding and erroneous assumptions. This also causes differing and conflicting views, beliefs and customs.
Assumptions and generalised thoughts, stereotypes can be made on social groups, which could lead to prejudiscim when a group is seen negatively. These social groups may be discriminated against, hurt and excluded from society.
Arabs and Muslim Americans became hate crimes in USA after the 9/11 terrosrit attacks, and were publicly stopped for question due to their appearance and Muslim names, discriminated against,
In 2010, a pastor of a large Christian church questioned the Internal Security Department (ISD) for contentious remarks made about Buddhism in a video of a sermon. This spread quickly and caused an uproar in the Internet, Despite a public apology made specifically to the Buddhist leaders, inter-religious harmony in multi-cultural Singapore was shaken by the incident.
In February 2021, a university student from China referred to Singaporeans as 'dogs', leading to much debate on social media about prejudices of various nationalities.
In Singapore, there is rental discrimination. People of foreign races and nationalities in Singapore are being denied rental accommodation, causing them incovenience and discrimination.
Should clear prejudism quickly by being open to interactions and understanding others
Competition for resources
Concerns over standard of living
Some Singaporeans feel as though the inflow of foreigners may cause competition in Singaporean employment, prices of goods and services as well as demand on public transport.
■ Many Singaporeans feel as though Singapore’s policy of hiring foreign talent workers to work in its shores have posed a job threat to Singaporeans and concerns their standard of living
■ For instance, a face-to-face poll, carried in 2006 by Singapore Press Holdings' research revealed that nearly nine in 10 (86 per cent) Singaporeans said their main objection to foreign talent stems from a fear of losing jobs to foreigners.
Increased competition for opportunities and availability of infrastructure for Singaporeans
congested public transport system, competition over healthcare resources and availability of public housing.
in response, government will expand railway network from about 230 kilometres to 360 kilometres by 2030. more public housing, healthcare facilities will be built. oark connectors network help singaporeans enjoy accessible and interconnected green spaces around the island.
the government has tightened immigration framework, placing more stringent foreign workforce controls to reduce inflow of foreign manpower in singapore
since 2010, measures have been put in place to reduce foerign workers in singapore. some eateries have come up with innovative ways to cope with reduction in foerign manpoer by having drone waiters
for example, the monthly levy for work permit holders increased since 2010. the quotas for s pass and employment pass holders have also reduced. eligibility criterias like monthly salaries also tightned in 2010, needing to earn a certain level of salary to be considered for these passes
from 1 august 2014, companies that want to submit employment pass applications need to advertise vacancies in jobs bank administered by workforce development agency to strengthen the singaporean core in the workforce under the fair consideration framework
concerns over social mobility
Some Singaporeans are concerned that the widening income gap means that more people of lower income are stuck at their socioeconomic status.
■ Furthermore, the increased competition from foreign workers gives rise to fears that Singaporeans may not be able to move up the economic ladder as easily.
■ For instance, due to the increased number of S-Pass and Employment Pass holders in local industries, many locals are afraid that their employment opportunities are being compromised by this fact.
● They feel as though the new foreign talent displaces the older white-collar workers.
■ Thus, as a result there are concerns over social mobility because people are unsure whether they are able to get a well-paying job due to increased competition from foreigners.
as lower income groups working in the manufacturing sector are affected by shifting of jobs to regions which offer lower labour costs, losing jobs and affecting their progress up the socio-economic ladder
hence, solved by emphasis on re-training , elarning new skills to stay relevant to economic demands and upholding the principle of mertocracy one is rewarded based on merit regardless of race, language, religion or socio-economic status. like educasve scholocapship ad merit bursary schemes
The lack of openness and respect can affect the nature of these interactions, causing disagreements and undesirable social consequences, eroding trust and weakening cohesion between people