Chp 6: What are the Experiences and Effects of Living in a Diverse Society

experience & effort

  • Singapore is becoming increasingly diverse because of the increase in the number of migrants(temporary stay) and immigrants(permanent stay) who have come to study,work or live in singapore
  • in 2019 singapore population : 5.7 million
  • important to ensure harmonious interactions

Interactions in a diverse society

Common Space- a SHARED space where people of all ages, races, abilities, ethnicities, and economic backgrpunds can interact and make connectons withone another

b) OnePeople.sg

  • established in 1997 to promote racial harmony and spearhead programmes and initiatives to bring the different ethnic communities
  • organised Camp Teen where youths promote the importance of harmony to other youths through talks and bonding activities
  • help foster interactions and friendships among different ethnic

c) The People's Association (PA) -formed in 1960 to promote harmony and social cohesion

  • offering a wide range of community activities and volunteering opportunities for Singaporeans to get together and interact with one another
  • PA helps connect people with people/government

a) Inter- Racial Religious Confidence Circles (IRCC)

  • IRCCs organize inter-faith and inter-ethnic activities to allow people to understand and appreciate ones another's faith, beliefs and practices
  • bridges between religious, ethnic and community groups at the local level
    E.G. heritage trails, talks.

BENEFITS

a) Exchange and appreciation of culture

  • exchange can create interesting experiences,given the diversity of races, religions and social economic backgrounds which people come from
  • exchange culture results in fusion which lead to interesting outcomes in areas such as foods, music and fashion

b) Exchange of skills and knowledge - transfer of skills and knowlege

  • share their knowledge and expertise when they collaborate with local singaporeans who can learn much from each other

2) Fashion
Priscilla Shunmugam and Hayden Ng are two fashion designers in Singapore who have created fashion wear inspired by rich cross-cultural influences

1) FOOD !
Chef willin : Low is a chef who creates fusion dishes like soft shell chili crab with squid ink mantou, laksa pesto linguini

Example: Biomedical Research Council (BMRC) supports and funds such collaborations in Singapore. collaboration with world renowned scientists discovery of H1N1 flu vaccine

CHALLENGE

b) Competition for Resources

  • increase in the number of foreigners have created tension and cause some prejudice and discrimination

a) Predjudice and Misconception

  • lead to misunderstanding ; conflicting views, on values, beliefs and practices.Negative sentiments can arise from assumptions and incorrect judgements due to insufficient understanding

STEREOTYPE - general ides ( both +/- ).
Negative stereotypes = prejudices

  • Prejudices may lead to discriminatory behaviours towards certain groups. People might get hurt/ excluded from interactions in a diverse society.
  • Discrimination is when you does an act of prejudice

Example: in SG -pastor from a Church was questioned by the internal Security Department (ISD) for disparaging remarks about Buddhism made in a sermon video which created an uproar on the internet.

1) Standards of Living-jobs
singaporeans feared that foreigners are taking jobs away from locals. singaporeans are concerned that the older white collar singaporean workers would lost their jobs to them. Employers would tend to hire foreign workers than local workers because of their lower pay earned. singaporeans have expresesed their frustration and resentment over immigration and its impact on jobs



GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE --tightened the immigration framework and put in place more stringent foreign worker controls to reduce inflow of foreign manpower

2) Standards of Living - Living Space and Infrastructure
Increasing congested public transport system, competition over healthcare resources as well as availability of public housing


GOVERNMENT RESPONSE --
Public Hospitals -- building new public hospitals like Sengzkang General Hospital, Woodlands General Hosipital
Public Housing -- policies to control housing and contructing substantial housing units to meet growing demand and to keep prices in check

3) Concerns over social mobility
Social mobility - movement from one SES to another. As the wages between the skilled and unskilled jobs have widden, some singaporeans have expressed frustration about how the influx of foreign workers has affected Singaporeans social mobility. Lowwer skilled singaporeans have found it more difficult to get jobs because they face job competitions from foreign workers who are able to accept lower salaries and companies and also looking elsewhere to other countries where labour coat is cheaper




GOVERMENT RESPONSE:
Edusave Scholarship and ^Merit Bursary Schemes reward the top 10% and 25% od students in schoo;s respectively .providing opportunities for social mobility through meritocracy