Students must go beyond festivals, food and develop understanding of different races: Chan Chun Sing

SINGAPORE - Speaking to an Indian patron lining up for carrot cake, a hawker makes an off-colour remark that all Indians like the dish fried up extra dark – cooked with more dark soya sauce.

Would this qualify as casual racism?

Some first-year students from St Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) thought so and said it was racist for the hawker to hold such assumptions.

The issues of racism and racial harmony were topics of discussion during the students’ weekly character and citizenship education lesson on July 19.

One student said making generalisations about people of the same race was racist, while another student pointed out that making such comments gave the impression that racist remarks were acceptable.

Sitting in on their lesson was Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, who quizzed students to think deeper about their responses.

“If I say anything related to your skin tone, is that casual racism? People can make all kinds of remarks, but when does it cross the line?” asked Mr Chan, who was visiting SAJC as part of Racial Harmony Day.

Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman, Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Siow Huang and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Finance Shawn Huang also visited different schools.

At his visit to SAJC, Mr Chan said people have a tendency to profile others based on their race, and to also be around people who are from the same ethnic background.

Over time, this leads to pigeonholing and the development of racial stereotypes, he said.

During the hour-long lesson, the class of 24 students discussed in small groups topics including casual racism, the significance of wearing ethnic attire, and celebrating festivals.

Mr Chan pushed students to think about the importance of racial harmony. He asked them whether they thought lessons like these were important, which led some students to point to the race riots in the 1960s.

“Many of you talked about the racial riots in the past, but you’ve never experienced it in your life. And you’re also not very sure if you will ever experience it, so that sounds rather distant, right?” he said.

He told students that Singapore’s racial harmony was based on the different races embracing their own cultural roots, with each race appreciating diversity, while trying to build something common to all Singaporeans.

The challenge, he said, is building a future and ethos that are shared with Singaporeans of all races.

“If we want to achieve this, then we have to deeply understand and respect each other’s pasts, each other’s differences, (and go) beyond ethnic costumes, beyond festivals, beyond (our) food,” he said.

Key to this is developing a deep understanding of the cultures of other races, he said. If Singaporeans can do that, they can be a bridge among different cultures in what is an increasingly fragmented world, he said.

Asked about the minister’s comments after class, JC1 student Xavier Lee said racial harmony is an idealistic but achievable goal.

Lessons like these were a good starting point for students and helped inform him about the importance of racial harmony, said the 18-year-old.

“When you participate in other cultures, you can see the differences and learn to appreciate them.”