There needs to be deep and ongoing everyday conversations on what it takes to maintain multiracial harmony in Singapore - beyond just relying on activities organised to promote it, President Halimah Yacob said yesterday.
Speaking to students of Anglo-Chinese Junior College who were taking part in a racial harmony programme at the Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC), Madam Halimah said that students should also ask themselves how they as individuals can contribute to racial harmony.
One way is to speak up against stereotypes that they hear in everyday conversation, she said.
"In that process, what you're doing is preventing these kinds of misperceptions from spreading, and you're telling others that you're not going to be too tolerant of those who are having these kinds of conversations," said Madam Halimah, addressing the students.
As part of the programme, the students discussed how to address and prevent racial stereotyping.
Madam Halimah was at the SDC in Jurong to view the centre's racial harmony and National Day programmes.
She also toured its new interactive National Day exhibition, We're SG, which involves activities, games and a film encouraging active citizenry and the kampung spirit.
These aim to remind people of values such as multiracialism, inclusiveness and hard work, which underpin the founding of Singapore, said Madam Halimah.
She highlighted the SDC's racial harmony programme for junior college students as one that encourages students to have a deeper understanding of multiracialism.
"The danger is, because we've always been a harmonious society, we can become complacent, we don't understand that there's a lot of work that we need to do in order to generate that understanding," said Madam Halimah.
She also said that relying solely on organised activities is insufficient to promote multiracialism.
"We do need to have deeper conversations about what it really means for us as a society, and as a people, to promote further multiracialism," said Madam Halimah.
First-year student R. Sharveen Ram, 17, said: "I usually laugh off racist comments or I fire back, but after what she said, I think it showed that laughing it off or firing back is just encouraging them to carry on doing this.
"So we should just put an end to it, be firm and say this is not right."
