Multiracial Society In Singapore: The Diversity Of Singapore

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Singapore is a very small country yet it is popular with the variety of races, cultures and languages that comes from many different part of the world. This heterogeneity is what makes Singapore a unique country. However, despite the diversity, people might think that living in a such country that has this many of these races could be problematic too. Since each of the group come from different background, there might be conflicts and tension that occur because of the differences. The question that we may ask is, does a multiracial society will work in this country? In this paper I would like to explore the diversity of Singapore and examine further whether despite of the differences, it will create a harmonious society.

Sir Stamford Raffles …show more content…

These different races came rapidly after British establishing their new port in 1819. The majority of the immigrant were Chinese at the time which was 76.8 per cent, according to the 2000 census. The rest of them could be categorized into several ethnic groups; ‘Malay’, ‘Indian’, and ‘Others’. To simplify the complexity of the division, they are categorized under the framework that is commonly known as “CMIO” (Chinese, Malay, Indian, Others). The CMIO is introduced to simplify and basically, to homogenise the diversity of each group, because one race group might include several linguistic communities. For instance, Chinese race consists of Hokkiens, Cantonese, and Teochews. By having this framework, only one language and one culture are represented by one race …show more content…

Considering of the past racial riot that occurred after the separation between Singapore and Malaysia, the government aware that in order to prevent from a racial conflict, the state needs to find a certain approach to unify people that comes from different background. They introduced a policy of multiracialism. Basically, it is a tool for the State to control society and prevent from any unwanted conflict that might happen within society. By having this policy, the State can make sure that even the minority of people will receive the same equal treatment as the majority. Therefore, the State could make sure that the minority do not feel neglected or

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