Race And Multiculturalism In Malaysia And Singapore

This book explores race and multiculturalism in Malaysia and Singapore from a range of different disciplinary perspectives, showing how race and multiculturalism are represented, how multiculturalism works out in practice, and how attitudes towards race and multiculturalism – and multicultural practices – have developed over time. Going beyond existing studies – which concentrate on the politics and public aspects of multiculturalism – this book burrows deeper into the cultural underpinnings of multicultural politics, relating the subject to the theoretical angles of cultural studies and post-colonial theory; and discussing a range of empirical examples (drawn from extensive original research, covering diverse practices such as films, weblogs, music subcultures, art, policy discourse, textbooks, novels, poetry) which demonstrate overall how the identity politics of race and intercultural interaction are being shaped today. It concentrates on two key Asian countries particularly noted for their relatively successful record in managing ethnic differences, at a time when many fast-developing Asian countries increasingly have to come to terms with cultural pluralism and migrant diversity.

This publication brings together the work of several writers in documenting and understanding the consequences of state-formation on ethnicity in Malaysia and Singapore, thirty years after the two nations went their separate paths.

Section I. Home, heart, horizon. Welcome remarks / Ong Keng Yong. Keynote address / Lee Hsien Loong -- Section II. One united people. ch. 1. One united people / Pek Siok Lian. ch. 2. The third phase of Singapore's multiculturalism / Daniel P.S. Goh. ch. 3. Why NEWater instead of SEWater : difficult policies and unity for Singaporeans / Leong Ching. ch. 4. Reasonable persons of goodwill : personal experiences in navigating diversity / Aaron Maniam -- Section III. One gracious society. ch. 5. One gracious society / Paulin Tay Straughan. ch. 6. In search of graciousness / Terence Chong. ch. 7. Living graciously in Singapore / Braema Mathiaparanam. ch. 8. Kiasu monkeys and chicken pies / Gan Su-lin -- Section IV. One global city. ch. 9. One global city / Annie Koh. ch. 10. Beyond economics for economic success / Lee Kwok Cheong. ch. 11. The future of Singapore as a global city and its socio-economic implications / Nizam Idris. Globalising Singapore : One global city, global production networks, and the developmental state / Henry Wai-chung Yeung -- Section V. Conclusion. ch. 13. Closing address : Be open to all possibilities / Ong Keng Yong. ch. 14. Closing remarks / Tommy Koh

Since independence in 1965, Singapore has developed its own unique approach to managing the diversity of Race, Religion, Culture, Language, Nationality, and Age among its citizens. This approach is a consequence of many factors, including its very distinct ethnic makeup compared with its neighbours, its ambitions as a globally oriented city-state, and its small physical size. Each of these factors and many others have presented Singapore society with a range of challenges and opportunities, and will in all likelihood continue to do so for the foreseeable future. In the writing of this book, the author team set themselves the task of projecting the impact of current domestic and international social trends into the future, to anticipate what Singapore society might look like by around 2040. In doing so, they analyse the particular path that Singapore has taken since independence, in comparison with other multicultural societies and with regard to the balance between the necessity of forging a new national identity after British rule and departure from Malaysia, and the need to ensure that Singapore’s ethnic minority populations remain socially enfranchised. They further consider how current trends may develop over the next couple of decades, what new challenges this may present to Singapore society, and what might be the likely responses to such challenges. In this book, Singapore is a case study of a global city facing the challenges of developed-world modernity in frequently acute ways.

Few challenges to the modern dream of democratic citizenship appear greater than the presence of severe ethnic, religious, and linguistic divisions in society. With their diverse religions and ethnic communities, the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia have grappled with this problem since achieving independence after World War II. Each country has on occasion been torn by violence over the proper terms for accommodating pluralism. Until the Asian economic crisis of 1997, however, these nations also enjoyed one of the most sustained economic expansions the non-Western world has ever seen. This timely volume brings together fifteen leading specialists of the region to consider the impact of two generations of nation-building and market-making on pluralism and citizenship in these deeply divided Asian societies. Examining the new face of pluralism from the perspective of markets, politics, gender, and religion, the studies show that each country has developed a strikingly different response to the challenges of citizenship and diversity. The contributors, most of whom come Southeast Asia, pay particular attention to the tension between state and societal approaches to citizenship. They suggest that the achievement of an effectively participatory public sphere in these countries will depend not only on the presence of an independent "civil society," but on a synergy of state and society that nurtures a public culture capable of mediating ethnic, religious, and gender divides. The Politics of Multiculturalism will be of special interest to students of Southeast Asian history and society, anthropologists grappling with questions of citizenship and culture, political scientists studying democracy across cultures, and all readers concerned with the prospects for civility and tolerance in a multicultural world.

This edited volume focuses on how multiculturalism, as statecraft, has had both intended and unintended consequences on Singapore’s various ethnic communities. The contributing authors address and update contemporary issues and developments in the practice of multiculturalism in Singapore by interfacing the practice of multiculturalism over two critical periods, the colonial and the global. The coverage of the first period examines the colonial origins and conception of multiculturalism and the post-colonial application of multiculturalism as a project of the nation and its consequences for the Tamil Muslim, Ceylon-Tamil, and Malay communities. The content on the second period addresses immigration in the context of globalization with the arrival of new immigrants from South and East Asia, who pose a challenge to the concept and practice of multiculturalism in Singapore. For both periods, the contributors examine how the old migrants have attempted to come to terms with living in a multicultural society that has been constructed in the image of the state, and how the new migrants will reshape that society in the course of their ongoing politics of identity.

The Routledge Handbook of Race and Ethnicity in Asia introduces theoretical approaches to the study of race, ethnicity and indigeneity in Asia beyond those commonly grounded in the Western experience. The volume’s twenty-eight chapters consider not only the relationship between ethnic or racial minorities and the state, but social relations within and between individual and transnational communities. These shape not only the contours of governance, but also the means by which knowledge of national identity, ‘self ’, and ‘other’ have been constructed and reconstructed over time. Divided into four sections, it provides holistic and comparative coverage of South, South East, and East Asia, as well as Australasia and Oceania; an area that extends from Pakistan in the West to Hawai’i in the East. Contributors to this handbook offer a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, opening a domain of scholarship wherein the relationship between phenotype and racism is less pronounced than European and North American approaches, which have often privileged the so-called ‘colour stigmata’, leading to further exclusions of particular ethnic, racial, and indigenous communities. This volume seeks to overcome racism and white ideologies embedded in theories of race and ethnicity in Asia, proving a valuable resource to both students and scholars of comparative racial and ethnic studies, international relations and human rights.

On 9 August 2015, Singapore celebrated its 50th year of national independence, a milestone for the nation as it has overcome major economic, social, cultural and political challenges in a short period of time. Whilst this was a celebratory event to acknowledge the role of the People’s Action Party (PAP) government, it was also marked by national remembrance as founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew died in March 2015. This book critically reflects on Singapore’s 50 years of independence. Contributors interrogate a selected range of topics on Singapore’s history, culture and society – including the constitution, education, religion and race – and thereby facilitate a better understanding of its shared national past. Central to this book is an examination of how Singaporeans have learnt to adapt and change through PAP government policies since independence in 1965. All chapters begin their histories from that point in time and each contribution focuses either on an area that has been neglected in Singapore’s modern history or offer new perspectives on the past. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, it presents an independent and critical take on Singapore’s post-1965 history. A valuable assessment to students and researchers alike, Singapore: Negotiating State and Society, 1965-2015 is of interest to specialists in Southeast Asian history and politics.