RACE RELATIONS IN SINGAPORE: MINORITY PERSPECTIVES ON THE EFFICACY OF STATE AND RESIDENT ACTION IN FOSTERING RACIAL HARMONY

Abstract

Rooted in a focus on empirical research and the lived experience of racial minorities, this thesis investigates the state of race relations in Singapore and the integral policies and laws that have helped to shape it. It proposes a theoretical model for differentiating between performed racial harmony (Extrinsic Racial Harmony [ERH]) and authentic racial harmony (Intrinsic Racial Harmony [IRH]). Through this distinction, it finds that racial minorities in Singapore perceive a higher degree of ERH than they have actually experienced, and that Singapore exhibits a higher degree of ERH than IRH. Racial minorities’ perspectives on the Ethnic Integration Policy, Group Representation Constituency Scheme, and Sections 298 and 298A of the Penal Code are then evaluated to ascertain their perceived efficacy and provide an understanding of how the state has prioritized ERH and governability rather than the inculcation of IRH in its approach to managing multiracialism. In closing, this thesis recommends a shift away from the avoidance of discourse on race in favour of open dialogue as a means to cultivate IRH.