SINGAPORE, July 22 — Some countries' leaders will always paint Singapore as being a Chinese-dominant society and such portrayals will not stop as domestic politics in the region becomes more polarised, but Singaporeans need not overreact, said presidential hopeful Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
He made these remarks in response to a question on how regional leaders view Singapore and multiracialism in the country, during an event marking Racial Harmony Day yesterday (July 21).
Addressing an audience comprising more than 200 business leaders and tertiary students, the former Senior Minister also spoke about the usefulness of learning other languages such as Mandarin and Malay to foster a better understanding of cultures both locally and in the region.
Tharman was speaking as a guest-of-honour at an event jointly organised by trade associations representing the Chinese, Malay and Indian communities, with the theme of embracing multiracialism to drive business growth.
Understanding the ‘pulls’ of domestic politics
During a question and answer session, a member of the business community asked Tharman to share how regional business and country leaders view Singapore's multiracialism, given his extensive experience interacting with them over the years.
Tharman said that on a personal level, most of these leaders “know that we put a very strong emphasis in our whole governance system” to keep Singapore multiracial.
However, there would be “some tendency to characterise Singapore as being Chinese or Chinese-dominant” in public statements for political reasons.
“One can understand that. One can understand the pulls of domestic politics. And it's often quite different from what they say when you meet them personally,” Tharman said.
He believes that this would not stop as domestic politics in the region becomes more complicated and polarised, “particularly up north”.
On Singaporeans' part, they should understand that context and not overreact, he said.
“We are doing what is right for ourselves. We know that we are a multiracial nation. We know that we are a country where the Chinese do not impose their will on others. Be comfortable with ourselves and help to explain to others as much as possible,” he said.
Earlier in a speech at the event, Tharman said that Singapore’s multiracialism is not just owing to its diverse population but also “very careful planning”.
“Planning of our housing estates, our schools, our workplaces — it’s a whole system of wiring and software to ensure that we remain not just multiracial in description, but multiracial in the way we live our lives,” he said.
“Not many countries have achieved it, but we have to make sure that that remains fundamental to our future.”
Importance of mastering languages
Tharman said that to strengthen multiracialism, Singaporeans need to deepen their understanding of each other’s culture, be it through the arts or language.
He added that understanding of language brings about practical benefits too, particularly in business. While it may be difficult to develop a command of written language such as Chinese, the ability to speak the languages is “actually really helpful”.
“Many of our businesses have been relying on Malaysian Chinese who speak Malay to do their business in Southeast Asia,” he said.
“Surely we can also develop more Malay language competence in our own Singaporean population. Just oral command is good enough.”
Responding to a question on how businesses and trade chambers can contribute to racial harmony in Singapore, Tharman said that what happens in a company matters, such as whether employees choose to speak in their own mother tongue all the time at the exclusion of other co-workers.
“This requires just a little bit of common human sensitivity, which is not so difficult. It should come naturally,” he said.
He then raised the point of how Singapore is in an advantageous position in Southeast Asia, where there is openness to trade and invest among neighbours.
“This is a big advantage because it is not true in many other parts of the world. So we will have to place more emphasis on the region around us in the years to come,” he said.
“Not at the expense of other markets, but I think as a growth opportunity, more incremental growth can come out of the region.”
It is thus important, he said, to have a deeper understanding of the region. To this end, being able to speak Mandarin and Malay would come in handy.
“Learning some Mandarin on an oral basis for everyday conversation, learning some Malay for oral conversation is helpful both within Singapore and as we focus more and more on the region,” he said. ― TODAY
