Dr. Patricia Wong, my AMX301 Multicultural Studies: appreciating and valuing differences lecturer and tutor, mentioned that our society isn’t exactly a collective whole and we should not analyse Singapore, as a nation, to obtain results that we want to unravel. Her context was on how multicultural (not multiracial) Singapore was at this point in time. Interestingly, she proposed the use of analysing individual HDB blocks or even levels to prove how un-multicultural Singapore was, as much as she claims to be one.

Look at the CMIO racial classification we have in Singapore, it is true that every estate has a representation of Chinese, Malay, Indian and other minority races based on the current population demographics we have in Singapore. The purpose was to ensure that the Chinese would not just mix around with the Chinese, Indians do not just mix around with the Indians so on and so forth. This was an attempt to create ‘bridges’ between different racial groups by getting them to mix around with one another and to understand each other so as to avoid the racial riots from occurring ever again.

For this, public amenities and neighbourhood gathering events have been set up to encourage families from all walks of life to get together. The success of all these are really debatable. I mean, how many of us actually bother to participate in events organised by the RCs and CCs? My friend, Andrew, asked me a few days back if I was politically apathetic and if I would consider helping out in the RCs as a way to engage myself more in politics. My reply to his question isn’t exactly important in my post over here but I would like to approach it from the point of multiculturalism.

Yes, the RCs were [probably] set up to engage youths in politics but I believe they were not just set up for just that sake but rather for other purposes like social bonding between different religious and ethnic groups through organising social events like National Day Dinner, kite flying, lantern carrying and many others. And back to my question earlier, how many of us have actually participated in such events? Well, I did, when I was a kid. My dad was an RC member but after he left, my involvement with the RC was as good as zero. But to be fair to the RC, they did have good publicity but each time I walk past the [so-called] community park in Potong Pasir to observe the events held by the RC, the crowd was exactly a crowd. And yes, there were people from different ethnic groups and there was this Indian boy who was carrying a lantern and the emcee was explaining the significance of the lantern to the kids and by that, I feel that the Indian boy actually learnt something about mid-autumn festival. On the side note, as much as I can remember, the lanterns weren’t exactly part of mid-autumn festival. I don’t know how on earth 中秋节 can be confused with 元宵节 but that’s beside the point. The fact is that there is some intercultural elements at work even though the contents might be warped.

Coming back to my message, I can’t help but wonder why an estate, with close to 16,000 eligible voters in 2006 (so that means the actual population in Potong Pasir might be say 20,000?) can only gather like less than 100 people in RC events? I have no time to interview residents so I’ll just base it on my own perceptions about participation in RC events. So, here are some of my thoughts:

  1. Boring
  2. For the elderly
  3. For kids
  4. Waste of time
  5. Uncool
  6. Not fun

Most of the young people and adults that I know spend their time having fun in Mambo, Zouk, K-Box, Chomp Chomp or at home rushing to meet deadlines at work and school. The thought about bringing themselves or their children to RC events never crossed their minds. And to ask them to be part of the RC committee would probably yield the following reply – siao! I mean most of us have so many roles and responsibilities and coming from the typical Singaporean mindset, we usually won’t want to do something that doesn’t pay us a dime.

How about public amenities around the HDB estate? Let me ask you and say you swim three times a week like me. How often would you go and talk to someone else in the pool? Or say you jog around your estate. How often would you go up to another person who jogs and talk to him? Yeah, like what my parents always say, “We should just do our thing and mind our own business.” I think that worked really well in Singapore…

So my take is that the RC and what’s available around in HDB estates aren’t probably good avenues to promote multiculturalism. Then where? I believe it’s in our own respective marketplaces because that’s where you spend most of your time. For me, I learn so much more about other cultures in NIE and in my practicum school. I mean the Ethnic Integration Policy is also at work in the marketplaces and unlike in HDB flats, there are no [visible] concrete walls that separate us, which makes conversation much easier. Again, Dr. Wong asked if I had ever went beyond the his, byes and how are you with my neighbours. Perhaps some of you might have but compare it with your classmates and colleagues and it becomes clearer which is more effective in promoting multiculturalism.

Therefore, it might be better to work in this direction if we want to promote better relations between different religious and ethnic groups in Singapore. How about HDB flats? Well, other cultures are at work too. My neighbour is renovating her house and the drillings start at 10 am and last till about 7 pm and it has been 2 weeks. I am learning how to be tolerant towards this neighbour of mine…

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