RACIAL HARMONY

What determines a race? Is it your skin colour? Your religion? The language you speak? As many times as we may have recited the pledge, did we really thought about what it was all about?

'We, the citizens of Singapore,pledge ourselves as one united people,regardless of race, language or religion,to build a democratic societybased on justice and equalityso as to achieve happiness, prosperity andprogress for our nation.'

“Regardless of race, language or religion” Is racial harmony all that important in this society, in our country Singapore?

I could remember my primary school days where we drew numerous pictures of people of different skin colours namely the brown Malays, the black Indians, the yellow Chinese and the white Eurasians, hand in hand. We were brought up with the importance of racial harmony instilled in us. I remembered my secondary school days where we dressed up on Racial Harmony day, wearing ethnic costumes from different ethnic groups. It was a chance to appreciate the various cultures and get to know the different races better. It was a time where the different races bonded as one and it was almost as if we were a person of a different race for that day. I have seen numerous skits on racial harmony; I have been through 17 years of racial harmony days all of which brought one message across to all of us. “It is important that the different races in Singapore worked together and live peacefully.”

However, it seems as though we are now getting less sensitive over this issue as can be seen by the rising racist jokes of people criticizing, even discriminating against other races and so I ponder. Have we taken all these for granted? Were all these jokes purely for entertainment purposes or was it more than that? While these jokes spread around, some of us might be doing it for fun but really, is it causing displeasure to the other races? Is it influencing one to discriminate against the different races too? Is there a limit to one’s tolerance?
We should not let this insensitivity overcome us. One day, misconceptions might arise, riots might occur and till that day, it would have been too late for us to repent on our past mistakes. Hence, we should strengthen the ties amongst all citizens of different races before situations turn nasty.

Singapore being a multi racial nation, it is crucial that racial harmony is emphasized and not taken lightly as it might lead to devastating effects and Singapore would not have been what she is today.

I can not imagine living in a place without racial harmony and I can not be any more glad and appreciative of the peaceful days we have now. There is a reason why Racial Harmony Day exists in Singapore and why it is so strongly emphasized. If all of us could stop a while and contemplate on our actions and perhaps make a change to accept the differences, but not aggravate it, we could enjoy this peace forever. Just like what those drawings were about, a smile across each face.