Racial Harmony Day

On 21 July 1964, a riot broke out, mainly between the Chinese and Malays, around Victoria street and Geylang. It was fuelled by deep-seated distrust between the races and occurred against the backdrop of political tensions between the PAP and UMNO. As such, the causes were as much racial, as they were political. To commemorate this fateful day, Racial Harmony Day is celebrated annually on 21 July in Singapore. And every year, on this day, I wonder if perhaps the way we celebrate racial harmony ironically reinforces racial insularism instead.

CMIO, A True Reflection of Singapore?

On Racial Harmony Day, teachers and students in every school are encouraged to turn up in the traditional garb of one of the four major races in Singapore, which for the uninitiated, are represented in the acronym CMIO. i.e. Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others, with ‘others’ being predominantly Eurasian.

One year, at the last school I had taught, I came in a ‘barong’, which is the traditional formal wear of the men in the Philippines. Throughout the day, a few of my colleagues pointed out, with the purest of intentions only to educate, that the ‘barong’ was not an appropriate traditional costume for racial harmony day. I was well aware of this but, being the subversive boat-rocker that I am, I wanted to spark a conversation about our definition of race in Singapore and the Singapore identity.

During the celebrations on another year, the school had hired in a drama crew to do a skit, not on racial harmony, but on CMIO. The cast on stage had all four races represented, including the obligatory ‘ang moh’ of unknown origin to be the ‘other’. Then, one of the actors called up a random lower Primary boy up on stage asked him a few questions about being Chinese. The boy responded, “I’m Vietnamese.” The poor kid got unceremoniously sent back to his class. That could have been a powerful teachable moment to talk about racial inclusivity in a Singapore that’s becoming more connected with the world.

I understand how CMIO forms the cornerstone of some of our national policies, like racial quotas in HDBs. However, I think that they are becoming less socially relevant as Singapore grows more cosmopolitan and the world becomes more interconnected and accessible. The ‘others’ category, in particular, has been increasing in number and diversity in recent years as more young professionals from around the world call our little red dot home.

My wife and I are both of mixed heritages, and our children will only be one quarter Chinese, the other three quarters coming from three other countries. However, their ICs will identify them as Chinese, which is as inaccurate a reflection of their ethnicity as CMIO is of Singapore today.

Promoting Unity by Highlighting Our Differences

During one of my courses in NIE, a lecturer asked who among us considered ourselves a racist. I raised my hand. Of course, this drew disgusted stares from some of my classmates. Thankfully, I got to explain myself before any real damage was done to my reputation. I believe, as I did then, that none of us in Singapore are completely blind to race and are thus implicitly racist. The musical Avenue Q glibly explores this theme in one of their acutely observational songs ‘everyone’s a little bit racist’. It suggested that while most of us would not commit hate crimes, we consciously or unconsciously cannot help but make judgements based on race.

How can we not? From Primary 1, we Singaporeans are taught what race we belong to and how we are different from the other races. While I fully support racial harmony, this is my main issue with the way we celebrate Racial Harmony Day. This is what a Chinese looks like. This is what Chinese eat. This is what Chinese wear. These are the games that Chinese play. Repeat for the other races.

I remember once when a Eurasian boy asked what his traditional costume was, he was advised to wear a T-shirt and jeans. It’s ridiculous. I eat a range of foods, like anyone of any other race. I wear T-shirts, jeans, pants, shirts and suits, like anyone of any other race. I play video games, and played at the playground when I was younger, like anyone of any other race.

This narrative is the stumbling block to us having any strong identity of our own. Meanwhile, we downplay commonalities, like Singlish, that make us Singaporean. As an English teacher, I’d admonish the use of Singlish in my classroom; but as a Singaporean, it’s a national treasure that I am proud of and hold on to dearly. However, that’s a conversation for another article.

I’ve taken a couple of batches of students from P3 to P6. I remember when a particularly cheeky pair of boys, one a Chinese and the other an Indian, come up to me, their arms around each others’ neck, to tell me that they were best friends. That was when they were in P4. In the two years that followed, I noticed them drift apart and start to hang around more racially homogeneous groups. I suspect that somewhere in those two years, the differences in their skin colour, and by extension their cultural backgrounds, began to form a wall between them. Promoting unity by highlighting our differences? It just doesn’t work.

One People, One Nation, One Singapore

In an interview on 60 Minutes, actor Morgan Freeman was asked how we could get rid of racism. His response: Stop talking about it. I totally agree. By all means, celebrate Racial Harmony Day and remember how our fragile peace was torn by racial misunderstanding. Then, instead of celebrating being CMIO, celebrate being Singaporean. Perhaps one day, when we all stop differentiating ourselves as CMIO, and instead, embrace what makes us Singaporean, we can progress from racial tolerance, to a nation united, regardless of race, language or religion.

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