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LUMEN | PROGRAMMES
Talking Race about
By Aarush Nair , Marc Leong , Lucas Lee , Mrs Nevina Ho and Mrs Yap Yin Shian
Dr Janil Puthucheary , Senior Minister of State , Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Health , Chairman of OnePeople . sg and host of the ground-breaking Singapore documentary “ Regardless of Race ” engaged in a discussion with Year 3 Josephians about the growing issue of racism in Singapore and what the government is doing to alleviate these concerns . During the talk moderated by Ms Surjeet Kaur , Josephians and teachers raised thought-provoking questions regarding the issue of racism in Singapore to Dr . Janil .
He dwelled on 3 broad areas on how the government views race and diversity in Singapore . He talked about how the government does not have a fixed model regarding race and diversity . He provided some perspectives on the progress we have made over time and how important that is in shaping what we do next . He also spoke at length on his personal view on the progress we have made .
In response to Ms Surjeet Kaur ’ s question on how teenagers should react when confronted by a racially motivated situation , Dr . Janil suggested that we have 3 courses of action - one is to react aggressively , second is to take the opportunity to educate and grow the person and third , is to just ‘ walk away ’. In the first situation , we would only be deepening the problem rather than being ‘ the solution ’. In the second , we take the higher ground and be ‘ the better man ’ to confront the situation with ‘ grace , fortitude and resilience ’. The third course of action would be one that we take when we assess that the person will not engage with us magnanimously .
Dr Janil also responded to interesting questions asked by the students . When asked by
Gregory Goh of ML303 if controlling social media is a viable method to keep racial tensions at bay , Dr Janil shared that “ Social media clearly has a role to play since it can be hijacked and used to inflame tensions , but it can also be a tool to spread positive views on how things should move forward . If no one was talking about race on social media , we would be a poorer society for it !”
Dr . Janil described the government ’ s efforts in managing race and diversity as a work-inprogress . “ Although we have made significant progress from the time when racial violence was everywhere , the government feels that racism has always been present , and Singapore has never arrived at the point of being a post-racial state .” The need for race-based policies in Singapore has continued , such as the Ethnic Integration Policy to ensure a balance of races living in neighbourhoods and stop racial groupings in Singapore . These policies have seen success with reduced incidences of racial