Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Toolkit Toolkit Final as of 17082016 | Page 38

Common issues between
immigrants and locals: Overturning stereotypes, promoting positive relationships between ‘locals’ and ‘new’
migrants and the importance of Tamil youths’ role.
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Depressed wages for locals
Rising housing prices
Higher costs of living
Discrimination by
employers in favour of
‘foreign talents’
Over-stretched public
services
Unfair competition at
schools
Anti-social behaviour in
public spaces
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Up till now, the encounter with co-ethnics seems to be largely confrontational.
Apart from the issues mentioned above, the root of the problem appears to be the
sometimes unconscious ‘forgetting’ of the shared experience of migration from the same
country.
Though there are many things that both groups can learn from each other, both groups
generally distance themselves from one another.
The Tamil youths play a pivotal role in improving this situation because the children of
many of these newer migrants have either been born in Singapore or have spent large
parts of their lives here. They have had similar experiences as local Tamil youths.
This 1st/ 2nd generation youth see themselves as Singaporeans who happen to have closer
connections with their ancestral homeland than the local Tamils as a result of the time of
migration.
Topic of Interest: What are the means by which the community can do community work for itself and
what are the benefits from it?
CASE STUDY: Canadian Tamil Youth Development Centre (CanTYD)
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The Canadian Tamil community has much in common with the
Singaporean Tamil community in terms of the different waves of
migration of Tamils from Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu respectively.
Due to the civil war between the Sinhalese and Tamils, a large
number of Tamils fled to many different countries. In the late
1970s and early 1980s, the Canadian government welcomed these
Tamils with a more open immigration and refugee policy.
Till today, Tamils continue to seek asylum in various parts of
Canada, mainly Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. As these major
cities are very multicultural in nature, they do share some
similarities with Singapore in terms of issues of immigration and
assimilation.
This case study will shed light on the role that Tamil youth could
potentially play in engaging with community-specific issues,
especially in terms of strengthening ties between members of the
same ethnic group like in the Singaporean case.
CanTYD is a youth-led organization that aims to empower Tamil
youth and to strengthen community ties. Their initiatives have
played an important role in breaking stereotypes that arise
commonly in a context of immigration to a multicultural society.
Some examples of their initiatives include:
Project T.H.A.M.I.L
Works with Tamil
youth at a grassroots
level to promote and
cultivate leadership
skills in students.
MedaiKonal
Drama team that promotes
youth expression, creativity
and originality through the
theatrical arts.
Selvy's Circle
An initiative
dedicated to the
empowerment of
young Canadian
Tamil women.
AkkaThamizha?
A publication of literary
and artistic submissions
by Tamil students from
Grade 7 to 12.
Project T.H.A.M.I.L (Tamils Helping and
Motivating to Inspire Leadership)
Description
• Works with Tamil youth at a grassroots
level to promote and cultivate leadership
skills in students.
• Runs interactive workshops such as
assertiveness, conflict resolution and
leadership training.
• Parents are also involved as well allowing
them to improve relationships with
children.
Learning Points
• Tamil youth helping Tamil youth
• Involvement parents in the process
• Workshop style
Relevance to the Singapore’s context
• This framework may be considered by
local Tamil community organisations, such
as IAECs specifically to address the issue of
improving relationships between locals
and newer migrants.
• Potentially, youth from both groups could
take on community work such as
conducting
workshops/mentorship
initiatives helping Tamil domestic helpers
and construction workers to adapt to
Singapore lifestyle.
• Another possible initiative could be one
that is centred on discussions on Tamil
media and entertainment. For example, a
free movie screening can be organized
followed by a critical discuss