Racial Harmony: Do We REALLY Have it???

last SG · 2007-05-02T18:03:32+00:00

Clients should also realise that they should not expect cultural priority as well.

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

Exactly, so what makes you think they will really be on the ball to solve this issue given the current employment situtation has worked so far, and that Singapore needs to be more welcoming to FTs, a large proportion of which will be from the PRC?

Hence while a lot of noise is made about discriminatory employment requirements, they might pass some law but never actually getting down to the root of the problem because as long as it works why fiddle with it too much? Fiddling with the employment culture too much will alienate our PRC FTs.

Or minorities may find some laws in their favour, but at the end of the day they will still experience the same difficulties and discrimination, just that it has some back in some other way.

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

We are not like the Americans where everyone looks ang moh. Not only are the culture of our individual races different, our food, native languages and most importantly, appearances are contrasting too.

And it does not help that some races are generally perceived as more hardworking than others. History has taught us that racial problems are not something which can ever be solved. Racial tolerance, yes but not harmony.

I don't blame the govt for this.

Actually hor, if you go to America you will realize they are pretty multicultural as well. And of course if you go to London you will be amazed at the sheer number of cultures over there. But of course even the US and Europe have their own issues with multiculturism.

There will always be some friction, this is unavoidable.

What I am pointing out however, is that our current educational measures to promote understanding and harmony among our children might still leave much to be desired, a lot of them seem to be followed in letter but not in spirit.

Of course one can't blame it entirely on the govt, the older generation might still have an effect on our current generation. I catch my own parents making plenty of subtle (and often unjustified) remarks on other races based on his own inability to understand their worldview and adjusting towards working with them, and I don't think every child would disagree with them like I did.

There is a chance that the baby boomer generation might be less tolerant then our current bunch, and this might affect current employment trend, but it might naturally reverse itself as we move along.

Prehaps it might get better as we move along, but playing hardball by passing laws might simply be a step backwards. True understanding requiring more give-and-take and engagement then some hardline rule drawing out the bare minimum where people have to play by.

But yet, there will always be racism in soceity, it's just a matter of how much.

Rock^Star SG

Yes of course, laws will simply just sweep dust under the carpet but the dirt still remains. What do u suggest then?

shinta SG

some ppl de england very lou chee u noe...

Laughing

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

What I suggest is a grassroots approach, you can't expect soceity to simply change now but you can.

Learn more about other cultures, work with them, when you raise your children teach them about the importance of racial harmony. Speak out in defence of other races when you hear members of your own making ignorant remarks about them, help them understand the POVs of other cultures. Treat everyone fairly.

These are the things that will truly change us at the end of the day.

ditzy SG

Next time you'll have to wear a paperbag over your head to attend a job interview. Laughing

Rock^Star SG

Then no need interview already fail.

Rock^Star SG

Originally posted by SingaporeTyrannosaur:

What I suggest is a grassroots approach, you can't expect soceity to simply change now but you can.

Learn more about other cultures, work with them, when you raise your children teach them about the importance of racial harmony. Speak out in defence of other races when you hear members of your own making ignorant remarks about them, help them understand the POVs of other cultures. Treat everyone fairly.

These are the things that will truly change us at the end of the day.

Commendable but obstacles aplenty.

What will motivate these parents to speak well of other races and to encourage their children to do inter-racial marriages?

A lot of Singaporeans were taught from young to observe racial harmony but what happened when we finally grew up? Different races going out with their own. Very true of crowds at MRTs, hawker centres, pubs, cinemas etc.

This is the strong force of cultural differences, not something which may be easily rectified.

chiabaliao SG

Sometimes, it really feels impolite to defer, when at the dinner table, everyone is having a great time poking ridicules at his very own race from another country. Call that prejudice of being educated differently if you like.

In the US, I think they have passed resolution (maybe not in all states) to make English the only official language, despite the heavy presence of Hispanics.

What makes me feel bad is when someone feels ashamed of his own race and tries to associate himself with another culture.

But the world has also changed a lot. Now, when I meet a Westerner, I don't simply assume he/she cannot speak Mandarin. I make sure I ask first.

fire & ice SG

in some jobs where the clientele is mainly female chinese, the company would want to hire a chinese female... then how? it's not a translation job nor a teaching post.. just a regular sales position or maybe waitressing position... but hey! market conditions dictate that the company hires one who can perform the role of serving the clients...

is this then viewed as discriminatory? I think it should not be.

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

Who said it will be easy? But all things have to start somewhere and you may not even see the benefits in your lifetime.

As I said, can't do much for the current batch of parents, but I am hopeful that our future generation of parents will be a lot more open. For example just look at the segregation in American 60 years ago and compare it to now... could they have imagined that things would have turned out the way they are now? There is still racism but they did come a long way since then.

A lot of Singaporeans were taught from young to observe racial harmony but what happened when we finally grew up? Different races going out with their own. Very true of crowds at MRTs, hawker centres, pubs, cinemas etc.

This is the strong force of cultural differences, not something which may be easily rectified.

What our soceity needs to strike now is a healthy respect for our own culture and that of others.

I think the goal of being able to see people of all races mix equally in all situtations then it's going to be a very long shot and still worth aiming for (if not the eventual goal) But a more realistic goal would be to remove the nagging forms of racism that still nip at our heels.

What I am saying, in other words, is that by all means if we still decide to stick with people of our own race when we go out and stuff like that fair enough... but when it comes to crunch time we have the ability to treat all races equally and with respect.

At the end of the day unique cultures require some form of soluitude (or segregation if you may) in order to retain their own uniqueness and flavour. This is not inherently wrong any more then you need some time on your own as well... it becomes an illness when we start to indulge in our cultural solitude at the expense of others and forgetting that they are like us, a member of the human race as well.

The opposite error would be to become a 'phile of any other culture while neglecting your own. For example one starts to think that inter-racial marriages are somehow more noble then those of the non inter-racial fare, or that to be proven not racist one has to disown his own culture.

Balance, at the end of the day, balance. The novice rushes to extremes in his actions but the wise man knows how to balance.

ShutterBug SG

NEVER in my adult life, have I ever believed that they have solved anything, or are serious and on the ball about solving anything... it's all Instant Noodles all the time!

Fiddling? I'd say it's been friggin doctored to their advantage! Locals are made to believe that by slogging and paying for their sons and daughters all the way to the Uni that they'd be assured a decent career, and what did they get? Outright saturation of FTs screwing up local salaries! They gov made on both counts; education costs of locals, and FTs working here. Where do the local grads fit in? Those who can afford, have gone abroad to carve out a career, those who can't, well... limbo man!

Point of this topic is; WHY do employers practice Racial Preferences to the point where Dictatorial Rules are to be implemented. Can the people for ONCE show our almighty government, that they can behave properly???

But no... it is believed the system brought them up that way....

Rolling Eyes

Rock^Star SG

Good analysis but what will motivate these parents to speak well of other races and to encourage their children to do inter-racial marriages?

In what ways can the govt teach the various races to be more racially tolerant and not say things like, "Malays are lazy, Chinese are calculative etc etc?

Incorporating such teachings in the textbooks obviously have not helped. Any other ways besides talking idealistically that "people should respect one another" or "one should not over-indulge in his/her own race" etc etc?

SingaporeTyrannosaur SG

As I said it's a grassroots thing.

A parent who might be subtly racist might find her/his own stance softening when he/she realizes that their neighbour/colleague of a different race is willing to look out of them or treats them with respect. If they see their own children being helped along in school by teachers and schoolmates of a different race, prejudice might be harder to hold onto.

But if you want to ask on what will motivate people to be less racist, all I can say is that what motivates the common man not to cheat, murder or steal? Is it simply because the laws on these are strict or because some of these men, on some level, know that not to cheat, murder or steal (and doing their opposites) is a good thing in itself.

This is a thing that cannot be easily artifically induced in soceity- it has to be cultivated and prehaps it starts from each and every single person.

As to what the pragmatically be done, education and the like are good measures and useful... but unless the common man is convinced in his heart that these things are good in themselves, they will be but plastic laws.

So how to convince the common man? At the end of the day it starts with people who are willing to fight racism as and where they see it, just as we might stop a theif even if there was no policeman around to catch them.

Was slavery abolished overnight? Did the civil rights movement in America that allowed the African American much of their rights come about easily? No, it all started with an idea that men believed in the goodness of, and then put their lives and work in the direction of that idea.

Of course in Singapore, having such a populace which is more content to sit passive with anything this might be a different story. But even if we on and individual level can't change things yet- simply to go against the flow of segregation will eventually tip the scales in the public arena.

Rock^Star SG

Slavery was abolished because Abraham Lincoln stayed true to his faith. He did not give up the war against the the Confederacy even when the odds were against him.

That took proactive action.

What proactive action should the govt take to convince the common man? Yes, everyone should be responsible for the change in mentality towards other races but what will actually prompt each and every individual to do so?

Do enlighten me with pragmactic measures that may be taken.....Waiting for each and every individual to start is an absolute impossibility.

elindra SG

I don't think "Mandarin Speaking Only Need Apply" discriminates against the race. It may discriminate against the Non-Mandarin Speaking folks.

Lots of other races are picking up Mandarin these days so it is really a non-issue.

walesa SG

The example on its own may seem odd, but the logic doesn't sound remotely discriminatory if you get my drift. I mean, "mandarin speaking only need apply" and "chinese only need apply" have two totally different connotations. That is pure logic - just like why certain jobs in Singapore specifically demand its applicants to possess a good command of English despite that being the lingua franca in this country. You can't assume anyone remotely associated with an ethnicity that speaks a particular language would naturally be versed in one (for instance, not all ethnic chinese can speak decent mandarin and those who fall under this category wouldn't be qualified for jobs that are "mandarin speaking only need apply" either).

The point about legislation is no known legislation has been proven to work to effectively deter employment discrimination. Through "affirmative action" to promote equal opportunity employment, the US has effectively legally outlawed any discrimination at the workplace on the basis of gender and race. While that seems theoretically fair, there's nothing in the book that can deter an employer from firing you (if you're hired) or denying you an employment opportunity on the basis that your merits are not up to scratch (which could effectively be a smokescreen to mask the true reasons behind his/her discrimination).

chiabaliao SG

I don't see how encouraging inter-racial marriages has to do with racial tolerance. In fact, the opposite might even be true. It usually leads to the female side totally ditching her own culture or both adopting western norms. I find it funny when someone can have two Christian names followed by a Chinese surname. Given another generation, the Chinese surname would just disappear.

Arapahoe SG

Originally posted by ShutterBug:
[b]Not fair form to ask these questions?
Lee U-Wen
[email protected]

THE next time you pick up a job application form, it could look different.
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Certain fields such as those asking for your gender, religion or marital status, even the space where you attach your photograph could be absent.
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As part of a national push to fight discrimination at the workplace, a new set of guidelines for fair employment practices will be launched tomorrow. These are expected to address, among other things, some of the biggest bugbears among job-seekers here the interview questions and application forms.
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Giving Today a foretaste of what might be announced, Madam Halimah Yacob, co-chairperson of the one-year-old Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices, said existing guidelines were not so "specific" about what the forms could or could not ask.
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"Now we are saying that questions such as religion, gender, marital status even photographs unless absolutely necessary should be cut out," said the assistant secretary-general of the NTUC.
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The eight-member panel's aim was to update and replace the Code of Responsible Employment Practices issued about five years ago.
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Said Mdm Halimah: "We had a lengthy discussion about making the guidelines for the forms law. But we looked at other countries which ran into difficulties with this. We decided that if the company still chooses not to hire you for whatever reason, it is difficult for any law to catch it. Discrimination is hard to prove."
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With the job market heating up, and a record 176,000 jobs created last year, combating workplace discrimination is ever more vital. Each year, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) receives an average of 70 related complaints.
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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, at the May Day Rally yesterday, said Malays and Indians had told him it was harder for them to get jobs.
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He urged employers to be fair and objective, and base hiring decisions on merit alone. "For example, they should not demand that candidates speak or write Chinese in jobs where this is not necessary," he said.
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Then there are the complaints from pregnant workers and job-hunters. Last year, the MOM attended to 71 cases of working mothers-to-be who complained about unfair dismissal.
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At the interview stage, the new guidelines will advise employers on the 'dos' and 'don'ts' of asking questions.
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"Let's not ask inappropriate questions, such as when are you going to have children or getting married," said Mdm Halimah, adding that initiatives such as the baby bonus and longer maternity leave were "pointless" if women risk losing their jobs when they choose to have children.
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But Singapore Human Resources Institute president Ho Geok Choo noted that there were "exceptions" where employers had to know certain personal details.
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For example: If a job requires a civil engineer to be posted to a remote area. "Practicality is going to tell you that it's going to be tough for a female," said Ms Ho. "As long as the employer can justify the reasons, a job-seeker who did not make the cut is less likely to feel discriminated against."
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A group Ms Ho was "very concerned" about: Executives, who do not enjoy much recourse via the unions or the Manpower Ministry.
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Calling for a code of conduct for the way such workers are dealt with in the event they are let go of, Ms Ho said: "I have been advocating that the MOM extends its scope of regulation to cover managers and above.
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"They can be victims of higher politics. Sometimes, it's a new leader that comes into the company ... Increasingly, we have been hearing of foreigners who bring their own team, and they just get rid of the old team."
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Singapore Business Federation council member Lawrence Leow said bosses' welfare must not be forgotten, too.
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"The Employment Act largely protects workers. But fair employment must go both ways. We must spare a thought for employers too, who have to deal with difficult workers, such as those who try to cheat them with false education certificates," he said.
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Other initiatives in the pipeline include the establishment of a new centre for fair employment, to collect public feedback and advise workers and employers keen to adopt such practices.
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The tripartite alliance's Pledge of Fair Employment Practices a movement launched in September last year has 419 companies on board to date, with the target being to reach 500 by June. Ministries, statutory boards and Government agencies signed the pledge last month.
[/b]

Just because it is not a perfect environment does not mean that we should encourage or allow discrimination to take roots, and assume that it is Okay to practice selective discrimination.

My wife is a minority in Singapore, and I am a chinese. And I know what kind of discrimination she gets when she apply for jobs she likes or in her field of expertise. If any position that publish "Speaking chinese need apply" in the Strait Time is just rediculous. Because that job ads should be in the chinese news paper. That is an outright cherry picking.

In todays work environment, what percentage do we converse in English vs dialect. E-mail, Reports, telephone, Sales order. Especially if you work in MNC or deal with oversea vendors or customers.

The point is that Singaporean of all races should not feel that they are excluded by the limitation of language after all. We all learn - English.... no matter how broken the english one should be able to communicate the message across. even my parent who is first generation immigrant make the effort to speak broken english to my wife.

think where you want your next generation to live in? Business owner have their right to hire, but it is to their disadvantage if they exclude minority they lost their minority market share in the process not because they are unable to communicate but because they closed their mind.

Nobody like to be tag as being discriminatory similarly nobody like to be discriminated. But it is happening in the work place.

Atobe SG

Stamford Tyres staff can only speak Chinese and not English and the Company is the main distributor for Pirrelli tyres ?

Marco Polo's long journey to Ancient China must have been the cause.

Strange experience encountered is that the Michelin tyre distributor - Chin Seng Hin had all their staff able to speak English and employ a fair number of Malays in the Company too.

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