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According to a survey done by Channel NewsAsia in partnership with the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) recently, two-thirds of the respondents found ethnic discussions disconcerting in that it could be offensive.
Taken from CNA,
When asked if talking about racial issues would cause unnecessary tension, 66 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, while 64 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that it was “very hard to discuss issues related to race without someone getting offended”.
Along with this survey, a documentary “Regardless of race” was produced. The objective of this was to find out more about Singaporeans and their attitudes on racial harmony, tolerance and their thoughts on talking candidly about race and race-related topics.
Minister of State Dr. Janil Puthucheary, Chairman of OnePeople.SG observed that people are hesitant and afraid to discuss race relations because of the fear of being seen as racist.
I think this documentary certainly deserves more attention.
For those who are interested, here’s the full video:
The problem here is, will we ever progress towards a better state of racial harmony if we don’t talk about racial issues?
To provide an analogy, I would think that this is almost like a married couple who appears to be happy but with many unresolved issues left unspoken.
Is that happiness?
Here’s the question.
Will we ever get to a truly (racial) harmonious society by letting racial issues slide?
OR, are we just happy to avoid debates on racial issues because we haven’t had any racial riots for more than 50 years?
For now, that is…
