"More needs to be done to combat racial microaggressions in S'pore: ST webinar panellists"
The Straits Times | by Hariz Baharudin
QUOTE:
Another panellist, Mr Leonard Sim, who is the general secretary of advocacy group hash.peace, said there needs to be more discussions on such racially discriminatory acts because they affect the mental health of the victims.
Mr Sim's organisation works with mental health advocacy group Mental ACT to help those who have experienced racial discrimination talk about their experiences.
He said: "You get conversations that are very real, very raw, an outpouring, sometimes, of grief, trauma, emotional hurt, and we're very lucky to have our partners at Mental ACT to help us and make sure they are okay, and healing from these experiences.
"And what we at hash.peace get out of it as well is that you start to realise that we need to do more."
Mr Sim said workplaces need to get involved in efforts to address racial discrimination because people spend a lot of time there.
Employers can organise programmes on discrimination and diversity that could help to change the mindset of workers. They, in turn, can teach their children the importance of values like tolerance and understanding, he added.