Youth Led Initiative Explores Intra-Ethnic Diversity in Singapore
The relevance of the CMIO model in categorising ethnic diversity in Singapore has been an ongoing discussion. While the framework may serve a purpose of unifying different cultural groups, it comes with side effects - many Singaporeans continue to try and find their place within this structure. We need to do better in understanding our multicultural population to combat a lack of cultural appreciation, stereotyping, implicit bias and typecasting.
To raise awareness about the different ethnic communities within the CMIO framework, hash.peace, a youth-led social harmony advocacy group in Singapore organised the first-ever Intra-Ethnic Conversations on Saturday, 24 April 2021. The event, held via a Zoom meeting, was attended by about 40 people from different ethnic backgrounds. Mdm Rahayu Mahzam, MP for Jurong GRC, and Board Member-Chairperson for Youth Wing, OnePeople.sg graced the event as Guest of Honour.
The event hosted four tracks of intra-ethnic conversations that featured Singaporeans from the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian communities. Speakers were from different ethnic communities that included Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Tamil, Malayalee, Sikh, Javanese, Bugis, Irish-Eurasian and Kristang-Eurasian. They shared about the language, heritage, food culture and also festival traditions.
Photo: Mdm Petrina Edema from the Kristang Eurasian community sharing about the heritage of Eurasian good
This event was supported by the Young Sikh Association, Singapore, the Eurasian Association of Singapore, Sree Narayana Mission (Singapore) Youth Group and OnePeople.Sg.
27 year old Ruban Varma who joined the conversations as a participant shared:
“I joined the conversation on Chinese identity. I found it interesting that Chinese people identify themselves with their mother tongue; Teochew, Hokkien and Cantonese. It made me realise that language is more than just a means of communication. It is also an ethnic identity marker. I think young Singaporeans could learn more about this to raise their awareness about the racial diversity.
Following the Intra-Ethnic Conversations, was the launch of “Aman Goes to School”, a children’s book that tells the story of a young Sikh boy facing challenges in trying to fit in his school; and how he draws inspiration from his grandmother's stories to overcome his fears.
“We hear this often enough, but it is real; maintaining our racial and religious harmony takes effort. I therefore commend this initiative by hash.peace to create opportunities to build bonds between us. The Intra-Ethnic Conversations allow people to appreciate and understand different communities at a deeper level. In an ever-changing and complicated world, where we see more polarised communities around us, we need to find the Singapore way of constantly embracing diversity and staying united.”
- Mdm Rahayu Mahzam
MP for Jurong GRC, and Board Member-Chairperson for Youth Wing, OnePeople.sg
24 April 2021 at the inaugural Intra-Ethnic Conversations
Sandeep Singh, the author of the book said:
“The book captures lived experiences of a Sikh boy in Singapore. This is a relatable story for anyone who has ever felt like they do not fit in because of their race. My hope is that it offers guidance to young people trying to navigate an increasingly complex world. I especially want parents from different ethnic backgrounds to read it with their children. It will be a handy resource for young ones and parents dealing with bullying, fear and anxiety posed by ethnic identity.”
hash.peace Executive Member, Aathira Unnithan said:
“For about three years, hash.peace has been studying how we can widen our understanding of ethnic diversity in Singapore. We developed Intra-Ethnic Conversations as a platform to discourse about commonalities and differences between communities from the same racial grouping. Through this, we wish to create an interest in self-education that allows us to know about racial identities beyond CMIO classification. We have gained many insights from today’s inaugural session. We hope to delve deeper into learning more about different ethnic communities in Singapore in a future session.”
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”