Ignis Answers 2

Racial Harmony Day is a day to celebrate Singapore as a multi-racial society and thereby reminds people the importance of racial harmony. The impact of not celebrating Racial Harmony Day is insignificant because people of different races are interconnected in terms of the values they hold as citizens of Singapore. Even without celebrating this day, our citizens will be aware of the disastrous effects of not embracing people of different races through the education of Singapore history. No doubt that such a celebration helps to enhance people’s appreciation towards other races. Yet without it, we still get to interact with people of different races in our neighbourhoods, schools and/or workplaces.

Lee Hui Ying

08S14

Ignis

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Shirley Lee
08A02

Racial Harmony Day serves as a reminder of the many obstacles our tiny, diversly and densely populated country went through before achieving today's peace, stability and prosperity. These obstacles include the many casualties and social implications due to racial riots.

The first racial riot, the Maria Hertogh riot in 1950 where Muslim rioters attacked Europeans, Eurasions and Christians resulted in 173 injured and 18 deaths. In the 1964 Sino-Malay riots, instigated by outside forces, casualty numbers came high; over 500 people were injured, and 36 lives lost. Later, Sino-Malay tensions resurfaced in 1969 following the racial riots in Malaysia after the General Election, and many Sino-Malay clashes erupted that had to be brought down by force.

During these racial riots, it was inevitable for the safety of the public for nation-wide curfews to be set. Strict security sweeps, although neccessary in eradicating tension instigators, interferred with the normal life of the people. People lived in fear of being caught in the middle of a riot. In short, the economical and social implications of such riots are not to be trifled with.

In a small country as such, and with the people as our only resource, such economic and social implications come with dire consequences for the development of our country. They stunt the growth of our nation.

It is hence important for the celebration of Racial Harmony to remind us of the road we've travelled thus far, just to reach where we are, where different racial groups can live comfortable and work efficiently alongside one another. Without this reminder, perhaps poignantly, future generations may be inclined to forget the difficult path we've taken, and unknowingly rewalk this path.

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Sim Chaiying
08S02

if we do not celebrate Racial Harmony Day, Singaporeans will not be able to understand the meaning of racial harmony in this multi racial country. This might result in misunderstandings among the different races. The fact that the younger generations have no knowledege on the racial harmony, if we do not celebrate this special occasion, will only result in these innocent little children to accidentally say something racist to their friends of a different race. This can be serious because if the parents of the children got to know of the matter, this issue between two little children might be blown up into a national matter. Therefore there is a need to celebrate Racial Harmony Day.

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Faris Bin Ridzuan
07S14
Ignis

Racial harmony day has often come under criticism by those who view it as merely Singapore's way of showcasing the harmony that it so covets and promotes in a very publicised nature, centering mostly around schools. Yet for me, it has become something that I personally look forward to as a day when we can don other ethnicities' or our own traditional costumes and take part in various activities that are both fun and integral in such a multi-ethnic society. Thus, there might not be a very big and obvious difference but as Singapore delves deeper into the concept of what makes a Singaporean in these times, where there is an influx of "foreign" residents, perhaps this racial harmony day is important in ensuring that we have a platform to explore the meaning of being a Singaporean. Eradicating it only makes young Singaporeans of the future confused about their own identity and the Singaporean identity, with the tensions rising in the layman's streets. Racial harmony must not be foregone, but revamped to be an arena where the Singaporean identity, and not the ethnic identities of the people are emphasised. That way, we see the ethnicities in Singapore as diverse yet unified under the same identity, uniquely Singaporean. Thus, being congruent with the plans to mould our nation into one which celebrates the juxtaposition of diversity and unity.

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Goh Wei Yang Brian
07S08

How much of a difference will there be if we do not celebrate Racial Harmony Day?

During the 1960s, Singapore was engulfed by a series of racial riots. Such traumatic incidents compelled the government to announce a day to commemorate racial harmony. After nearly three decades, some question on the extent of change if Racial Harmony Day is removed. In other words, there are people asking if such an action will cause a significant change in lifestyle of an individual. Those who believe that there would be little change in lifestyle is because they feel that Singaporeans have already understood and appreciated the importance of racial harmony through the various measures that the government implements. As a result, Racial Harmony is viewed by them as something existing for a shallow meaning. On the other hand, there are people who are not convinced that the current measures are sufficient to allow the removal of Racial Harmony Day. They argue that when a symbol loses or compromises its significance, there is a high tendency for its meaning to diminish or even disappear eventually. In my opinion, no one can be certain the extent of difference such an action would result. However, there are too many factors affecting the possible consequence if Racial Harmony Day is removed. The two major factors are the extent of government intervention and the effectiveness of current measures.

For the past three decades, Singapore has not faced much major racial disputes. This may be due to the extensive measures that the government implement. One significant measure is to incorporate the morals of racial harmony into the education system. As all the children in Singapore are made to go through compulsory primary education, the young may already possess the basic foundation of practising racial harmony at the end of the education. In order to complement this measure, the government has been actively promoting racial harmony via advertisements, campaigns and school-based competitions. Even the national pledge contains the concept of racial harmony. As a result, there are people who believed that Singaporeans generally understand and appreciates racial harmony. Hence, there are people who believe that there is little difference to the lifestyles of Singaporeans without Racial Harmony Day.

However, throughout the history of humankind, when a symbol loses or has its significance compromised, the entire meaning will diminish eventually. For example, in the past storms and natural disasters are viewed as the Gods wanting to punish people for their deeds. As a result, many people fear committing crimes. However, ever since science has disproven this myth, the fear of committing crimes has generally diminished over time. Similarly, if racial harmony day is removed, Singaporeans may take racial harmony for granted. As a result, they may eventually feel that there is little need to maintain racial harmony. From this viewpoint, the lifestyles of Singaporeans may change drastically. Racial harmony may become racial tolerance. Races might start to discriminate against one another. This is evident in Singapore. For example, some job application criteria require the interviewee to possess a sound foundation of Chinese, limiting the races qualified to apply for the jobs. Such discrimination may worsen till a conflict arises. Also, certain races may start claiming superiority over other races. For example, the Malays in Malaysia enjoy special rights that the Chinese there do not enjoy. If the conflict is not properly controlled, an internal strife may occur in Singapore just like the Tamils fighting against the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. This may cause economic, political and even social unrest.

All these are mere speculations by various people. Given the current situation of Singapore, it is rather difficult to estimate the extent of change that Singapore will face due to the possible government intervention and the extent of impact the already implemented measures have on Singaporeans.

Firstly, the Singapore government has been responsive and might prove to be able to handle any conflict that arises. For forty three years, Singapore has experience many arduous incidents like recessions and racial riots. As a result, the Singapore government has been taking preventive measures over the years. For four decades, the government has been responsive to wards global changes. Such being the case, if racial harmony day is removed, it may result in racial disputes. However, the government by then might have sufficient power to control the situation, the extent of this ability is questionable as the time lag between the removal of racial harmony day and the eventual racial conflict is unknown. Moreover, the severity of the racial conflict is hard to predict.

Also, the extent of influence the current measures have on Singapore is hard to estimate. This is because Singapore has been experiencing peace between races and the effectiveness of the implemented measures has not been tested. The integration of racial harmony ideals into the education system may already have formed the foundation of the young that racial cohesion is vital for peace and prosperity. Moreover, reminders from neighbouring countries like the recent riot between the Chinese and Indians or India, may show the possible consequences of racial disputes. At the end of the day, racial harmony may just deteriorate to racial tolerance, which is the scenario where races coexist in harmony with each other for the sake of not having any unwanted disputes. Such outcomes depend on the effectiveness of measures being implemented by the government.

In conclusion, the removal of Racial Harmony Day will inevitably result in a change in lifestyle for Singaporeans. The question is the extent of change there would be and the impact of it. The removal of that day is secondary. The primary importance is to educate Singaporeans that racial harmony is vital and must never be compromised.

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Rachel Tong
07IP06

There will be a large difference if we do not celebrate Racial Harmony Day.

Racial Harmony Day is celebrated to remind Singaporeans of the importance of racial harmony in order for peace, (economic, social, and political) stability, and progress within the country. If we do not celebrate Racial Harmony Day, over time, some might forget the importance and principle of Racial Harmony, while the younger generation (which one day will become the leaders of the country) will not know of it at all; and this might lead to a re-enactment of the racial riots in the 1960s. In turn, the riots will make Singapore vulnerable to foreign attacks due to internal unrest. Moreover, Singapore is a small country with limited resources, thus even the slightest bit of vulnerability in the walls of our defence fortress might lead to the downfall of our country.