SINGAPORE’S APPROACH TO MANAGING CULTURE AND CLASS
Introduction
Singapore’s initiatives to manage culture has been facilitated by the presence of different ethnic groups in the country. Hence, the nation has been compelled to develop a common national identity taking into consideration the cultural heritage and beliefs of the diverse social groups. The Singaporean government has developed initiatives to create sense into cultural studies since its independence in 1965. As such, culture in Singapore has been utilized as an attempt to create a national identity through an authoritarian approach. The government has taken upon itself to promote culture relative to the response from its citizens on nation-building initiatives. Thus, the state has adopted distinct popular national discourses to allow for further liberalization on the importance of culture in the modern Singaporean society. Therefore, Singapore has utilized a cross-cultural approach to managing culture and class since its independence.
Singapore’s approach to managing culture and class differences
Singapore’s government has developed a multicultural landscape to help manage culture and class disparities experienced in the island nation (Ortmann, 2010). The state articulates that managing culture and class differences helps intervene in the numerous wrangles existing in its society due to multiethnicity. The racial riots experienced in 1964 and 1969 serves as a reference point for the government’s prospects of achieving mutual existence in modern Singapore’s society. It is evident that Singapore has taken advantage of the diversity of differences due to race and religion to develop the best course of action into the future (Ortmann, 2010). Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Since independence Singapore has continuously strived to achieve globalization as a strategic approach to managing culture and class differences. However, in reality, Singapore’s initiatives to manage diversity has been a continuous process with numerous problems often derailing plans to achieve societal cohesiveness (Mathew & Fong, 2016). In the past decades, Singapore has embraced cosmopolitanism as it aims to develop itself on the global map. The government has ensured that it is spearheading to develop creativity and social innovation to harmonize class differences which have for long halted prospects to achieve equity. Also, cultural liveliness has been advocated as a means to manage culture due to the different ethnic groups present in Singapore (Leifer, 2018). As such, citizens have developed a better understanding of societal differences by promoting cultural exposure required to achieve cultural diversity.
Since independence, the Singaporean government has strived to manage class and cultural differences by promoting superdiversity (Lu, 2014). The administration’s approach has helped deal with cultural stereotypes which has led to the development of distinct ideological perspectives on issues such as racism (Mathew & Fong, 2016). As such, governmental agencies have been at the forefront removing the rigidity of specific racial groupings to remove some of the oppressive social dimensions in the society. However, the government still needs to develop clear policies and frameworks required to manage class and culture disparities. Integration has been a key initiative adopted by the government to promote inclusivity to achieve racial harmony. So, Singapore has been keen on fixing some of the faults in its society to comprehensively manage the divisions present in society (Ho, 2019).
The extent of the government’s involvement
The government should be directly involved in managing culture and class in Singapore due to the current issues facing race and religion (Ortmann, 2010). Thus, the government should enact laws on critical issues, but a majority of the citizens feels that the government has done enough. The government’s involvement will help fix some of the faults experience in the modern-day Singapore such as class, immigration and cultural issues (Ho, 2019). If the government does not fix the issues on class and culture, the citizens will lose trust in the government. In the long run, poor culture and class management by the government would result in violence, thus halting initiatives undertaken by the government to promote inclusivity. The government’s involvement aligns to the high expectations of the people on managing such emerging issues.
Since independence, Singapore has strived to manage class and class conflicts due to its multiethnic nature by outlining key fault-line in management (Ho, 2019). As such, the government should keep focused on promoting social cohesion due to the dire consequences posed by the lack of integration in its society. Therefore, the government should place an emphasized approach to culture and class to articulate differences due to ethnicity and class differences. So, the government would ensure that it attracts and retain foreign talent as it spearheads to improve on its cosmopolis nature. The administration should seek to create class equity by nurturing minds having great prospects in improving cultural and social integration in the island nation (Leifer, 2018). Hence, challenges that come with nation-building efforts will be comprehensively addressed to create a common standpoint on critical issues.
Sociological concepts
Culture refers to customs, ideas, and social behaviour of a given group in society. Benjamin stipulates that in Singapore, culture has been used to characterize multiracialism as a vital element of the country’s way of living (Benjamin, 1975). Moreover, race refers to a group of people sharing common social and physical attributes which are distinct in a given society (Benjamin, 1975). As such, Benjamin postulates that race has been used to develop multiracial ideologies relative to a large number of Chinese and Indians living in Singapore. Over the last decades, the race has been used as a fundamental principle to avert racial discrimination in the country. Finally, ethnicity exemplifies the state of belonging to a particular social group with a common cultural and national tradition. In Singapore, ethnicity has been used to promote equality among the three major racial groups in the country to promote inclusiveness (Benjamin, 1975).
Singapore’s specific brand
Singapore utilize specific brands to address concerns postulated by multiracialism, religion, and class. Multiracialism has led to the enactment of various policies aimed at increasing integration between its people belonging to different races (Mathew & Fong, 2016). As such, multiracialism in Singapore has been apprehended as a social and cultural institution to help bring diversity in the country. However, multiracialism proves not to be the lone influencer of culture since religion and class differences have played a critical role in managing the Singaporean society. For instance, the super mama brand in Singapore helped achieve inclusivity due to the high quality of creations available to the public. A pragmatic approach has been used in Singapore to manage religion with Christianity, Islam and Buddhism commanding a huge number of followers. Initiatives adopted in the island nation has helped keep God in place since religion in the past had proved chaotic to control.
Singapore’s history as a plural society
The country’s history as a plural society shows how Singapore utilized a political system aimed at controlling ethnicity based on the colonialist’s urban projects. Singapore is characterized as a contemporary state having a plural society since the development of its historical divisions (Lu, 2014). Pluralism definition changed during the first 50 years of British colonialism due to the development of political formations. The era was considered as a prison system since the racial minorities were never considered as part of Singapore’s history. After independence in 1965, Singapore still depicted a plural society relative to the different races which required diverse approaches to develop social cohesion. Approaches such as the public housing were developed to address concerns due to its pluralism nature and the urgency to promote inclusivity.
Components of Singapore society
The race serves as a crucial component of Singapore’s society due to the multicultural and multiracial nature of the society with Chinese attributing to 76.2% of the total population (Goh, 2016). Thus, the minority groups needed to feel secure, thus the need to promote cohesiveness within the societal context. Also, ethnicity required Singaporeans to exist in harmony, considering the Malays are the indigenous community but not the majority (Lu, 2014). Chinese have crowded Singapore raising questions on the importance of equality in modern-day Singapore. Religion forms an area of concern due to the diversity in religious practices ranging from Christianity, Islamic, and Buddhism. As such, there is the need to control and manage religion in Singapore while adhering to individual right to worship.
Conclusion
Singapore has developed an excellent mechanism to manage culture and class in the multiracial society. Thus, Singapore has spearheaded on developing diversity as the means of integrating the different members of society. Competent approaches have been used by the government to address concerns raised by culture and class disparities in the country. Hence, the government has to directly get involved in enacting laws crucial to the development of an inclusive society. Such prospects have seen Singapore utilize the best strategic approach to dealing with people having varying religion, race, and culture. Singapore’s history as a plural society shows steps undertaken by the government to achieve inclusivity in the modern-day society.
References
Benjamin, G. (1975). The cultural logic of Singapore’s multiracialism. Singapore: Department of Sociology, University of Singapore. Link: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=i-7AOHscNewC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=related:DzV3z0ujXB8J:scholar.google.com/&ots=AZu581l4Ub&sig=PAyMhl9witi-RRnntfEM6N8i9UQ
Goh, S. D. P. (2016). The Plural Society and Multiculturalism in Malaysia and Singapore. In Multicultural Challenges and Redefining Identity in East Asia (pp. 225-246). Routledge. Link: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315596228/chapters/10.4324/9781315596228-14
Ho, G. (2019). The majority now aware of race, religious issues, but study flags new fault lines. Retrieved 10 March 2020, from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/majority-now-aware-of-race-religious-issues-but-study-flags-new-fault-lines
Leifer, M. (2018). Singapore: Society in Transition. Edited by Riaz Hassan. Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1976. Pp. xix, 371, Tables, Figures, Acknowledgement, Notes on the Contributors. Introduction, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover M $37.50, Paperback M $20.00. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 9(1), 148-150. Link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-studies/article/singapore-society-in-transition-edited-by-hassanriaz-oxford-university-press-kuala-lumpur-1976-pp-xix-371-tables-figures-acknowledgement-notes-on-the-the-contributors-introduction-bibliography-index-hardcover-m3750-paperback-m2000/F586CDD15BB1CB7909DDC6FDE28DE35D
Lu, L. (2014). Recognize superdiversity in S’pore to overcome stereotyping. Retrieved 10 March 2020, from https://www.todayonline.com/daily-focus/education/recognise-superdiversity-spore-overcome-stereotyping
Mathew, M., & Fong, C. W. (Eds.). (2016). Managing diversity in Singapore: Policies and prospects. World Scientific. Link: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=VlS2DAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=managing+diversity+in+singapores+policies+and+prospects+matthews&ots=WDrcESIXa-&sig=g3rvsZS-0CB2dXKgazclGYVF2QA
Ortmann, S. (2010). Singapore: The politics of inventing national identity. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 28(4), 23-46. Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/186810340902800402