Is there racial harmony in Singapore? Angeline Lee [102830Y]

Racial Harmony does exist in Singapore. This is explicit enough from the fact that we do not have to live in fear that someone would assassinate us back at home due to the difference in skin tone color. One of the classic examples is Watts Riot of 1965, a large-scale riot which lasted 6 days in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. This riot had resulted in the loss of 34 people lives and 2032 people substantially injured and also leaving around $40 million in property damage. What triggered this riot to happen? It is the racial injustices suffered by black Americans in Los Angeles, including job and housing discrimination. Nonetheless, this riot could have been avoided with better communication going on being led by the government between the whites and the blacks.

From the example above, it has shown the effects of not maintaining racial harmony in the country. Hence, we should be grateful to the government that we get to enjoy racial harmony in Singapore.
It is the society that has shaped our perceptions towards racial harmony. In school, we celebrate racial harmony annually without fail. Speeches and various activities on promoting the understanding of different races are implemented in our school curriculum throughout the year. This has allowed us to know more about different races, their various cultures and practices. With the understanding of different races in mind, we become more sensitive in the use of words when having a conversation with a friend of different race in order to avoid tension and misunderstanding.

Hence, when we evolve as adults, it becomes easy and handy for us to be able to work well with different races of people as we clearly know that racial harmony cannot be taken for granted.

As such, racial harmony in Singapore is based more towards understanding rather than tolerance. We understand the importance of having racial harmony in the country. Tolerance only takes place when there is a lack of understanding in the different races. This may only occur to new immigrants who find it hard to adapt in a multi race country like Singapore initially but over time, with efforts garnered in knowing the various races, they would be able to integrate well in the Singapore.