Singapore is widely known for its diverse, multiracial, and multicultural society.
Yet interestingly, a netizen’s Reddit thread titled “Are we really as multiracial as we think?” has led to Singaporeans sharing diverse views on the matter.
The thread starter pointed out that Singaporeans often pride ourselves on being a “successful multiracial society”, with statements like “everyone is treated equally” being frequently thrown around.
“But is that really the case?” the Original Poster (OP) questioned.
The thread, posted on Monday (16 June), has garnered over 300 comments with netizens sharing their thoughts and opinions.
The OP highlighted Singapore’s Chinese-Malay-Indian-others (CMIO) Race Model, which “classifies” citizens into four racial groups for policy administration purposes.
They further claimed that the government actively works to maintain a 75% Chinese majority as a long-term policy goal.
“This isn’t just about birth rates, it includes immigration policies that favour Chinese migrants from China and Malaysia to keep that ratio intact,” wrote the OP.
The OP also alleged that “Malays are often excluded from sensitive or leadership roles” in the military.
“It’s not written into law, but it’s quietly practised and widely accepted”, they claimed.
“If another country deliberately preserved a racial majority and kept an ethnic group from serving fully in its military, people would call it racist, maybe even apartheid-like.”
In Singapore, however, this issue is explained as “pragmatism”, the OP said.
While Singapore may appear more stable and open compared to other countries, the OP thinks that we are “not much better”.
“We’ve just made our racial policies more subtle and systematised,” they argued.
Source: View Apart on Canva
Netizens were quick to chime in with their perspectives. Surprisingly, most agreed that Singapore does not truly embrace multiracialism.
One commenter, who identified as a minority, claims Singapore practices “racial tolerance at most”.
They shared personal experiences of casual racism encountered in school, their workplace, and in other social settings.
“We don’t have violent racism or outright racism, which I’m grateful for,” they wrote. However, they allegedly “laugh” when people of the majority race proclaim that there is no racism in Singapore.
Source: Reddit
A Chinese resident echoed the sentiment, acknowledging the dominance of Chinese culture and influence in the workplace and in National Service (NS).
Source: Reddit
An expatriate described Singapore’s multiracialism as being on a “pretty superficial layer”. “General subtextual (and sometimes overt) racism towards the Malay and Indian populations is pretty omnipresent,” they claimed.
Source: Reddit
“I don’t think Singapore is as multiracial as we want to admit we portray to be,” another said, adding that “deeply rooted racism” is still prevalent.
They cited alleged backlash against Subway outlets becoming halal-certified, claiming it’s an example of underlying resistance to inclusion.
The user also referenced a comment by former Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Heng Swee Keat, who said in 2019 that Singapore was not ready for a non-Chinese Prime Minister.
“That says enough,” they wrote.
“The national anthem and military commands are in Malay, and Singapore was built on its history of being part of the Malay archipelago. But sadly, we are not as multicultural as we portray ourselves to be. Subtle racism and plain ignorance will always be prevalent to hold us back from being truly multiracial,” he said.
Source: Reddit
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Featured image adapted from View Apart on Canva.