Our society in the past was very diverse, with people migrating from different parts of the world when Singapore was a British colony. Now, the government takes measures to promote racial harmony and manage relations between ethnic groups. The Internal Security Department monitors for and addresses religious or racial remarks that could hurt other groups or undermine harmony. The ethnic integration policy aims to prevent overconcentration of particular ethnic groups in neighborhoods by enforcing quotas. It has helped people of different backgrounds live together from a young age, growing up together in the same schools. The group representative constituency system also helps ensure minority representation in parliament.

1. Set B

2. what was our society
like in the past?
Read the following quotes and discuss with your partner.
Answer in Google Form.

3. We were not a nation
that was meant to be.
A diverse group of
people who migrated
when we were a British
Colony - very different
origins, very different
belief systems and
religions.
Deputy Prime Minister
Tharman Shanmugaratnam,
at an international political
forum in 2015.

4. What is our society
like now?
Read the following quotes and discuss with your partner.
Answer in Google Form.

5. There have been cases where individuals have been
charged and convicted by the Internal Security
Department (ISD) to maintain harmony. For example,
people were arrested for posting anti-Malay and anti-
Muslim remarks online or for mailing Christian flyers to
Muslims which made fun of Islam.
In 2010, a pastor of a church made insensitive remarks
about Buddhism and Taoism in videos published
online. There were angry complaints from the Buddhist
and Taoist communities. The ISD called up the pastor
and told him that the comments were highly
inappropriate and unacceptable as they trivialised and
insulted the beliefs of other faiths. The pastor
apologised to local Buddhist and Taoist leaders who
accepted his apology.
In 1995, a local Muslim religious teacher criticised the
worldwide phenomenon of statues of Hindu deity Lord
Ganesh drinking milk as not a miracle but an act of
Satan. He was called up by ISD and warned against
making such disparaging remarks, which could hurt
the feelings of other religious groups.
- From a book by former
Senior Minister S. Jayakumar,

6. What is done to
manage different
ethnic groups in our
society?
Read the following quotes and discuss with your partner.
Answer in Google Form.

7. (Under the Ethnic Integration Policy), every single block of flats
and every single precinct requires an ethnic balance. That’s
intrusive, because you’re restricting who gets to be your
neighbour. So once a particular ethnic group gets beyond a certain
quota in that block or precinct, the flat must be occupied by other
ethnic groups. You can’t just get more and more of the same
people concentrating themselves in the same neighbourhood.
It turned out to be our greatest strength. Because once people live
together, they’re not just walking their corridors together every day
and taking the same elevators up and down; their kids go to the
same kindergartens, the same primary schools. Because all over
the world, young kids go to schools very near to where they live.
And they grow up together.
The lessons coming out from recent riots, the lessons coming out
of all our societies, show that neighbourhoods matter, place
matters, where you live matters.
Deputy Prime Minister
Tharman Shanmugaratnam,
at an international political
forum in 2015.

8. The key objective of the Group Representative
Constituency (GRCs) is to guarantee that minorities are
represented in Parliament. PM Lee was concerned that
the people were becoming less sensitive to the need for a
racially balanced Parliament. Ministers from the minority
communities, like Dr Ahmad Mattar and I, had concerns.
At one lunch, PM Lee asked me if I could be sure that in
future, there would always be Indian candidates elected
without being avoided because of his race. Was it
possible that a single minority MP would not be elected?
I had to concede this was possible. PM lee then asked, if
this happened, would there be negative reactions from
the minorities? Again, I had to agree.
The minority communities today take comfort in the
assurance that there will always be MPs from their
communities. If we were to abolish GRCs today, I have
no doubt that there would be fear. With GRCs in
Singapore today, any political party that wishes to be
taken seriously must be able to assemble a multiracial
team that represents the interests of different racial
groups.
- From a book by former
Senior Minister S. Jayakumar,