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Or do you have a persecution mentality?
The issue of racism is taking center stage in countries around the world. While many blame Donald Trump for the current divisiveness, the truth is that racism has always been a part of us. Trump did not create it, he just made it okay to verbalize and act on it.
Singapore has not been spared this new state of wokeness, and the government’s recent statement on the state of racism in Singapore is, in my opinion, long overdue.
For the longest time, Singaporeans were discouraged from speaking about race and religion. Not to stifle free speech but to maintain racial harmony. This is because racism is highly emotive and not done properly, can have dire consequences.
Today, the proliferation of social media and its megaphone effect for those on the fringes, coupled with a more educated and woke society, makes avoiding the issue no longer an option. This IS an important conversation for our society to have if we want to continue to be a multi-racial nation.
What is however important, as we start to have these conversations, is that minorities (and the majority too) need to avoid cancel culture or going on witch-hunts for incidents of discrimination.
As part of paying it forward, I am a member of several volunteer groups. When the…
