There has been a lot of talk about race and stuff recently with all the frigging debacles around. I have only one thing to say.
If I was the CEO of NTUC, I'd have fired her too. Not for racist sentiments. Oh no. I'd fire her, because she just proven that her IQ is comparable to her shoe size, and for being a complete fuckwit. I don't know and don't care what your inclinations are, but to put it up on Facebook? Find me a soft wall so I can hit my head gently against it.
But let's consider the bigger picture. Racism in Singapore. Are we going to be like the States? And we become so incredibly sensitive about race, and make such a big deal about avoiding it? Is there no better model?
One already exists. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the Singapore Hawker Centre.
I have, in times past, told many of my overseas friends that the hawker centre is the sign of a truly integrated society where regardless of race, language or religion, good food is good food, and everybody drinks Tiger.
I mean seriously. If I, a Chinese boy, decides to buy nasi lemak, does anyone bat an eyelid? No. If my Malay friends decides to get some vegetarian zi-char, nobody cares except, "nice or not?" and seriously, EVERYONE EATS PRATA! And all of this happens under one roof!
The Chinese stalls are next to Indian stalls, which is next to the sarabat stall, and nobody says ANYTHING for the longest time! Why are we being all sensitive now? We are colourblind when it comes to food, why should it be different for anything else in the world?
And honestly, Malay, Chinese, Indian, who cares? When it comes to food, good is good. When it comes to people, same thing. Simple, no?
3 comments:
I agree that good food under one roof is a proven formula that stood the test of time in promoting racial integration.
The problem is when all the races are forced to accept a father and son lording over them and live with the fact both men remain clueless what it means to live in HDB flat and eat at hawker centres.
The call for racial harmony is but a farce created by the powers to divide and rule the population. The actual design of the old HDB flats, coffee shops and hawker centre made enforced racial integration unnecessary. I do not know if many remember when there was talk about a true Singaporean identity, basically a racially mixed population. This was happening back then because there were increasing number of mixed marriages between the Singaporeans races. I recall LKY explictely saying that he is against the melting pot. Soon the segregation started. Quotas for flats, no more coffee shops, hawker centers, more PRC Chinese and India Indians brought in to create difference as the local Chinese and Indians were too integrated. All this while crying wolf. I am sure the number of mixed marriages has dropped over the years (more married to Ang Moh now) and that was what was orginally intended
Good points both. I have a point to note though.
I cannot influence what the government policies are, neither am I willing to step into THAT can of worms to make do something about it.
What I do, what I can do, is to do as much as possible to promote racial bo-chubness. That the people around me are colourblind, as far as race is concerned.
My KPIs are simple, as long as everyone around me can have fun together, regardless of race, language or religion, MY job is done.
As Bruce Lee says, we are all one family under the sky. It's just that people are different.
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