As everyone knows, Singapore is a multi-ethnic country with people from many different race , culture and religious backgrounds .It is possible for people to live in peace and harmony. Singapore has enjoyed racial and religious harmony among its people since its independence. Various policies and programs have been implemented to ensure that everyone living in Singapore, regardless of race or religion , lead a harmonious life .
The challenges faced to maintain this lifestyle are ongoing . Singapore must have been determined to maintain the peace so that Singaporeans could live such peaceful lives . The only problem faced by the government is that we would have to create more opportunities to nurture this bond within each Singaporean and allow it to flourish . There are many ways to foster social cohesion in Singapore.
1.Building a national identity.
a)Multi-racialism is the policy to promote equality among the races , with no special right granted to any particular racial or religious group. Everyone has equal opportunities to succeed , regardless of their background.
b)Common practices are actions that Singaporeans carry out together. Singing the national anthem, taking the pledge are some examples . All these help to foster national identity.
c)Bilingualism is where students are expected to learn English and Mother Tongue. English is the common language as well as a non-native language for all the ethnic groups, so that no one have any priority above another.
2.Safeguarding the interests of the minority groups
a)the policy of minority representation give minority groups a say in governance, its a good way to safeguard the interests of the minority group
b)Association plays an important role in helping members of their community who are less fortunate to get aid in their studies and training for their jobs . Self help groups will also give moral support to members of their own community.
There are still other ways to foster social cohesion such as to provide common living space,opportunities offered by educational institutions for everyone else .as well as some events and programs organized by grassroots organization.
All these can help to maintain the peace and foster the social cohesion in Singapore .
Chen Yi Zhe
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Project task A : Question 4
Why is it important to foster social cohesion?
The lack of fostering social cohesion will result in different races and racial groups to be unhappy with each other; they might also start discriminating each other and also suspect others from other racial groups. This may also lead to a worst case scenario of a Race Riot starting.
If there is lack of social cohesion in Singapore, there might be a riot starting mostly consisting of different group of race, this type of riots can lead to destruction, damages and even loss of lives.
And therefore if there is a lack of social cohesion in Singapore, this will cause the people living in a multi-ethnic society to lost confidence in their government, the lack of trust and hate will rise among each race group.
The government has put in ways and measures that help in fostering social cohesion in Singapore. They promote the Equality among races, since everyone has the same statues and since everyone is given equal opportunities and therefore a national identity is created.
They also make it such that every school in Singapore has to sing the national anthem follow by taking the pledge in the morning. This promotes loyalty and national pride to Singaporeans and this way, Singaporeans see themselves as one people.
Bilingualism was introduced so that children from other races could learn their own language. English was compulsory follow by a language of their mother tongue. Since English was compulsory, this allows Singaporeans to be able to communicate better.
Lets study on the case of the fight against Sars, those were times where people form all over the world work together, where Singaporeans work together no matter what place, school, hospitals, work just to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. I think through this, we can tell that Singapore really has a good social cohesion.
All these measures, enabling good fostering of social cohesion is vital to Singapore as it is a multi-ethnic society.
It’s very important to foster social cohesion as to enable a country of different races of people to work together, live and prosper in this small country.
Alaine Teu (2)
Social cohesion
-> brings people together in a society.
It bonds them together especially in an ethnic diversity society.
Social cohesion is important because it brings people together in a society. It is somehow like‘glue’ that bonds people together.
Social cohesion is very important especially in countries like Singapore where we live in a multi-ethic society.
The lack of fostering social cohesion will result in different races and racial groups to be unhappy with each other; they might also start discriminating each other and also suspect others from other racial groups. This may also lead to a worst case scenario of a Race Riot starting.
If there is lack of social cohesion in Singapore, there might be a riot starting mostly consisting of different group of race, this type of riots can lead to destruction, damages and even loss of lives.
And therefore if there is a lack of social cohesion in Singapore, this will cause the people living in a multi-ethnic society to lost confidence in their government, the lack of trust and hate will rise among each race group.
The government has put in ways and measures that help in fostering social cohesion in Singapore. They promote the Equality among races, since everyone has the same statues and since everyone is given equal opportunities and therefore a national identity is created.
They also make it such that every school in Singapore has to sing the national anthem follow by taking the pledge in the morning. This promotes loyalty and national pride to Singaporeans and this way, Singaporeans see themselves as one people.
Bilingualism was introduced so that children from other races could learn their own language. English was compulsory follow by a language of their mother tongue. Since English was compulsory, this allows Singaporeans to be able to communicate better.
Lets study on the case of the fight against Sars, those were times where people form all over the world work together, where Singaporeans work together no matter what place, school, hospitals, work just to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. I think through this, we can tell that Singapore really has a good social cohesion.
All these measures, enabling good fostering of social cohesion is vital to Singapore as it is a multi-ethnic society.
It’s very important to foster social cohesion as to enable a country of different races of people to work together, live and prosper in this small country.
Alaine Teu (2)
=D
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Project Task A : Question 1
1)How different are we ?
Singapore is a Multi-ethnic Society and of course we Singaporeans are made up of
groups of people who see ourselves different from other groups in terms of race ,religion, culture, physical attributes , language ,beliefs , values and customs .
Singapore is mainly made up of the Chinese , Malays and Indians.
The Chinese Singaporeans are descendants of their forefathers who were either born or immigrated to Singapore and was given Singapore citizenship or status of the permanent residence .
The Chinese Singaporeans are mainly grouped by their Chinese dialects which consists of mainly the Hokkien, Teochew, Hainanese, Cantonese and Hakka. The Chinese Singaporeans speaks both Mandarin and English , but there are some Chinese who knows how to speak the Chinese dialects .
Most of the Chinese declared themselves to be either Buddhist , Christian, Taoist or free thinkers .
In terms of the Chinese culture , the Chinese celebrate occasions like Chinese New Year , Mooncake festival, Dumpling festival and etc ; most of the Chinese woman puts on the Qipao (most typical , traditional costumes for the Chinese woman) during Chinese New Year when visiting their relatives for a reunion dinner .
There are also many local Chinese dishes such as Bak kut teh , Char Kway Teow , Hainanese Chicken Rice , Hokkien mee , Laksa and etc .
The Malays in Singapore are mainly of mixed descendents and the majority of the Malays are Sunni Muslims and the men needed to attend for prayers every Friday.
The Malays also celebrate Hari Raya Puasa during the month of Syawal after observing Ramadan and most of them put on their Baju-Kurang when visiting their friends or relatives . However, not all Malays are Muslims; there are a minority who are Christians . Most of the Malays in Singapore speaks both English and Johore-Riau .
There are some Religious Malays who preferred Arabic as their language .In terms of Malay cuisine in Singapore , there are lots of delicious foods such as Satay , Nasi Lemak , Ketupat and etc.
The Indians in Singapore are mainly persons of enthic Tamil ancestry. Most of the Tamils speaks both English and Tamil; except for some of the minority which either speak Malay language or other languages including Tamil .
The Indians Singaporeans are religiously varied ; Hinduism , Islam , Christianity , Skihism , Buddhist , non-religious and other religions . The Hindus celebrates Deepavali ,Thaipusam and minor celebrations such as Fire walking festival, Holi and chariot processions .In terms of the Indian cuisine in Singapore , there are some of the popular Indian cuisine arhar, Fish head curry , Indian rojak , Indian mee goreng , murtabak , nasi biryani , roti prata and the tarik . The Indian- Singaporeans often wears their traditional costume -Saree for celebration of the Deepavali and other traditional occasions .
onghuixuan .
Singapore is a Multi-ethnic Society and of course we Singaporeans are made up of
groups of people who see ourselves different from other groups in terms of race ,religion, culture, physical attributes , language ,beliefs , values and customs .
Singapore is mainly made up of the Chinese , Malays and Indians.
The Chinese Singaporeans are descendants of their forefathers who were either born or immigrated to Singapore and was given Singapore citizenship or status of the permanent residence .
The Chinese Singaporeans are mainly grouped by their Chinese dialects which consists of mainly the Hokkien, Teochew, Hainanese, Cantonese and Hakka. The Chinese Singaporeans speaks both Mandarin and English , but there are some Chinese who knows how to speak the Chinese dialects .
Most of the Chinese declared themselves to be either Buddhist , Christian, Taoist or free thinkers .
In terms of the Chinese culture , the Chinese celebrate occasions like Chinese New Year , Mooncake festival, Dumpling festival and etc ; most of the Chinese woman puts on the Qipao (most typical , traditional costumes for the Chinese woman) during Chinese New Year when visiting their relatives for a reunion dinner .
There are also many local Chinese dishes such as Bak kut teh , Char Kway Teow , Hainanese Chicken Rice , Hokkien mee , Laksa and etc .
The Malays in Singapore are mainly of mixed descendents and the majority of the Malays are Sunni Muslims and the men needed to attend for prayers every Friday.
The Malays also celebrate Hari Raya Puasa during the month of Syawal after observing Ramadan and most of them put on their Baju-Kurang when visiting their friends or relatives . However, not all Malays are Muslims; there are a minority who are Christians . Most of the Malays in Singapore speaks both English and Johore-Riau .
There are some Religious Malays who preferred Arabic as their language .In terms of Malay cuisine in Singapore , there are lots of delicious foods such as Satay , Nasi Lemak , Ketupat and etc.
The Indians in Singapore are mainly persons of enthic Tamil ancestry. Most of the Tamils speaks both English and Tamil; except for some of the minority which either speak Malay language or other languages including Tamil .
The Indians Singaporeans are religiously varied ; Hinduism , Islam , Christianity , Skihism , Buddhist , non-religious and other religions . The Hindus celebrates Deepavali ,Thaipusam and minor celebrations such as Fire walking festival, Holi and chariot processions .In terms of the Indian cuisine in Singapore , there are some of the popular Indian cuisine arhar, Fish head curry , Indian rojak , Indian mee goreng , murtabak , nasi biryani , roti prata and the tarik . The Indian- Singaporeans often wears their traditional costume -Saree for celebration of the Deepavali and other traditional occasions .
onghuixuan .
Project task A, Question 2
How racial issues could divide the people.
1964 Race Riots
When Singapore merged with Malaysia, Lee Kuan Yew hoped that Singapore and the Central Government could work together like brothers for the good of Malaysia. Unfortunately, this did not happen because both sides had different views about Malaysia and how the country should be governed. In Malaya, many of the political parties were formed along racial lines, Malayan Chinese Association(MCA), United Malays National Organisation(UMNO) & Malayan Indian Congress(MIC). Even though the three parties got together and formed the Alliance Party, but the main goal of each party was to look after the interests of their own community. However, in Singapore, everyone had equal rights, regardless of race, and did not aim to promote the interests of one community over another.
In Malaya, certain special rights were given to the Malays to help them improve their standard of living. Hence, the other races in the country did not enjoy these special rights. Whereas, in Singapore, the government felt that the people's standard of living would improve through education and industrialisation. It also believed that everyone should be given equal opportunity to succeed.
The Central Government expected Singapore to adapt to the system that was already in place in Malaya. However, Singapore still doesn't agree with those special rights only given to Malays. Hence, these problems strained the relationship between both political parties which led into the 1964 Race Riots.
The UMNO leaders from Malaya began to criticise the PAP government for not looking after the interests of the Malays in Singapore through the Malay press, the Utusan Melayu. Soon, an anti-PAP campaign was started. Over a period of time, more misleading articles about the PAP governments ill-treating the Malays in Singapore appeared in the Utusan Melayu.
On 21 July 1964, over 25,000 Malays gathered at the Padang to celebrate Prohet Mohammed's birthday. Some Malay leaders spoke to the peopl and in their speeches, they criticised the PAP government again for the lack of concern for the Malays in Singapore. These speeches led the group of Malays attacking Chinese passers-by and spectators. Soon, there were reports of clashes between Malays & Chinese in different parts of Singapore and a curfew was made. When the curfew was lifted, more clashes between both races occured and another curfew was imposed and was only lifted for short periods of time for people to buy food.
The Race Riots have caused a lot of racial tension between in Malays and Chinese, and also forced Singapore to leave Malaya to survive as our own. It had also caused a lot of injuries and deaths.
After the riots, we learnt that everyone regardless of race, language or religion, should stay in harmony with each another so that riots will not happen again. We also learnt that we should understand each others religion and culture so that it could solve the misunderstandings between one another.
If we do not know or understand each others religion and culture well, we might say something unpleasant, without knowing it ourselves, to another person of a different race. As a result, what we have said might have become an insult for their race and could cause hatred between two parties. I feel that everyone react sensitively to race issues because everybody has their own beliefs of their own race and could not tolerate insults from other people about their race.
Vivien Chong.
*Racial Harmony Day is celebrated every year to remind people to stay in harmony with each other, regardless of race, language or religion!:)
1964 Race Riots
When Singapore merged with Malaysia, Lee Kuan Yew hoped that Singapore and the Central Government could work together like brothers for the good of Malaysia. Unfortunately, this did not happen because both sides had different views about Malaysia and how the country should be governed. In Malaya, many of the political parties were formed along racial lines, Malayan Chinese Association(MCA), United Malays National Organisation(UMNO) & Malayan Indian Congress(MIC). Even though the three parties got together and formed the Alliance Party, but the main goal of each party was to look after the interests of their own community. However, in Singapore, everyone had equal rights, regardless of race, and did not aim to promote the interests of one community over another.
In Malaya, certain special rights were given to the Malays to help them improve their standard of living. Hence, the other races in the country did not enjoy these special rights. Whereas, in Singapore, the government felt that the people's standard of living would improve through education and industrialisation. It also believed that everyone should be given equal opportunity to succeed.
The Central Government expected Singapore to adapt to the system that was already in place in Malaya. However, Singapore still doesn't agree with those special rights only given to Malays. Hence, these problems strained the relationship between both political parties which led into the 1964 Race Riots.
The UMNO leaders from Malaya began to criticise the PAP government for not looking after the interests of the Malays in Singapore through the Malay press, the Utusan Melayu. Soon, an anti-PAP campaign was started. Over a period of time, more misleading articles about the PAP governments ill-treating the Malays in Singapore appeared in the Utusan Melayu.
On 21 July 1964, over 25,000 Malays gathered at the Padang to celebrate Prohet Mohammed's birthday. Some Malay leaders spoke to the peopl and in their speeches, they criticised the PAP government again for the lack of concern for the Malays in Singapore. These speeches led the group of Malays attacking Chinese passers-by and spectators. Soon, there were reports of clashes between Malays & Chinese in different parts of Singapore and a curfew was made. When the curfew was lifted, more clashes between both races occured and another curfew was imposed and was only lifted for short periods of time for people to buy food.
The Race Riots have caused a lot of racial tension between in Malays and Chinese, and also forced Singapore to leave Malaya to survive as our own. It had also caused a lot of injuries and deaths.
After the riots, we learnt that everyone regardless of race, language or religion, should stay in harmony with each another so that riots will not happen again. We also learnt that we should understand each others religion and culture so that it could solve the misunderstandings between one another.
If we do not know or understand each others religion and culture well, we might say something unpleasant, without knowing it ourselves, to another person of a different race. As a result, what we have said might have become an insult for their race and could cause hatred between two parties. I feel that everyone react sensitively to race issues because everybody has their own beliefs of their own race and could not tolerate insults from other people about their race.
Vivien Chong.
*Racial Harmony Day is celebrated every year to remind people to stay in harmony with each other, regardless of race, language or religion!:)
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
IPW project worksheet 2
Hi all, Alaine here.
After much discussion with the group, here I am going to blog the piece of worksheet given out by our ss teacher.
Name of group : Dhavy. We call ourselves that because it was a combination of the starting letter of our name. = )
Project task undertaken : After discussing, we had decided to do task number A.
Roles and responsibilities of each member :
We decided that it would be best for us to help out in every role should each of our team member need help.
Therefore we decided that the group would have not one but 5 leaders. Each of us are responsible for this project, we all have a vital part to play in this project, one person less would make a big significant difference. So with all of us being leader for this group, we would feel more responsible of ourselves as well as prevent any authority problems from occurring.
Leaders - DHAVY(S)
Secretary : Huixuan
-> keep group file
-> collect worksheet and whatever necessary
*This role is very important, without this role, the group would not be organise and things may not run smoothly.
IT coordinator : Alaine, whoever that is intrested in posting :)
-> posting reflections and ensure they are in a presentable way.
Blog designer : Whoever who is capable of creating a nice blogskin :)
-> create a nice blogskin
* we made this open because we decided that if someone can make a nicer blogskin than the other, why not ?
Time Keeper : Darren, Yizhe, Vivien, Huixuan, Alaine
-> to remind each other about deadlines
*This is open to all of us because we feels that everyone is responsible for this project and should ensure their's is handed in on time as well as remind teammates about it because we are a team. :)
And the end..
Thank-you !
Take care and see-ya !
=D
After much discussion with the group, here I am going to blog the piece of worksheet given out by our ss teacher.
Name of group : Dhavy. We call ourselves that because it was a combination of the starting letter of our name. = )
Project task undertaken : After discussing, we had decided to do task number A.
Roles and responsibilities of each member :
We decided that it would be best for us to help out in every role should each of our team member need help.
Therefore we decided that the group would have not one but 5 leaders. Each of us are responsible for this project, we all have a vital part to play in this project, one person less would make a big significant difference. So with all of us being leader for this group, we would feel more responsible of ourselves as well as prevent any authority problems from occurring.
Leaders - DHAVY(S)
Secretary : Huixuan
-> keep group file
-> collect worksheet and whatever necessary
*This role is very important, without this role, the group would not be organise and things may not run smoothly.
IT coordinator : Alaine, whoever that is intrested in posting :)
-> posting reflections and ensure they are in a presentable way.
Blog designer : Whoever who is capable of creating a nice blogskin :)
-> create a nice blogskin
* we made this open because we decided that if someone can make a nicer blogskin than the other, why not ?
Time Keeper : Darren, Yizhe, Vivien, Huixuan, Alaine
-> to remind each other about deadlines
*This is open to all of us because we feels that everyone is responsible for this project and should ensure their's is handed in on time as well as remind teammates about it because we are a team. :)
And the end..
Thank-you !
Take care and see-ya !
=D
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Enjoying every single second =)
Let us start the post with a picture !
Where's alaine ?
Boo ! Alaine here =)
A clique, Us, A small but Close group of friends! =)
Where's alaine ?
Boo ! Alaine here =)
Today the Dhavy(s) met up to discuss on the project. It was not only serious work but we had alot of fun as well. Really enjoy today, hoped u all had enjoyed it too.
We went to the National library to discuss as there were Internet services and all the more it's quiet!
Well there were some weird things that happen to us, like the picture, really scary though.
But the most important thing is that we got our work done, at least what we have to discuss and stuff.
I look forward to the next meetup ! =D
Bye and take care!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
First post in our IPW blog.
Hello,
The name DHAVY, we created from a mix of the starting letter of each of our names.
:D
Looking forward to doing this projects with you guys yeah ?
Alrights, shall end here!
Bye and take cares !
Alaine :D
The name DHAVY, we created from a mix of the starting letter of each of our names.
:D
Looking forward to doing this projects with you guys yeah ?
Alrights, shall end here!
Bye and take cares !
Alaine :D
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