Chapter 4- What Is Diversity?

Question 1

What are the factors that shape Identity and Contribute to Diversity?

Answer 1

1. NATIONALITY
   - People of same nationality share common hist., language and practices.
   - Example: Besides using english as common lang. in schs, Sgreans use Singlish in everyday life. We also have common love for local food such as chicken rice. Immigrants of different nationalities such as Malaysians or Koreans bring their unique cultures here.
2. RACE AND ETHNICITY
   - Diff. Races have diff. cultural practices.
   - Example: We have diff. festivals such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Deepavali.
3. RELIGION
   - Religions influence our ways of life. Although they share common beliefs of love and respect, there are diff. btw religions.
   - Example: Dietary restrictions such as buddhists and hindus who cannot eat beef or Muslims who cannot eat pork.
4. SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS (SES)
   - sgreans hv diff. lvl of income, wealth and education
   - Example: Sgreans with higher SES may eat more at exp. restaurants and engage in hobbies like golf, whereas sports like basketball is enjoyed by people of every SES grps as facilities are easily accessible.

Question 2

How can factors that shape identity lead to disharmony?

Answer 2

1. NATIONALITY
   - Sun Xun. Uni student who came from China on scholarship who vented his frustrations against locals online by labelling them as “dogs”.
2. RACE AND ETHNICITY
   - Amy Cheong. Chinese Sgrean who made a racist FB post about Malay void deck weddings and mocked their divorce rates.
3. RELIGION
   - Rony Tan. A christian pastor who released online videos where he ridiculed the beliefs of Buddhists and Taoists.
4. SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS (SES)
   - Anton Casey. A rich expatriate working in Singapore who insulted public transport users as poor and having a stench.

Question 3

How can these factors lead to Harmony?

Answer 3

1. NATIONALITY
   - The Singapore Citizenship Journey (SCJ) is a mandatory programme for new citizens. They hv to take an online course to learn abt spore and take a half-day tour to exp. our culture and history and attend community sharing sessions to interact with locals.
2. RACE AND ETHNICITY
   - The Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP) limits the proportion of different races in every HDB neighbourhood and block to prevent the formation of ethnic enclaves.
3. RELIGION
   - In sg, different places or worship are built near one another.
   - The Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple is a mixed-religion temple with Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu deities, as well as muslim shrine.
4. SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS (SES)
   - FairePrice Share-A-Textbook is a community project that encourages Sgreans to donate used TB to the needy.