Lau Pa Sat is a sea of senses. The internationally renowned hawker centre is awash with smells, sound and colours, providing an array of choice that can both entice and overwhelm. On a busy Saturday night, navigating around the narrow tables with thousands of feasters can feel like a challenge in itself. On this Saturday night, the sensory overload comes with an unexpected kicker: a low rumble, easily mistaken for a passing dish cart, gradually intensifies into an alarming, pounding roar. Some tourists instinctively duck for cover as if anticipating something catastrophic, but the locals remain unfazed and busy themselves with soups and satay sticks. The thunder is the pulsating growl of F-15SG fighter jets slicing through the dusk, seemingly skirting just above Singapore’s skyscrapers. It’s all part of the dramatic rehearsals for Singapore’s 60th birthday celebrations.
For many, the sound may startle, but SG60 seems to stir a deep sense of patriotism for those who call Singapore home.
As you stroll through the Lion City, baked under a harsh equatorial sun, your mind wanders between the thick, heavy heat, the lush green flora that linet the streets, or the fact there isn’t a single piece of rubbish in sight. But recent visitors can’t help but notice the red and white of promotional materials and iconography covering the country’s ceilings, walls and floors. The buzz and excitement surrounding SG60 electrifies conversation, and the preparations hint to a colossal occasion of pomp and circumstnace. A celebration suitable to an event of this significance.
Beginning with a bitter break from a socially and economically turbulent relationship with the Malaysian Federation between 1963-65, Singapore feels like its had to prove itself time and again. The sixtieth anniversary is not only an excuse to celebrate what makes Singapore such a unique and proud nation, but a chance to step back to evaluate the progress made on some of the issues that have shaped the race and cultural dynamics of the country.
While the idea of ethnic integration and acceptance is one that is deeply ingrained within Singaporean culture, and was apart of everyone’s answer in what it means to be Singaporean at SG60, the formative years of Singapore’s independence was met with multiple ethnic clashes. These race riots, between the Singaporean-Malays and Singaporean-Chinese saw four killed, and the government stepped in hard and fast. Yet this particular riot occurred when the nation was teething with independence, so how does Singapore not only manage race relations now, but have done so in a way that has seen them become one of the most ethnically diverse, and peaceful countries in the world?
Shah Seleman is a fiercley proud Singaporean-Malay, and lives and breathes all of the cultures and customs Singapore has to offer, and Lim Xinyu, a cool calm and collected Singaporean Chinese operator both endorse the fact that there isn’t an easy-bake recipe for maintaining harmonious race relations in Singapore. Instead, they believe it is a shared and ongoing responsibility, rooted in curiosity, cooperation and consideration.
Both stress that it’s up to each individual to step out of their cultural comfort zone, to not only understand, but engage in the rich tapestry of culture that make up the nation. Whether that be joining in Diwali, or sharing a bowl of dumplings on the winter solstice. It’s the small but intentional acts that provide ethnic acceptance and balance.
Cross-cultural participation in Singapore is now a social norm, driven not only by public goodwill but by government design. Through the Housing and Development Board’s public housing scheme, affordable housing is offered on the condition that residents live in ethnically mixed communities – an intentional move to eliminate the ethnic enclaves that existed before independence. While it appears to promote harmony, this inclusion may be less an organic success than a state-designed strategy.
According to the HDB’s Ethnic Integration Policy, each neighbourhood cannot have more than an 84 per cent ethnically Chinese, 22 per cent Malay or 10 per cent Indian, with minor changes to the percentage at the individual block level. These percentages reflect the most recent data on the ethnic demographic spread of the nation.
In 2020, then-minister, and now Singporean President, Tharman Shanmugaratnam said the reason behind introducing the EIP was to bring children up through the same schools, as families send their children to schools that are close. This way they would constantly be exposed to each other’s cultures and practices.
Efforts to prevent pre-independence enclaves and promote racial harmony have also led to certain challenges. Notably, preventing minority groups from selling property due to a limited market, as people mst sell to their same ethnicity to prevent quota breaches.
Despite the challenges caused by this, Seleman says living with other races not only provides exposure, but encourages people to accept other cultures as they are ever present in peoples lives.
“In the public areas of our flats, there are everything from Malay and Indian weddings to Buddhist funerals. When you grow up with this being a part of your life, it heightens your sense of culture.”
Shah Seleman
While the Singaporean government’s incentivised ‘forced integration’ is a deliberate and structured approach to promoting social cohesion, Singaporean unity doesn’t stop at the doorstep, with mandatory military service playing a significant role in reinforcing the narrative of multicultural success.
Singapore’s National Service serves to bolster the country’s military standing. According to the 1970 Enlistment Act, all eligible male citizens, or second-generation permanent citizens register when they turn 16.5 and are expected to complete at least two years of service in the military when they turn 18, though sometimes are assigned to police or civil defence.
Andy Tan is a 63-year-old Singaporean-Malay Grab (a Southeast Asian rideshare company) driver, and has lived through the entirety of Singaporean independence. Tan reflects on his mandatory service within the Singaporean Armed Forces as an experience which bonded the different ethnicites through shared hardship, brining people together.
“In the military, we sleep, eat and do everything with the other races. If we get punished or scolded, we get punished and scolded together. I think this is why (Singaporean) races are so bonded.”
Andy Tan
While Tan reminisces of his time in the army as a tough, but unifying experience, where en of different races bonded over shared struggles, not everyone shares the sentiment. Dziezenyo Komla Manuel is a 23-year-old African-Chinee Singaporean servicemember of the SAF, and offers a stark contrast. For him, military service has been an experience that needs escaping; marked more by alienation than camaraderie. Unlike Tan, Dziezenyo says he didn’t feel a sense of unity or belonging. Instead, he counts down the days until his service ends. Eager to leave behind what he ses as a chapter of frustration and helplessness, rather than one of growth or solidarity.
During his basic training, he turned to smoking marijuana to deal with the stress. He says it brought relief and an escape from the reality, where he flt he was stuck in a system that was not set up to support those who did not want to continue on in the army, yet he felt there was nothing he could do about it – at least until his two-year service was over. Dziezenyo was caught in possession of marijuana while on medical leave, and was sent to dentention within the armed forces, where he remained for six months.
Looking at his experience in the SAF, Dziezenyo says although there are elements of training that would facilitate a bonding experience, his time was marred with instances of racial abuse from commanders, identity struggles, and helplessness.
“I thought basic training would bring everyone together, going through the mud with 100 other guys, you’re eating sh*t together – of course you are going to bond … [but] for people like myself, who dislike the program from the start, it doesn’t help.”
Dziezienyo Komla Manuel
For now, the streets continue to be covered with the spicy aromas from Little India, the mouth-watering tastes of Chinatown, the silks of Arab Street, the vibrancy of Haji Lane – and draped with the marina backdrop. Singapore is celebrating itself as nation reliant on cultural harmony that has been one of the many things that make it unique to those who live there and love it.
Singapore’s official 60th anniversary party took place on August 9, and after over two months of preparations, flyovers, roadworks and fireworks, they were ready to go. The practice runs were done, and the F-15’s roared overhead for one last Saturday night. Tourists dived for cover, and Singaporeans looked to the skies with pride.
This story was produced as part of a federal government New Colombo Plan-funded Curtin Journalism Singapore Study Tour.