Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister of Manpower, speak on Racial Tolerance in 13th International Conference on South Asia

An excellent speech by Mrs Josephine Teo, Singapore’s Minister of Manpower and 2nd Minister for Home Affairs, on racial tolerance in Singapore during the 13th International Conference on South Asia: Politics in a Changing South Asia.

In the keynote speech, Minister Teo share her thoughts on Singapore’s multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious heritage.

“This is a country where every language, culture and religion has its place. In terms of ethnicity, Singapore is becoming more diverse, even though Malays, Indians and Chinese still make up more than 95% of our population. According to a Pew Research Center report, Singapore is the most religiously diverse country in the world. You can see this at our major events, where the Inter-Religious Organisation that gathers to pray comprises representatives from 10 religions. Regardless of our differences, every Singaporean knows that we want to be ‘one people, one nation, one Singapore.’ ”

However she warns that our peaceful state of harmony is being challenged in the increasingly uncertain, divided and digital world that we live in.

” The Singapore Government does not take racial and religious harmony for granted. Multiculturalism is not a state of nature. Instead, it takes unstinting commitment and deliberate interventions to create and to maintain. Without such efforts, we cannot prevent racial and religious tensions from rearing their ugly heads, and eventually seeping into our politics.

This is why we do not take lightly recent developments around the world. In particular, the resurgence of identity politics and divisive sentiments along racial and religious lines is deeply troubling.

In present times, the battles to counter hate and violent extremism on cyberspace are won or lost in minutes and seconds. 14 days in the physical world is a century in the cyber-world”.

For the full text of her speech, visit HERE.

This event is attended by no less than 14 Embassies and High Commission in Singapore.