Singapore’s Minister for Education has condemned racial insensitivities displayed in a newly surfaced photo taken in 2016. He also called on students to continue condoning discrimination and reiterated the government’s support to the students.
A newly resurfaced photo taken in 2016, where a group of students was celebrating their friend’s birthday has ignited a conversation about race in Singapore. The photo depicted a group of Chinese students wearing blackface, while others had black masks covering their faces.
Racial insensitivities in the picture
Students in the picture also displayed props written whitening kid, with posters of the slumdog millionaire movie in the background. Amid increased global scrutiny on racial insensitivities espoused daily in our social life, the photo served as a reminder that Singapore also had its own skeletons in the closet.
Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung, for the first time, addressed the viral photo by first commending young people in the country for standing against racial insensitivities in the country. He continued by saying actions carried out by students seen in the photos were not condoned in the country.
The US- Singapore contrast
He also highlighted the differences in racial relationships between the US and Singapore. Historically, the two countries have taken different paths when it comes to race matters. For Singapore, it set out to create a multi-racial, multi-religious, and multi-lingual society in 1965, and has always maintained support and accepted people regardless of their races.
He contrasted his country with the US which has had civil wars, civil rights movements demanding equal rights from the government, and painful history of slavery according to the minister.
Kung continued by saying that he recognized that some form of racial insensitivities and discrimination existed in the country. However, it was not as pronounced as other countries such as the US, which has plunged into protest following the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police department.
He urged students to continue condoning any form of discrimination they come across and reiterated the government’s effort in ensuring everybody’s rights are respected regardless of ethnicity or religion.
Featured image by Pexel
