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"In a rare speech in Parliament on Wednesday, Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew pointed out what he feels are the stark realities of race relations in Singapore. While one of the basic rules of governance here is to keep the state secular, political observers said race and religion can never be truly separated from Singapore's political structure.
84-year-old Othman Wok is one of Singapore's pioneer leaders. He was the first minister to be put in charge of Muslim affairs before the portfolio was formalised in Cabinet. He explained that while his role was to oversee specific issues concerning his community, such as the building of mosques and pilgrimage arrangements, there was also the task of being the intermediary between the government and the minority Muslim community. "To see that everybody is treated equally because these communities sometimes have their own problems. So for the Muslims, you have to have a Malay who understands their problem," he said. "The government gets feedback from whoever's in charge - What is the best way to solve this? Why did it happen? Although it's peaceful, sometimes little things can happen. Part of my role was to see that race relations between the Muslims and the rest were smooth."
The position of Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs was formalised in 1977. Today, it is a position held by Minister of Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim.
Having lived through the 1964 race riots, Mr Othman knows too well that race relations are delicate. "It's always there. The only thing is to calm it down, to keep it down so that it won't flare up again. My generation, the future generation – it's the same thing," he said.
Other ministers have also been informally tasked to oversee the Indian and Eurasian communities – Senior Minister S Jayakumar for the Indian community and Foreign Minister George Yeo for the Eurasian community.
Eugene Tan, assistant professor, School of Law, Singapore Management University, said: "I think we have reached a stage where if any particular religious or racial community feels insecure, our ethnic peace and stability would be under threat. "When individual communities' identities are secure, I think that would contribute to the overall peace and stability that we've enjoyed. It's part of the whole exercise of confidence building." Some point to the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system, which ensures minority representation in Parliament, as another example of the reality of Singapore politics with regard to race and religion.
Bilveer Singh, political scientist from the National University of Singapore, explained: "In housing, there is no place in Singapore where a minority is a majority. If you play politics and leave it to the state of nature, there will not be a single Indian or Malay in Parliament through a natural process, so you have to politicise race and religion on this count for the sake of a bigger good. "This is a benign politicisation, compared to maligned politicisation. Maligned politicisation would be a Chinese, Malay or Indian (who) asserts and demands that the state play politics according to one's race, religion. The GRC is not about creating a Malay or a Chinese or an Indian constituency per se, but it's about representation. "We politicise race and religion in a very indirect fashion. If you don't do so, politics of race and religion will become de facto a reality because the minorities will say, 'I am not just being under-represented, I am being unrepresented' and the bomb will explode."
Even after 50 years of self-governance, observers said race and religion will continue to shape Singapore's politics, especially with the triple threats of increasing religiosity, ethnic flash points around the region and rising number of new immigrants. No national policy has ever been framed to benefit one particular race or religion, and that is the essence of being a meritocratic, secular society. While every group has its own ethnic autonomous space, this cannot override the common Singaporean space. Increasing the common space for all Singaporeans is key, even for ethnic-based self-help groups.
Today, these groups have evolved to form broad partnerships. For example, Mendaki, SINDA and the CDAC have jointly organised job fairs and offer joint tuition programmes to serve all races."
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