4 K.W. Kwok, ‘The Problem of “Tradition” in Contemporary Singapore’, in Arun Mahizhnan (ed.), Heritage and Contemporary Values (Singapore: Times Academic Press, 1993), p. 8. Japanese occupied both Malaya and Singapore in 1942–45. Those times were rife with ethnic animosity instigated by the Japanese who were at war with China and India. At that time, the Communists who fought the Japanese in the Malayan jungles won the respect of the Chinese. In 1949, Mainland China became socialist while the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan. That political development in China impacted the Chinese in Singapore, who became divided into pro-Beijing, pro-Taiwan (these two groups are primarily Chinese-educated), and those (especially the English-educated) who looked upon Singapore as their home. The government regarded Chinese education “as either China-oriented political radicalism or ethnic chauvinism, both politically undesirable in a developmentalist and multicultural state.”5 The lack of social cohesion had to do with the centrifugal forces of “outpost nationalism”. Fostering social cohesion as well as political allegiance to Singapore in order to sustain political stability became the top priority during the mid-1950s, a time of nation-building. Racial harmony is essential to nation-building in the context of multiracial Singapore.6 A commission was formed to study ways to create social cohesion and political allegiance to Singapore as “home”. In 1959, when Singapore gained self-government but not independent status, the People’s Action Party (PAP) government implemented most of the recommendations of this commission.7 One of the significant moves towards social cohesion in the process of nation-building in the decades following its independence in 1965 was the total revamping of the tools of education. Locally produced textbooks replaced those published in Shanghai, Taipei, Hong Kong, Madras and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Chiew records: “Written in four official languages, the contents were Singaporeanized and pluralized … Now, whatever their ethnic backgrounds, they are taught the history and culture of the four major ethnic groups in Singapore as well as Singapore’s history and way of life. These changes may be described as Singaporeanized cultural integration.”8 In 1978, “the schools were brought under a unified ‘national system,’ with English as the medium of instruction and each student’s ‘mother tongue’ – Mandarin, Malay, or Tamil – relegated to the status of second language.”9
5 See Chua and Kwok, p. 108. Intra-cultural divide exists until this day between the Chinese-educated Chinese and the English-educated Chinese. However, Chua and Kwok note that there have been mutual efforts in recent years to bridge this intra-cultural divide (p. 109). 6 Jon S.T. Quah records on racial riots in Singapore, “Racial riots are the most serious threats to the survival of Singapore. Fortunately, there had only been a few racial riots – the Maria Hertogh riots of December 1950; the July and September 1964 racial riots; and the unpublicised racial riots as a result of the spillover effects of the 13 May 1969 racial riots in Kuala Lumpur.” See his chapter, ‘Government Policies and Nation-Building’ (1990), p. 58. 7 Chiew elaborates that the recommendations centred on the elimination of division by ethnicity, forging of mutual understanding, increased inter-ethnic interaction and elimination of discrimination against minorities. See pp. 12–13. 8 Ibid., p. 14. 9 Chua and Kwok, p. 90. The aggressive drive towards cultural integration was regarded as necessary not only for national stability, but as a prerequisite to economic growth. It was felt that the key to combating competing loyalties and primordial ties was the promotion of economic growth. Thus, the PAP government was fully committed to modernisation and developmental goals. For decades following its independence, the government of Singapore has concentrated its energy in ensuring the viability and sustaining the success of Singapore. A great part of this concentration is an active attention to and promotion of economic-dictated values that have shaped the Singapore culture.
Under the hegemony of the PAP government, we witnessed a phenomenal transformation of Singapore into a modern success story. This transformation of Singapore is achieved “by the logic of the economic development.”10 Consequently, this practical rationality practised by the PAP government affected the development of traditional values of the ethnic cultures in the following decades of nation-building. Though these values were given constitutional recognition, they also suffered a conscious neglect. The political decision to discourage ethnic cultural identities was needed “to maintain a ‘neutral’, ‘belong to all but none in particular’ stance … necessary to persuade our citizens to become ‘more’ Singaporean and to direct their loyalty and identity towards the new nation rather than to China, India and the Malay world respectively.”11 Today the strongest social bond among Singaporeans is the economic success of the nation. Economic success has brought with it substantial self-definition and national pride, thereby contributing to the development of national culture and identity.12