Contradictions in the pursuit of a multicultural society : an analysis of race-based policies in Singapore from 1960s-2010s

• Main Author: Fathin Nazhirah Nordin
• Other Authors: Ivy Yeh
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::History::Asia::Singapore::Politics and government
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/76646
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This research aims to examine the long-standing history of race-based policies in Singapore from post-independence till the 21st century. In exploring the race-based policies that have been introduced prior to the reserved presidential elections in 2017, this paper explores the contradictions that exist between the government’s intended aims behind the introduction of race-based policies and the actual implementation of these policies. The questions brought to discussion are as follows: What was the overarching intent of race-based policies? How did the intended aims contradict with the adverse consequences of these policies over time, and how have these contradictions revealed the need for a deeper understanding of racial issues? Throughout the paper, it sheds light on how race-based policies have been conceptualised, changed and contested. Over the years, the implementation of race-based policies has revealed the tensions between the public and the government in understanding these policies and has initiated a dialogue about what it means to be a multiracial society.