Despite being a small city-state, Singapore prides itself on embracing diversity. It is a country where many ethnicities, cultures and religions live in harmony. It is also a multi-dimensional society where each race is encouraged to preserve its unique culture and traditions, and at the same time, appreciate and respect those of others. With such a distinction, Singapore’s identity was a prominent subject in the early years when it gained independence in 1965 – it dominated the speeches of Singapore’s founding leaders, and shaped almost every aspect of Singapore's development, including the economy, defence, foreign relations and politics. With progress and development, Singapore’s stance on both language and religion had evolved over the years. However, the emergence of globalization did not necessarily blur the lines.
In essence, a common language of great commercial value was chosen and that had the effects of enabling racial intermingling, as well as promoting the equality of all languages. As for religion, it is indisputable that ideologies are more easily spread these days. At the same time, Singapore continues to safeguard racial and religious harmony by ensuring respect for all religions. Although there were setbacks, inclusivity, fairness and respect remain as the common themes behind our national identity. Thus, Singapore’s national identity did not necessarily become more difficult to establish since globalization.
The increasingly interconnected world resulted in a common language being chosen in multiracial Singapore, thereby uniting the population. English had a special place in Singapore and was the chosen common language for the multiracial population as it had both commercial and industrial value. At a time with greater access to globalization and faced with the need to penetrate the world market, Singapore actively pursued globalization. English was the language of the Commonwealth, which Singapore belongs to, and being proficient in English would enhance communication between the Commonwealth countries and benefit trade. English was thus seen a pre-requisite for a healthy economy. Singapore’s independence was dependent on the English language literacy in order to build a socio-economic network of an island commercial centre. In the early 1960s, English language’s supremacy was felt. Investors were highly attracted to an English speaking labour force, and English was seen as the language of science and technology, which are the main building blocks of advancements to any economy. There was also an increasing trend towards the preference of English medium schools, highlighting the social and economic power of English against the once popular Chinese schools in Singapore. For instance, in 1965, 30% of primary school students registered with Chinese stream schools as compared to 61% for English stream schools. These falling rates were a testament to the increasing dominance of an English-educated workforce. Globalization called for the need for a communicable language for trade, which led to a common language to be established in Singapore. With increasing presence of a common language, English, through globalization, unity was achieved as it enabled racial “intermingling” (Purushotam, 1998) among the separate ethnic identities, thus forging a common Malayan national identity over and above the separate ethnic identities.
With globalization and therefore English as the chosen commercial and common language, it also promoted equality of treatment of all other languages of Singapore. This encouraged acceptance within the country and made it easier to establish a clear national identity. The basic tenet of the Commission of Inquiry into Education Singapore Final Report of 1963 was to endorse the equality of treatment for all languages. Language was synonymous to culture and race. English as the local lingua franca, Chinese as the mother tongue of the overwhelming Chinese population, and Malay as the national language for the unification of the state’s multiracial society into one (at that time, Malaysian) nation. There is a place for every language. Upon independence in 1965, Singapore implemented a policy of multilingualism. Subsequently, emphasis was placed on the Mother Tongue-English combination. In particular, the Chinese-English combination would outweigh the advantages of knowing either language. English is the commercial language, however, with the ‘Four Modernisation’ program, China would become a major trading partner. Since the latter communicates in mandarin, bilingualism is greatly valued. The same goes for Malay and Tamil – being a diplomatic language and language of trade in South-East Asia (SEA) and India respectively. In the field of education, the idea was for English to be the first language of instruction in a one-medium school with equality of all 3 other languages: Chinese, Malay and Tamil. This was implemented through a compulsory second language, the ‘Mother Tongue’. Further, the merger of Chinese medium, Nanyang University, and English medium, University of Singapore, to become the National University of Singapore in 1981 proved Lee Kuan Yew’s direction and commitment towards bilingualism. The language representative of each race in Singapore was treated fairly and diversity was embraced, thereby enhancing Singapore’s national identity.
Certainly, globalization has created some ambiguity in Singapore’s national identity. In 1979, the Goh report identified shortcomings in the education system including high education wastage, low levels of literacy, and ineffective bilingualism. This problem stemmed largely from the peculiar situation created by the existing bilingual policy in which the languages of instruction (primarily English and Mandarin) were not spoken at home by some 85% of school children (HistorySG). Further, with the accelerated establishment of English-medium schools, mass recruitment and inadequate training of new teachers was detriment to the quality of education. With the opening of markets, there was a need to communicate with trading partners like China, SEA and India. With poor language skills, it would be difficult for Singaporeans to engage with or work in these emerging markets.
Increasing interconnectedness also proved to be a challenge in establishing a consistent Singaporean identity due to its adverse effects on religion. With technological improvements, the ease of obtaining information increases and so does the ease of spreading radical ideologies. Singapore takes a firm position in celebrating religious diversity. Religious diversity has long been a feature of the Singaporean society and may explain its tolerance and acceptance of a variety of religious beliefs and practices (Ahmad, 2014). Religious Knowledge was introduced in 1984 as a compulsory subject in school (Cheng, 2017) to impart moral values, which were often taught through one’s religion. The subject proved divisive as students had to choose only one religion to study, and some parents felt that teachers were not adequately trained, or used the classes to promote their faiths. The government also enacted a Religious Harmony Act in 1990 (Hays, 2008) to put an end to two main dangers. Firstly, it was aimed at keeping religion out of politics, and secondly, to prevent religious criticism of other faiths. With the rise of globalization, religious harmony is threatened. Singapore is not spared from the threats of terrorist attacks, radicalization and Islamophobia, which are propagated more readily over the Internet. For example, an NS boy expressed a desire to take part in armed jihad overseas. He searched online for bomb making information, and produced and posted a video glorifying martyrdom and justifying suicide bombing (CNA, 2016). It is indisputable that globalization threatens Singapore’s national identity with the spread of ideologies over the Internet and with the popularity of foreign preaches on the rise. However, the Singaporean government still strives towards an all-embracing community where each religion is respected and celebrated, and there is also the emphasis on collective security to protect the country. The stance remains strong and national identity remains clear.
Globalization indeed posed certain challenges, but it did not steer Singapore away from establishing its coherent and consistent national identity. Through the years, incorporating the effects of globalization and nation building, a Singapore culture was developed. This refers to a higher Singapore identity, which is accommodating and inclusive, while always being sensitive to issues touching on race, language and religion. Each and every Singaporean has multiple identities. Being a Singaporean means understanding and accepting this reality, even celebrating it. The Singaporean is big-hearted and broad-minded, embracing others not like himself. Singapore is only Singapore if it possesses this universal appeal.