Teaching “Race” in Singapore’s Multicultural Education: A Tale of Two Discourses

Singapore’s multicultural education can be seen as the educational arm of wider state-driven multiculturalism policies. This centres around the maintenance of harmony between races (Chinese, Malays, Indians and “Others” – “CMIO”) since independence. While “multicultural education” is not officially recognised in Singapore’s educational vernacular, it can be observed as part of the state’s values and citizenship education. Here, recent reviews to the Social Studies and Character & Citizenship Education curriculums have taken a seemingly more neoliberal approach to multiculturalism, accounting for the increasing myriad of backgrounds within Singapore’s population. This includes more inclusive discussions on “identity” and “diversity”, aligning with neoliberal narratives suggesting racial “colourblindness” in society.

However, the continued emphasis on CMIO’s sociocultural features in the curriculum – and the conscious disregard to socio-structural issues affecting (minority) racial groups, which may harm the harmony between them - is counterproductive. It only reproduces “race” as exclusive, separate and divergent. This not only serves as a paradox to the curriculums’ neoliberal intent, but reproduces racial “common sense”. Thus, what is observed instead is the resilience of a neoconservative discourse to multiculturalism in Singapore’s multicultural education, that denies the importance of race in everyday lived realities. “Race” still orders much of Singaporean society today, but the coexistence and utility of both the neoliberal and neoconservative discourses reflect the state’s power to use “race” in its multicultural education curriculum as it deems fit. This abstract is based on a larger doctoral study investigating Malay/Muslim identities and racial identity formation through Singapore’s multicultural education.