Managing Diversity In Singapore Policies And Prospects [Hardcover]

Singapore society is increasingly becoming diverse. During the first few decades of nation building, policies were designed to homogenise aspects of Singaporean society while enshrining principles to allow restricted amounts of diversity. Fifty years after independence, the number of areas where diversity is profoundly apparent remains copious, and its manifestations more varied.This book provides an updated account on the tensions posed by diversity in Singapore and how this is being managed, primarily by the state through policies and programmes but also by communities who attempt to negotiate these tensions. Such an enquiry is crucial while the nation is finding ways to embrace the different forms of diversity brought about through external impetuses, as well as manage internal reactions from different communities.The substantive chapters this book engage issues relating to diversity and identity management in a number of domains. These chapters make up three sections, with each looking at a different set of diversities found in Singapore today. The first section examines the management of predominant long-standing markers of differences that define multicultural Singapore, namely, differences arising from race, language and religion. The second section looks at issues and tensions arising from diversities accentuated by global forces and new forms of living, including discussions on social class, new configuration of public living spaces, new bicultural ideologies to respond to global economic needs, and censorship on films and YouTube videos in response to the burgeoning new media scene. The third section selects three cross-sections of Singapore society and looks at how diversities and differences are managed in the work force with increased influx of migrant workers, the family that has undergone changes in various forms, and the armed forces that looks to integrate local born and new citizens.