Third Committee

STATEMENT BY MR SARAVENAN TANAPAL, DELEGATE TO THE 65th SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON AGENDA ITEM 66, ON ELIMINATION OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED TOLERANCE, THIRD COMMITTEE, 3 NOVERMBER 2010

Mdm Chair,

1. Thank you for giving me the floor. As a multi-ethnic country, Singapore is committed to and shares the United Nations' commitment to end racism and racial discrimination.

2. Singapore is a melting pot for people of diverse cultures and backgrounds. We started off as a fishing village and became a port of call for migrants from various countries in Southeast Asia, China, India, and parts of the Middle East. This laid the foundation for the growth of a modern multi-ethnic society comprising Chinese, Malays, Indians and a sizeable Eurasian community. This multi-ethnic nature of Singapore society necessitates a recognition and respect for diversity. A better understanding of each community's aspirations leads to tolerance and racial harmony in our society, which is a fundamental pillar of Singapore's stability and consequently its economic progress. But we do not take our achievements for granted. The Singapore Government regularly takes proactive steps to promote and enhance racial harmony by emphasizing tolerance, understanding and respect among the many ethnic and religious groups in our country. This pragmatic approach helps us acknowledge and respect the differences of our multi-ethnic society and hone this quality as our strength.

Mdm Chair,

3. In April this year, Singapore had the pleasure of inviting and hosting a visit by Mr Githu Muigai, the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Tolerance. It was an opportunity for us to not only share some of our practices and policies on racial harmony that have worked well for us, but to also hear about other experiences and possible ways to enhance our efforts at maintaining racial harmony. We were also gratified when Mr Muigai highlighted the peaceful coexistence of our diverse communities through the efforts of a range of organizations that are committed to maintaining racial harmony in Singapore. My delegation listened with interest to Mr Muigai's presentation on Monday and we look forward to his final report due in June 2011.

4. It is my honour to share some of our experiences with the Committee today. Singapore has comprehensive policies and some innovative approaches to promote racial harmony that are aimed at creating common spaces for the different races to interact, appreciate and respect our common diversity. Our housing Ethnic Integration Policy, for example, allows the great majority of Singaporeans from diverse ethnic backgrounds to mix together and interact regularly. Our schools are another example where we have common space, and where all races and religions interact. Special commemorative days such as the Racial Harmony Day are celebrated in schools for our students to reflect on and celebrate our success as a harmonious nation and a society built on a rich diversity of cultures and heritages. Some of these initiatives may seem like an artificial construct at best and rather intrusive at worst but the benefits that they have brought cannot be understated. Just to cite my own personal anecdote, my family and I were included in the Ethnic Integration Policy. While it limited our choice of who we wanted as our neighbours, it definitely created a common space for us to interact with our Chinese neighbours. Through time we built a strong bond with our Chinese neighbours and even now, they discourage us from moving as they don't want to lose our company and friendship.

5. In recent times, we have also introduced initiatives such as the Community Engagement Programme and National Orange Ribbon Celebrations. These are examples to show that we do not rest on our laurels. The Community Engagement Programme, for example, brings together people from different communities in Singapore to work with each other to develop understanding and to prevent and minimise racial and religious tensions in society after a crisis, such as a terrorist incident. This measure acknowledges that even though we have a cohesive society, a single crisis could easily jeopardize or strain our racial harmony. So while we have our successful initiatives for promoting racial harmony, the ever changing context of the world around us and new events unfolding could impact our racial harmony adversely and we should remain nimble to tackle them.

Mdm Chair,

6. Sustaining Singapore's racial harmony is a continual journey that we are fully committed to. While we are proud and thankful for what we have achieved so far especially given our short history, we are also cautious not to take our current achievements as the end outcome but rather remain vigilant to the changes happening around us, be it globalization or influence of new media, and how that might impact our cohesive society. It is our stated purpose to create a safe, harmonious and prosperous environment for all the people who call Singapore home, regardless of race, language or religion.

Thank you.