ABSTRACT
Ethnic conflicts continue to afflict many postcolonial societies. Too often the causes of these debilitating conflicts have been attributed to the legacy of colonial policies that ruled over but divided people. Yet, on gaining independence, postcolonial societies had the option to chart their destinies in an inclusive approach to nation-building. Singapore has enjoyed relative ethnic harmony since its independence in 1965 and has been cited as a model for other postcolonial societies to emulate. ‘Racial and religious harmony’ is enshrined as one of Singapore’s five Shared Values, a putative national ideology, 1 and is a cornerstone of Singapore’s impressive transformation to a newly industrializing economy. Singapore’s policy of ‘multiracialism’, in which no race is privileged or disadvantaged by state laws, institutions and policies, has resulted in substantive constitutional and institutional engineering in the late 1980s to ensure the sustainability of ethnic stability and harmony in Singapore society. 2 An island city-state in Southeast Asia, Singapore’s 3.4 million population comprises 76.8% Chinese, 13.8% Malay (the indigenous people), 7.9% Indian, and 1.4% ‘Others’. 3 Despite constituting about 15% of Singapore’s population, geopolitics and history have given the Malay community (almost all of whom are Muslims) a significant influence that is disproportionate to their size. 4
