ABSTRACT
As a set of principles and beliefs informing the formation of states in ethnically diverse societies, multiculturalism has long taken its conceptual cues from either political philosophy or, less coherently, the pragmatic business of government. This is reflected in social scientific discussions on multiculturalism, where policy deviations from the principles are often explained in terms of the realities faced in governing ethnic pluralism. The case of Singapore provides an abundance of such social scientific studies for this very reason. Singapore is renowned for its successful multicultural governance, yet many of its policies deviate from the liberal principles that have informed the theory of multiculturalism. As such, Singapore's multiracialism, which predates the development of Western multiculturalism, can easily be offered as a model of a non-Western multiculturalism that works in a plural postcolonial society faced with the legacy of trenchant racialization and the imperative of nation building. After all, the Singaporean system has proved to be resilient in a region where fellow postcolonial neighbours are afflicted by ethnic conflicts and global terrorist threats.
