DPM Teo Chee Hean at the Opening Ceremony of the 3rd Singapore-China Social Governance Forum on 17 May 2016

“A Holistic Approach to Managing Diversity”

His Excellency Meng Jianzhu
Member of the Political Bureau, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, People’s Republic of China

His Excellency Tan Chuan-Jin
Minister for Social and Family Development
Republic of Singapore

His Excellency Wang Yongqing
Secretary-General, Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the CPC Central Committee, People’s Republic of China

His Excellency Chen Xunqiu
Secretary-General, Central Committee Office for Comprehensive Social Management General Office, People’s Republic of China

His Excellency Huang Ming
Vice Minister, Ministry of Public Security, People’s Republic of China

Excellencies, Colleagues 

Good morning. Let me begin by welcoming Secretary Meng Jianzhu and our Chinese friends to the 3rd Singapore-China Social Governance Forum. I am happy to see many old friends and familiar faces here today. We had fruitful discussions at the 2nd Social Management Forum held in Beijing in July 2014, and look forward to continuing these conversations today.

Last year, China and Singapore commemorated the 25th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. The highlight was the exchange of State Visits by Singapore President Tony Tan in July and PRC President Xi Jinping in November. Significantly, during President Xi’s visit to Singapore, both countries agreed to establish an “All-Round Cooperative Partnership Progressing with the Times” to ensure that we continue to deepen our bilateral relationship in line with both countries’ development priorities and interests. In particular, both countries agreed to deepen exchanges and cooperation on social governance, and to ensure the success of the Singapore-China Forum on Social Governance to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation among officials on common challenges in social governance. 

Even though our two countries are different in size, and face different challenges along our economic and social development paths, there are many useful experiences that we can share with each other, and adapt to our own circumstances. There are also many areas where we can form partnerships for mutual benefit. 

The Social Governance Forum provides an important platform for our key officials at various levels to interact and exchange views on how we each address some of the common challenges in our changing social landscape. Where useful, we can adapt the lessons learnt, and apply them in a way that suits our own country’s needs.

The theme for the 3rd Social Governance Forum, “Governance in a Diverse Society”, is a relevant one. Singapore has always been an open, diverse society. Our forefathers came from different cultural backgrounds and religions, and brought with them different skills and experiences. In Singapore, we celebrate and draw strength from our diversity. But we also recognise the importance of managing our diversity well – so that we focus on what we have in common, and can continue to reap these benefits, rather than being pulled apart by our differences and retreat into exclusivism and extremism.

Managing Different Dimensions of Diversity

Today, I will talk about four dimensions of diversity that we see in Singapore, and how these are managed in the Singapore context. 

First, diversity in race and religion. In our early years as a colony, people came to Singapore from our region and beyond, for trade and commerce. They brought with them different cultures, languages and religions. Ethnic communities lived separately, segregated in their own enclaves. Interactions were largely within closed circles. To the British, keeping the peace between different communities meant keeping them apart to reduce frictions.

This model of keeping communities apart changed when Singapore became independent in 1965. Our shared experiences, often traumatic, living for more than a century under colonialism, through more than three years of the Japanese Occupation, and two years as part of Malaysia, shaped our values and our approach to nation-building.  We worked hard to integrate ourselves as one people, to build a multi-racial, multi-religious, and multi-cultural society based on equality and meritocracy, where every Singaporean has a stake. We implemented policies and programmes that enlarged the common space, to unite all Singaporeans. We live together in integrated public housing. In our national schools, children of all races and religions learn, play and grow together – they learn English, and they also learn their mother tongue. Our young men do National Service together, to defend our country, our home. We work together with friends of other races. Our hawker centres and coffeeshops allow Singaporeans of all races to enjoy our favourite meals together. 

Today, we are the world’s most religiously diverse country*,  yet we enjoy social harmony. Mosques, churches and temples sit side-by-side. We share common spaces and experiences, regardless of race or religion, while allowing each community to maintain strong links to its language, culture and roots. This is something that we are proud of, but which we have to continue working hard to maintain, and never take for granted. 

Second, diversity brought about by the movement of people across regions and borders. Today, we see two main groups of people coming to Singapore. The first group consists of those who are here to work. They help to fill a gap in our labour force, taking up jobs which may be less popular among Singaporeans, or providing complementary skills and expertise to what Singaporeans can offer. They may be here for several years, while they have jobs in Singapore. They contribute to our economic growth and to our society, and we appreciate these contributions. While here, they abide by, and are protected by, our laws. However, their long-term future and identity are with their own countries. 

The second group consists of those who choose to settle here. Many would have studied or worked here for some time, or married Singaporeans and had children. They choose to settle down in Singapore because they identify with our ideals and values, because their family is here, and because they see their long-term future with Singapore. We try to ease their integration into Singapore society. As Singaporeans, we value the importance of accepting and understanding one another. And our new citizens who choose to settle here, have also chosen to share these commonalities, values and experiences with fellow Singaporeans. It helps that our young new citizens study in our schools. The children of new citizens do National Service. Our new citizens are welcome and encouraged to volunteer in the SAF and the Home Team, and in our community organisations. 

We are aware that China also faces the issue of migration, mainly rural to urban migration for work, and this also brings its own set of challenges. This afternoon’s discussion on “Social Governance and Urbanisation” with a presentation by Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee will give both countries a chance to learn from each other on our efforts to build new communities, and to integrate newcomers into existing communities. 

Third, economic diversity. This is not unique to Singapore, but a challenge faced by many countries. Globalisation and technology are re-shaping the world economy, and changing the nature of jobs. As a small open economy, we need to stay open to ideas, people, trade in goods and services, and investments. These spur our economic growth and create good jobs for Singaporeans. But we are mindful that those who have the necessary skills to tap into the global economy may do very well and reap very large economic rewards, while those who do not may fall behind. 

So, we try to ensure that all Singaporeans benefit from our country’s growth. Our basic approach has been to provide access to good education and training, regardless of family background. Today, we have attained mass higher education, with 96% of each cohort of young Singaporeans going on to post-secondary education. To take this even further, we are now moving on to mass continuing education – continuing education for everyone throughout their lives. We have introduced SkillsFuture, a national movement to help Singaporeans to continue learning throughout their lives. Singaporeans can take up study awards and training subsidies to deepen their skills and remain employable through life. 

We also encourage Singaporeans to do more to help each other, and especially those who are better-off to help the less fortunate. This starts with values education for our children in schools, and continues through various initiatives to promote philanthropy and volunteerism. Through such efforts, we hope to build a more caring, cohesive and resilient society, where Singaporeans look after one another, especially those who may need additional help.

Fourth, new and emerging diversity in views and values. More Singaporeans are championing causes or interests that they care about, which may diverge from the views and interests of other Singaporeans. For instance, some Singaporeans would like to see more of our older buildings and precincts preserved for heritage reasons, while others push for urban renewal. There are those who advocate a more liberal life-style while others believe in traditional values. There are also animal lovers who may have different priorities from those who are more concerned about safety and cleanliness. 

Our approach has been to allow each group room to advocate its preferences, ideals and beliefs, while ensuring as large a common space as possible. But, everyone has to understand that if each group pushes for more, other groups will push back, and society as a whole will end up with less. Where possible, we try to bring different groups together to hear each other’s differing views, and try to help them reach a consensus, allowing enough space for each group, while preserving the common space. 

Over the years, we have built up social capital, social structures, trust and the habits of consultation and consensus building. As values and attitudes evolve, we are also finding new ways for discussion and discourse to take place, to promote understanding across different groups. This is very much still work in progress. For example, we have a Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park in Singapore, established in 2000, where Singaporeans can give speeches, or hold exhibitions, performances or demonstrations. They can speak freely as long as they do not cause enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different racial or religious groups in Singapore. 

Singaporeans are also taking the lead to facilitate more active dialogue and to build awareness of different perspectives, including on social and environmental issues. Minister Tan Chuan-Jin will elaborate on our approach towards encouraging emerging interest groups to put forward and also listen to different perspectives, in his speech later this morning.

The online space provides an alternative and easily accessible venue for some of this discourse to take place. Technology and social media can help carry important national messages to a wider audience quickly. But the online space can also create ‘echo chambers’, where some online users only read and hear from those who share the same views, reinforcing their own biases and shutting out other views. In the second sub-theme for discussion this afternoon, “Social Governance in an Information Age”, Minister of State Chee Hong Tat will say more about how the Singapore Government is harnessing technology to reach out to Singaporeans, to solicit views and ideas, facilitate dialogue, and provide better services.

There are legal boundaries that circumscribe extreme behaviour but these are not often used, thankfully. Indeed, our laws provide the framework for governing how citizens relate in a peaceful and harmonious way to each other in a diverse society. But these laws do not exist in a vacuum. They are enacted or amended by Parliament, which in turn represents the collective will of the people of Singapore in its legislative role. Thus, the law is a reflection of society’s values and how society decides to order itself. 

Rather than using the law as the main avenue, over the years, we have established formal institutions and policies, as well as informal structures to facilitate social discourse, interaction and understanding.  These help us foster social cohesion and harmony, and to manage issues or differences through discussion, compromise and consensus. 

Senior Minister of State Indranee Rajah will speak on the third sub-theme, “Creating a Fair and Effective Justice System”, including how we have streamlined our legal system to improve access to justice, and introduced new ways for matters to be settled out of court for example through mediation and arbitration in a fair and speedy manner.

Conclusion

Diversity, in its various forms, can have implications on social cohesion, national identity, economic outcomes, and national security. But diversity can also be a source of strength. With thoughtful and careful management that brings out the best in our people, and combines diversity in a harmonious way, countries can build greater national cohesion and strength that we can harness to benefit all our people. I am confident that our participants from China and Singapore today will have an enriching and insightful exchange of experiences at this year’s forum and see how we can learn from each other to make our societies better and to make the lives of our people better. I wish all of you a fruitful discussion. Thank you very much. 

*****

*Pew Research Center, April 2014, “Global Religious Diversity: Half of the Most Religiously Diverse Countries are in Asia-Pacific Region” (http://www.pewforum.org/2014/04/04/global-religious-diversity/)