Abstract
Multicultural governance in Singapore, ubiquitously titled multiracialism by the ruling PAP, has functioned as a pillar for Singapore’s nation-building project since independence in 1965, while serving concurrently as the ideological premise for the party’s political dominance. Although others have explored at length the sociological implications of the PAP’s racialist approach toward multiculturalism, little attention has been paid to the colonial construction of racial difference and inequality in Singapore society, in particular, the emergence of a distinct anticolonial form of multiculturalism in the immediate postwar period and decolonization. This anticolonial multiculturalism articulated the local middle class’ growing dissatisfaction with the colonial color bar, a cause appropriated and championed by a fledgling PAP from 1954 before it was eventually reformulated and incorporated into its state machinery after independence. In shifting the sociological focus toward the anticolonial origins of multicultural politics, this article challenges prevailing approaches to the study of multiculturalism in Singapore. Such an exercise in turn sheds light on the amount of ideological reworking accomplished by the PAP government in its construction of what is now understood as multiculturalism.
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- 1.
Particular attention will be given to the several documents drafted in the course of this period that attempted to articulate these multiculturalisms in the context of decolonization. This includes the Malayan Union and Federation of Malaya proposals, as well as The People’s Constitutional Proposals of Malaya drafted in opposition to the latter. The manifestos of political parties will also be reviewed, including the MDU manifesto and the PAP manifesto, and what may be considered the Singapore’s first full articulation of multiculturalism: The All-Party Report on Education.
- 2.
See, for example, Yeoh (2003).
- 3.
It was because of this practice that Benedict Anderson makes the argument that the political significance of census taking in Southeast Asia was not simply in the creation of racial categories themselves, but in their “systematic quantification” (Anderson 1991: 168).
- 4.
This was evident in many of the slogans on banners used in the protests. One of the banners, for example, read: “Uphold democracy and justice, down with colour prejudice” (Gamba 1962: 86).
- 5.
10 October 1945 was the first time The Malayan Union scheme was mentioned publicly, by George Hall, Secretary of State for the Colonies, at the House of Commons. On 22 January 1946, the government issued the White Paper on the Malayan Union, which marked the first time the details of the constitutional arrangements were made public. 1 April 1946 marked the day the Malayan Union was eventually promulgated.
- 6.
Hansard, HC Deb 10 October 1945, vol. 414, cc255w.
- 7.
Sir Harold MacMichael, Report on a Mission to Malaya, October 1945-January 1946. Colonial Office No. 194, 1946.
- 8.
For Furnivall, the plural society comprised a “medley” of peoples who mixed but did not combine, with each group maintaining its own culture and practices. It was only in the marketplace where there was inter-ethnic interaction, while apart from the economic sphere, it was simply the case of “different sections of the community living side by side, but separately, within the same political unit” (Furnivall 1948: 304).
- 9.
- 10.
The AMCJA was inaugurated on December 22, 1946 originally as the Pan Malayan Council of Joint Action (PMCJA), which itself was expanded from the previous Council of Joint Action (CJA) in Singapore. It comprised the Malayan Democratic Union, the Malayan Indian Congress, the Malayan New Democratic Youth League, 12 Women’s Federations in Malaya, the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Ex-Service Comrades Association, and the Pan Malayan Federation of Trade Unions, which was originally part of the General Labour Union. Its total strength was approximately 400,000. (The People’s Constitutional Proposals for Malaya 1947: 4–5).
- 11.
PUTERA comprised the Malay Nationalist Party, the Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, the Peasant’s Union, the Angkatan Wanita Sedara (Awakened Women’s Union) and 80 other small smaller associations. It represented some 150,000 members. (The People’s Constitutional Proposals for Malaya 1947: 5).
- 12.
For example, Malay being the official language, that Melayu be the title of any citizenship or nationality status in Malaya, and for the Malay national colors to be incorporated in the national flag.
- 13.
One example of this was the Straits Chinese Magazine, through which it may be observed that: At the root of the political vision of the Straits Chinese at this time was their assertion that the British Empire was a multi-racial empire where, ideally, all races could play an equal role. As loyal subjects of the empire, the Straits Chinese resented the fact that, despite their relative prestige at the local level, their color barred them from equal status, representation, or access to administrative posts in the colonial system. The Straits Chinese Magazine revealed the indignation that Straits Chinese felt at such manifestations of racial discrimination or anti-Chinese actions … (Christie 1996: 34).
- 14.
Tan (1947: 90).
- 15.
Ibid.: 75.
- 16.
Ibid.: 77.
- 17.
The issue regarding whether the MDU was an entirely open-front party under the MCP remains a debated one. While Cheah (1974: 34–35) argues that the MCP sought to use the MDU in such a way, Yeo (1973b: 88) maintains that there is insufficient evidence to locate exact origins of the MDU, although he does not rule out the involvement of the MCP in its founding.
- 18.
MDU Manifesto (reproduced in Gamba 1962: 433).
- 19.
Ibid.: 434.
- 20.
Ibid.: 436.
- 21.
The People’s Constitutional Proposals for Malaya. 1947. p. 8.
- 22.
Ibid.: 9.
- 23.
Ibid.
- 24.
Ibid.: 25.
- 25.
Ibid.: 30–31.
- 26.
Ibid.: 26.
- 27.
This was observed by Mustapha Hussain, who represented the MNP at the conference, as documented in his memoirs Malay Nationalism Before UMNO: The Memoirs of Mustapha Hussain.
- 28.
Ibid.: 64–65.
- 29.
Ibid.: 68–69.
- 30.
Ibid.: 4.
- 31.
Ibid.: 11.
- 32.
Ibid.: 15–16.
- 33.
Ibid.: 36–37.
- 34.
The Council of Races was to comprise two members of each of the following communities: Malay, Chinese, Indian, Eurasian, Ceylonese, Aborigine, Arabian, European, Jews and others (Ibid.: 57).
- 35.
Ibid.: 62.
- 36.
The consolidation of the demands of the Chinese students and left-wing unionists must be understood in terms of the PAP’s close and inseparable ties with their associated organizations, with Lee Kuan Yew acting as the SCMSSU’s legal advisor and Lim Chin Siong the secretary general of the SFSWU.
- 37.
See, for example, their response to the Colonial government’s initiative in October 1954 to offer full grants-in-aid to the Chinese schools, but on the condition of coming under even tighter control (Nanyang Siang Pau, 12 October 1954).
- 38.
Manifesto of the People’s Action Party, 1954 (Reproduced in Fong 1980).
- 39.
Ibid.: 22. Although this is the PAP’s first official articulation of multiculturalism, its founding members involved in the CJA had called for a multilingual policy in November 1953 in a memorandum to the Rendel Constitution (Yeo 1973b: 120–121).
- 40.
Ibid.: 15.
- 41.
Ibid.: 23.
- 42.
Nanyang Siang Pau, 23 April 1955. Social Commentary: “Fight for Equal Treatment of Chinese Schools”.
- 43.
Nanyang Siang Pau, 27 April 1955. Social Commentary: “There Should Be Equality for All Singapore Schools”.
- 44.
Report of the All-Party Committee of the Singapore Legislative Assembly on Chinese Education. 1956. Singapore: The Government Printing Office, F.S. Horslin.
- 45.
Report of the Committee on Malay Education. 1951. Kuala Lumpur: The Government Press, G. A. Smith.
- 46.
Ibid.: 7.
- 47.
Ibid.: 8.
- 48.
Ibid.: 9.
- 49.
Ibid.: 21.
- 50.
Ibid.: 24.
- 51.
Chinese Schools and the Education of Chinese Malayans: The Report of a Mission Invited by the Federation Government to study the problem of the Education of Chinese in Malaya. 1951. Kuala Lumpur: The Government Press, H. T. Ross.
- 52.
Ibid.: 5.
- 53.
Ibid.: 6.
- 54.
Ibid.: 10.
- 55.
Ibid.: 13.
- 56.
Ibid.: 40.
- 57.
Report of the All-Party Committee of the Singapore Legislative Assembly on Chinese Education. 1956. Singapore: The Government Printing Office, F.S. Horslin. p. 7.
- 58.
Ibid.: 4.
- 59.
Ibid.: 11.
- 60.
Ibid.: 12.
- 61.
Ibid.: 12.
- 62.
White Paper on Education Policy. 1956. Legislative Assembly Session Paper 15 of 1956. Singapore. p. 5.
- 63.
Ibid.: 4.
- 64.
Report of the All-Party Committee of the Singapore Legislative Assembly on Chinese Education: 46.
- 65.
Ibid.
- 66.
For example, the Committee stated that it was up to the Indian community to decide if Tamil should remain the representative language (Ibid.: 47).
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Tham, D. (2016). Decolonization and the Politics of Multiculturalism. In: Lian, K. (eds) Multiculturalism, Migration, and the Politics of Identity in Singapore. Asia in Transition, vol 1. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-676-8_3
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