Is there a case for affirmative action in Singapore today?

According to John F Kennedy the phrase “affirmative action” means the necessary measures taken to ensure equality of recruiting employees regardless of race, creed, colour or national origin. However in 1967, the meaning of the phrase was extended by Lyndon Johnson to include requirements that benefitted women. As we all know, Singapore is a cosmopolitan and multi racial country. No doubt about it. With reference to a research by Selvaraj Velayutham, from “Centre of Research on Social Inclusion” done on racism in Singapore, Multiracialism is a fundamental pillar of post colonial Singaporean society. By that token the main racial groups in Singapore are accorded official status and are granted equality. Up till now, the people in this country still exist peacefully among other races. This claim is further proved by the few racist crimes that make their way to the Singapore Crime list. Egalitarian values are becoming increasingly rooted into Singaporeans as the young gets more educated and aware of the fragility of these inter racial bonds. Avoiding discrimination of other races based on differences seemed to be more of an intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic. Hence, in my opinion, there is no case for affirmative action in Singapore currently.



Not to leave out the concern of the treatment of women under the phrase, Singapore has not dealt too badly with the balancing of gender equality. There is little discrimination of women today in Singapore. We can all see that women are as strong and capable as their counterparts in Singapore. According to a specific research on “Statistics teaching” in Singapore, between 1986-87, women already made up the majority of the graduates from National University of Singapore by an incredulous 60%. This shows that the Singapore government acknowledges the capability in the weaker sex too and is willing to utilize them in the local workforce by not setting any quotas on the university entry. As the fret over ageing population increases, policies and incentives for women to conceive more babies are also undergoing massive evaluation and enhancement. An interview with DPM Wong Kan Seng revealed positive effects of the introduction of Marriage and Parenthood package in August 2004, “Overall, we have seen some positive results - there were about 240 more births from January to June 2006 compared to the same period in 2005, and about 400 more births in 2005 compared to 2004 . This is a positive reversal which comes after four consecutive years of decline.” From this we can see that the government has not neglected women’s plight after being impregnated and continued to provide reasonable monetary compensation and tax redemption. Hence there is no stimulus for affirmative action in Singapore today.