7th Reading note

Jenny Sung
2023.11.09

Reference Entry ANG, Ien, and Jon STRATTON. “The Singapore Way of
(MLA style, the 8 th Multiculturalism: Western Concepts/Asian
edition) Cultures.” Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in
Southeast Asia, vol. 10, no. 1, 1995, pp. 65–89.

Goh, Daniel P. S. “Arrested Multiculturalisms: Race,

Capitalism, and State Formation in Malaysia and
Singapore.” Multiculturalism in the British
Commonwealth: Comparative Perspectives on Theory
and Practice, edited by Richard T. Ashcroft and Mark
Bevir, 1st ed., University of California Press, 2019,
pp. 191–211.

Teoh, Karen M. “Domesticating Hybridity: Straits Chinese

Cultural Heritage Projects in Malaysia and
Singapore.” Cross-Currents: East Asian History
and Culture Review, vol. 1, no. 17, 2015, pp. 59-85.

Topic(s) and Ang and Stratton’s article:

Contributions
This paper emphasizes the “necessary and inevitable
hybridity of Singaporean identity” (61). It compares the so-
called Asian (“non-west”) notions with that of the west,
and explains how Singapore has “developed a strong
voice” in the globe by incorporating both values within its
national system (62).

Goh’s article:

Goh analyzes the “peaceful ethnic relations” between

Singapore and Malaysia after the ethnic riots happened
post World War II. He examines the difference between
Malaysia’s and Singapore’s ethnic policies after their
separation.

Teoh’s article:

Tan’s scrutinizes “the literal and figurative domestication

of Straits Chinese, or Peranakan, history in selected
heritage projects in late twentieth-century Malaysia and
Singapore”, and discusses the development of the
 relationships between different ethnic groups living in both
countries (59).

Major Arguments (at Ang and Stratton’s article:

least one well-written
paragraph) The article provides a comprehensible explanation of
Singapore’s history, making clear for readers to understand
why hybridity permeates that entire nation. According to
Ang and Stratton, British colonization has “embedded
Western legacy” into Singapore, and the “labourers
recruited by the British from China, India, and Malaya”
resulted in a variety of ethnic groups. Interestingly, Ang
and Stratton argues that “it is precisely this reality of
hybridity” that “presents a problem in the dominant global
cultural order, where nation-states are supposed to have
pure and unified, if not homogeneous national cultures.
(67)”

Goh’s article:

Goh notes that Singapore and Malaysia have achieved

“peaceful ethnic relations that co-exist with enduring racial
conflict”, and goes on to point out the potential risks and
“frightening prospect” lying ahead. Goh argues that “the
postcolonial states must continue to maintain the
precarious balance between peace and conflict if they are
to endure” (209).

Teoh’s article:

[Teoh contends that “defining ‘Straits Chinese’ and

‘Peranakan’ is a political act in and of itself”. Like Goh,
Teoh also traces the historical background concerning the
Malays and Chinese in both nations, attempting to
compare the policies associated with ethnicity. Teoh states
that the Straits Chinese has been domesticated in
Singapore, and that this governmental approach shows that
“transnational and transcultural identities” are “vulnerable
to political pressures” (80).
Relevancy and The articles above provide a multifaceted information
Position in your regarding the subject of multiculturalism in Singapore. I
reading project (at used to find it fascinating that many people with different
least one well-written backgrounds are able to co-exist in Singapore peacefully
paragraph) without knowing the previous riots it had gone through.
Learning its history helps me understand the anxiety in
Heartland more.