Singapore's Stern Approach to Race and Religion Ensures Social Cohesion: K Shanmugam

Singapore's Law and Home Affairs Minister, K Shanmugam, emphasizes that the nation cannot adopt a laissez-faire approach to race and religion. Speaking at a forum, he highlighted Singapore's laws to maintain social cohesion and the government's intervention to prevent ethnic enclaves. The Ethnic Integration Policy and CMIO classification play pivotal roles.

Singapore's Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Monday emphasized the need for a proactive approach to race and religion, rejecting a laissez-faire stance to ensure social cohesion. Speaking at a forum on non-violent ethnic hostilities, Shanmugam asserted the effectiveness of Singapore's stringent laws in maintaining harmony.

In the forum jointly organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Institute of Policy Studies under the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Shanmugam highlighted Singapore's Ethnic Integration Policy as a safeguard against ethnic enclaves. He noted that government intervention aims to create diverse and harmonious public housing environments.

Despite criticism, Shanmugam defended policies like the CMIO classification on identity cards, arguing they help monitor and address disparities while fostering a unified Singaporean identity. Highlighting global cautionary tales such as Myanmar's Rohingya crisis, he stressed the importance of understanding and mitigating potential ethnic tensions at home.

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