Monday 27 April 2015

[Straits Times] Focus on uniqueness to forge national identity

TO ACHIEVE harmony and cooperation within a society, a certain level of acceptance of others, regardless of race, language and religion, is needed ("Forging a cohesive national identity" by Dr V. Subramaniam; last Tuesday).
Admittedly, our society has issues and challenges that we have to overcome, such as stereotyping and stigmatising people who are different from us.
Such issues are not only with regard to the CMIO (Chinese, Malay, Indian, Others) categories. They also comprise many other aspects, including that of self-interests and personality.
Therefore, the focus should be on emphasising our own uniqueness, without implication of race, language or religion.
This requires an inclusive approach, where we integrate all aspects of ourselves, before we take in the uniqueness of others.
It is not wrong for us to focus on forging our own sense of identity and belonging, because this will give us strength to contribute to the bigger picture.
But every citizen has to cultivate an open mindset without being overly self-absorbed and overly critical of others.
In this way, a national identity can be forged.
Joanne Chia Yi En (Ms)