Parents play huge role in upholding racial harmony

I refer to the commentary “Why we need to talk about race” (Aug 19).

Though I am not surprised there are Singaporeans who harbour negative stereotypes of their fellow citizens of different races, I am shocked that they form nearly half of the respondents in the Channel NewsAsia-Institute of Policy Studies survey.

Singapore has always emphasised racial harmony among its people. With it, as Mr Lee Kuan Yew had mentioned, we have maintained decades of peace among the races to form a more inclusive society than in many other countries.

If this fragile social fabric were to be unwoven slightly, things can go wrong.

Given the apparent importance of racial harmony in our society, it is worrying that a considerable percentage (33 per cent) of Singaporeans stated that they did not trust some people of certain races.

This is probably because of the influences Singaporeans are exposed to, thus causing these attitudes, or it could be because the topic is avoided, since it is “sensitive”, and people thus form close-minded opinions.

To change these general mindsets, it is important to work with the young and also to encourage adults to have more positive views about fellow Singaporeans of different races.

Parents play a huge role in their children’s growth and should instil in them a mindset of social inclusivity and the acceptance of people of different races as friends and equals.

With the importance of racial harmony being taught in schools concurrently, I am sure our future generations will then be more accepting and will care more about maintaining racial harmony.