I live in Vancouver, which is as ethnically heterogeneous as almost anywhere maybe even including Singapore. It helps that our millionaires and criminals are similarly multiethnic. One upside is that we're rapidly breeding our own Transpacific ethnic group. Another effect, whether positive or negative, is that the color of someone's face, or the accent on their English, tells you nothing useful about what kind of person they are culturally.
It's actually difficult sometimes. But I think this is a good way to live. -Tim On Feb 25, 2012 12:48 AM, "Chew Lin Kay" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 6:46 AM, Srini RamaKrishnan <[email protected]>wrote: >> >> >> On a recent visit I noticed that Singapore seems to do this at a >> larger scale - where there are a lot of neighborhood outreach programs >> that bridge the ethnic gaps. There are weekly meetings, outreach >> workers and such. >> >> Maybe Chew Lin can expand? >> >> > Arguably we need the state and civil society to do all these things > because left to our own devices, we hardly smile at our neighbours? :) > > Throwing a comment out there until I find more brain space to deal with > it--there is diversity of race, there is diversity of religion, there is > diversity of class. In Singapore we talk a lot about racial harmony, and > we're starting to talk about religious harmony (banning Campus Crusade for > Christ from operating at the National University--not necessarily the > smartest move. But altar wrecking is not necessarily the best plan for > building goodwill either), but we've not, till recently, been able to talk > about the poor in the community (see: income gap as a big election issue. > unfortunately the rhetoric of "they're poor cause they didn't work hard" is > still a popular one in certain circles, and it all gets messy when race and > class intersect). > > CL >
