Nation Consciousness and "Multiracialism" of the Singaporeans: Focusing on the Concept of “Racial Difference” and Their Interactions

Singapore is well-known as a ‘multi-racial’ society, but then, how they form their identity as ‘Singaporean’? Considering this problem, ‘multiracialism’ becomes an important concept in making ‘Singaporeans’. However, its purpose is to make ‘racial differences’ obvious and emphasized. Therefore, how do people create Singaporean consciousness in these kind of society?

   The aim of this research is to study this problem by using free talking interview and observation data carried out by the speaker. We can say that the government of Singapore reinforces the ‘races’ in order to make differences among ‘races’ highly visible by emphasizing the differences among the ‘races’. In Singapore, differences among ‘races’ are visible even though people from different ‘races’ interact with each other daily. Moreover, a sense of community or even of being a ‘Singaporean’ begins to grow and maintains; at the same time, differences among ‘races’ are maintained.