A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE ‘MALAY PROBLEM’ AND ‘CHINESE PRIVILEGE’ IN SINGAPORE - MERITOCRACY, MULTICULTURALISM AND THE RACIALISATION OF CLASS INEQUALITIES

Muhammad Ruzaini Naim Bin Azman
Mr., Graduate Student, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, SINGAPORE, E0304378@u.nus.edu

Abstract

The central themes in this paper are as follows - 1) deconstruct meritocracy and multiculturalism as a central pillar in the state-society discourse of governing Singapore. While multiculturalism accords all ethnic groups equally to manage ethnic differences, meritocracy, on the other hand, is a belief where mobility is attainable through conscientious effort alone, 2) underscore the educational plight of the Malay community, being a numerical and political minority, which has an inextricable connotation to the ‘Malay Problem’ paradigm. Such a framework has systematically and structurally plagued the Malay community in Singapore since the 19th century (British colonialism, perceived cultural lag due to ‘Malay’ values, the ruling government social and economic policies, and class and socio-economic disparities), against what was recently coined in 2015 known as the ‘Chinese Privilege’, 3) outlines the policy options to equalise opportunities for Singaporean Malays and accord them the means to achieve upward social mobility. The reconfiguration on meritocracy and refinement on multicultural policies respectively will help ensure the system could be made more inclusive for the ethnic minority Malays.

Keywords: Chinese privilege, Malay problem, meritocracy, multiculturalism, racialisation of class inequalities

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CITATION: Abstracts & Proceedings of INTCESS 2019- 6th International Conference on Education and Social Sciences, 4-6 February 2019- Dubai, UAE

ISBN: 978-605-82433-5-4