Work to ensure racial harmony ‘will keep changing’
PM Lee Hsien Loong and Dr Janil Puthucheary at the OnePeople.sg's Community Leaders' Conference at The Grassroots' Club on Oct 4. Photo: Wee Teck Hian
SINGAPORE — The work of self-help organisations and advocacy groups such as OnePeople.sg will change given the new challenges to racial and religious harmony here, said OnePeople.sg chairman Janil Puthucheary.
“The challenges to maintaining that peace and harmony going forward are different, partly because of the inflow of immigration, partly because of the types of integration and partly because of the opportunities to find new fault lines,” he said yesterday (Oct 4).
“We have to keep — at our core — the idea that we have to find ways to get people to talk about this very difficult topic ... in ways that are respectful and productive,” added Dr Puthucheary, who was also recently appointed Minister of State for Education, and Communications and Information.
OnePeople.sg is both a resource centre for race relations and an advocacy group for multiracialism.
The work that lies ahead involves continuing to reach out to youths and expanding the organisation’s reach to include adults. New immigrants, corporate entities and government institutions are also target groups.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines, Dr Puthucheary said his group has a new tie-up with debate website dialectic.sg in a bid to expand its reach online. Post-event, participants can go online to air their views on the conference.
