Social Commentary 2: Singapore Is Not Ready For a Prime Minister from the Minority Race

Singapore is not ready for an Indian prime minister. This was what former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said about then-National Development Minister S. Dhanabalan. He publicly said that if not for his Indian ethnicity, he would have been considered as a potential candidate for the top job. However, that was 20 years ago. So the question now is whether or not Singapore is ready for a prime minister from the minority race. Many people seem to believe so. They argue that if America can do it, then so can we. However, are we really ready? Were Americans themselves even ready? I believe that Singapore is still not ready.

Singaporeans are ready. This was even supported by a survey conducted last year. The survey was conducted by two academics from the S. Rajaratnam School of International studies. The survey was conducted on 1, 824 Singaporeans. 91 percent of the Chinese surveyed said that they were ready for a Malay prime minister while 94 percent said that they are ready for an Indian prime minister. This was sufficient evidence to support that Singapore is ready to have a prime minister from the minority race.

However, I am still not convinced. The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews. This would definitely affect the credibility of their answers. They would definitely be obliged to give politically-correct answers. The poll conducted by the journalist himself showed that even though some people said that they were color-blind towards the choosing of the prime minister, others still felt that race does play a part in their preference. The journalist accredited the reasons for this to be the “prevailing negative stereotypes; the 'sensitive' neighborhood in which Singapore is sited; the fear of the unknown.” This definitely shows that quite a number of Singaporeans still are not ready.

Singaporeans argue that if America can do it, so can we. They argued that Mr. Obama got 37.6 percent of the delegates’ votes in Iowa where there is overwhelmingly white majority. They argue that this shows that America is ready for a non-white president. Therefore, they say Singapore can do so.

However, on the contrary, there was some racial biasness in the elections. 6 in 10 whites voted for Mrs. Hillary Clinton, while nine in 10 blacks voted for Mr. Obama in the Indiana race. One in 10 whites said race was a factor in their vote and they voted for Mrs. Clinton. There was a similar response too in West Virginia. Despite Iowa managing to surpass the racial borders, other parts of America such as Indiana still are not ready. Therefore, I believe America was not ready. If America, a country with different races for over a century, is still not ready, what makes Singapore think that they are ready?

Singapore is still way too young to be truly color-blind. This might never even be achieved. The surveys may show that Singapore is ready, but they do not give the best picture as can be seen by the poll by the journalist himself. Even America is not truly ready for Obama, so I do not believe a country as young as Singapore can fully accept a non-Chinese prime minister. A poll by the Washington Post-ABC News showed that 30 percent of US voters were concerned about race. Despite Singapore boasting its racial harmony for over four decades, I am still not convinced that Singapore is ready.

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