Alisa Maya

ABOUT

Alisa Maya
19
Student
Aspiring writer

I'm Alisa Maya and I hope to be a published writer someday. For now I try to read and write as much as I can between school and spending time with family and friends. I started this site because I have a lot to say about my experiences and those of the people I know. If you have something you'd like to say to me, drop me an email at alisamayar@gmail.com.

On race, religion and everything we don't want to talk about.

Saturday, September 27, 2014 • 11:28 PM

Hi guys, I recently read an article about a teacher of a Primary 5 class and how cleverly dealt with the racist sentiments that her students expressed. The article really bothered me because I think it is telling of the way we teach children about race in Singapore. So I wrote an article to the forum page about it. I don't know if it'll be published in the print or online forum pages of the paper, so I decided to post it here.

But first, the article that inspired the letter can be found here .

Here is the letter I wrote. Tell me what you think about it and more importantly the issue itself. Have a great week ahead!

"I refer to the recent online buzz about a Primary School teacher who innovatively debunks stereotypes about race to a class of Primary 5 students. Firstly, I would like to commend Ms. Jayasutha Samuthiran on her initiative and creativity in tackling the issue. However, her experience reveals a more deep-seated and troubling issue. The students had internalized and were projecting the racial stereotypes because they had learnt to understand people by their differences. Since we start school, we are taught that there are people of many different races and religions living in Singapore. To ensure that we can continue to enjoy the peace and social stability that we pride ourselves on as a nation we are made aware of the traditions different communities practise. While, the idea of embracing diversity is admirable, this method of addressing the idea of race is ultimately a double-edged sword. By teaching children that we must respect the cultural differences between ourselves and our neighbours, we are inadvertently teaching them to focus on the differences between people. This creates a hypersensitivity about race, such that even as an adult, I find that any time the idea of differences in culture is discussed, my peers who identify with different ethnic groups from myself, are cautious and wary, afraid of saying something that might be deemed “racist”. I have also found that in recent times the term “race” itself has developed a negative connotation with the perception that “ethnicity” is a more politically-correct term. This attitude towards race is something that is worrying. Singapore and in fact the world that we live in is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan and it is inevitable that we will interact with people whose cultures are far-removed from our own. While an appreciation of the differences in the way people live is nice and perhaps even necessary to have, it would be much more meaningful to spend more time focusing on the similarities people have in terms of their ambitions and hopes for the future. This is why I think there is a need to re-evaluate what we choose to focus on when we teach children about race."

PAST • FUTURE