Regional broadcaster Channel NewsAsia unveils a one-hour special documentary dealing with the difficult issue of race in Singapore. A first on national television, Regardless of Race… examines where multiracial Singapore really stands on race relations and aims to answer some tough questions – Why are people afraid to talk about race? Do parents tell their children that racism is bad? How colour-blind are Singaporeans?
Dr Janil Puthucheary, Chairperson of OnePeople.sg, the organisation that advocates multiracialism and racial harmony in Singapore, goes on a journey to find answers to these questions. From taxi drivers to primary school children, he speaks to Singaporeans from all walks of life to find out what people are not willing to say about race.
Among the profiles are one of Singapore’s S League teams, former Nominated Member of Parliament Mr Zulkifli Baharudin, consulting editor of The Middle Ground Ms Bertha Henson, Vice Dean & Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Dr Kenneth Paul Tan, and Singaporean entertainer, Kumar.
Some highlights of the programme include a social experiment exploring the presence of a privilege gap between majority and minority racial groups, as well as new statistical findings from a large nation-wide survey done in collaboration with the Institute of Policy Studies.
Ms Sharon Hun, Senior Executive Producer of Current Affairs, says, “Having just celebrated 50 years of independence, we wanted to explore a topic that might confront Singapore as we move into the next 50 years. We have never dealt with race relations as a topic on national television, but we believe that it is the right time to examine who we really are as a people. We didn’t want it to be purely anecdotal, but based on a comprehensive nation-wide survey on race relations. We also asked people from all walks of life and of all ages, to find out if it is time we talk more about race.”
Special Screening
A special screening of Regardless of Race… was organised for some 100 invited guests and members of the media before its telecast on Channel NewsAsia.
The screening was followed by a short dialogue with Dr Janil Puthucheary.
Regardless of Race… will telecast on Channel NewsAsia on Monday, 15 August 2016 at 8pm (Sin/HK/MNL time). It will also be available as video-on-demand on www.channelnewsasia.com/tv and www.toggle.sg a week from its telecast.
(Source: Channel NewsAsia press release)