Camp Spectrum 2014

OnePeople.sg (Racial Harmony Hub)

In 2004 when I posted the blog "Colour of Harmony" , I did not know that the research resources published 4 years ago could be used and shared on 6 July, 2014 at the "Racial Harmony Dialogue" at OnePeople.sg

An event initiated by Ethan, Eunice, David, Hezekiah, Isaac, James, Qian Hui and Xin Ting. The Camp Spectrum 2014 profile page on Facebook  for more information.

It is heartening to note that the young Singaporean students of various schools meet together in a 3-day camp to share their experiences in multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural Singapore.

We are not a homogeneous society. There are three major races, ethnic Chinese, Malays and Indians. Each race has its own unique culture, language and also generally shares a common religion. Without understanding and tolerance, these cultural, linguistic and religious differences between the groups can sometimes cause tension and lead to conflict.

In any society, people differ in their nature, attitudes, ideal, interest, aspirations, community values and religious beliefs.

OnePeople.sg - Our Strategic Thrusts

    Champion racial harmony initiatives, working with organisations celebrating racial harmony nation-wide, coming up with joint themes and messages, which can be brought across in our various celebrations, programmes and daily lives, with a view to nurturing a bottom-up movement in racial harmony;

    Engage youth with focus on developing youth leadership, initiative and commitment in promoting racial harmony and social cohesion;

    Engage stakeholders and partners (including community organisations, schools and government agencies) to widen outreach, and develop the capabilities of organisations, community leaders, teachers and everyone who is passionate and committed about racial harmony to enhance the effectiveness of racial harmony programmes and initiatives;

    Be the leading repository and first-stop centre for research and resource materials on racial issues in Singapore. Develop knowledge base on race relations, and proactively share information and resources, making them available to not just all Singaporeans here and overseas, but also to foreigners who look to study Singapore's experience in promoting racial harmony.

Our Mission:

To nurture a harmonious society through cross-cultural education and further contribute to the success of multi-racial Singapore .

Professor Michael Heng also emphasised the importance of racial harmony for a peaceful country with political stability.

The National Pledge:

    We, the citizens of Singapore,
    pledge ourselves as one united people,
    regardless of race, language or religion,
    to build a democratic society
    based on justice and equality
    so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
    progress for our nation.

One People.sg Pledge:

We, the people in Singapore, declare that religious harmony is vital for peace, progress and prosperity in our multi-racial and multi-religious Nation.

We resolve to strengthen religious harmony through mutual tolerance, confidence, respect, and understanding.

We shall always

Recognise the secular nature of our State,

Promote cohesion within our society,

Respect each other's freedom of religion,

Grow our common space while respecting our diversity,

Foster inter-religious communications,

and thereby ensure that religion will not be abused to create conflict and disharmony in Singapore.

Please watch this meaningful experiment by Ms. Jane Elliott's "brown eyes, blue eyes" experiment in 1970 (the third one after her first in 1968).