International Friendship Day

Today is International Friendship Day, celebrated by schoolchildren all over Singapore. Hanan’s school is celebrating it by inviting students of unusual ethnicity and nationality, and their parents, to share a little bit about their culture and customs. Hanan and Otrie are going to represent their African- American cultural roots by playing a jazz song, one of Otrie’s compositions. What’s unique about this song is that it also includes elements of Indian music like the tablas. To hear it, click here.

The celebration of such a day is indeed unique and a little forward looking. Unlike the interestingly named Racial Harmony Day, International Friendship Day actually recognizes and celebrates the differences. I suppose in tandem they are acceptable, but I wonder how much is actually being done to help students understand and live in a multi-ethnical society.

Actually, I think my main beef is with the term racial harmony. The concept of race is one that has grated on my nerves for a long time now, mainly because it boils down to “what colour is your skin?”, tossing aside all other influences of culture, heritage and tradition.

Case in point: When I tell people my husband is American, they immediately assume he is white. It never crosses their minds that “American” is a nationality, not a race. At the same time, the term African American is not very descriptive either. My husband has never been to any country in the African continent, neither does he have any known relatives there. (Note: He doesn't have a problem with the handle. I do.)

Similarly, when I tell my friends overseas that I am Singaporean, they assume I am of Chinese descent, until they meet me. They get even more confused when they see my name. But I can’t tell them I am Indian either, because, well, I am not. Indian is a nationality, not a race.

What is this obsession we have in Singapore with wanting to classify people into races? The idea of race, which stemmed from the deplorable concept of Eugenics should have died in the mid-20th Century, not followed us into the 21st! After the fall of Nazism, is there still a reason to say, he is different from me, so I have to protect who I am, but removing his ability to succeed or prosper?

Here is an interesting nugget from a website about a little known group of people, the Melungeons:
“Several years ago, the American Association of Anthropologists discounted the concept of “race,” feeling that it was an artificial concept devised to hold one groups superior to others in order to justify land theft and even genocide. The AAA prefers to discuss “ethnicity,” a broader measurement that includes not only genetics, but also culture, religion, language, etc.” – Wayne Winkler, 2004

I wonder when Singapore will reach the level of maturity and cultural acceptance as a nation to say, we are not interested in your race, but how you can contribute with your particular cultural heritage to our community.

Until then, people like Hanan Jimrai Barrett will have to try and fit himself into one of these 5 – Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian or Others.

He is in good company though. I bet if Tiger Woods, Dewayne Johnson (The Rock), Ben Kingsley and Keanu Reeves lived in Singapore, they would be “Others” too.

References:
MixedFolks.com
Melungeon.org (thanks to Betty Warner, my source on all things wierd and wonderful from West Virginia!)
The ubiquitious Wikipedia
Ministry of Education website