A hyphenated identity: fostering national unity through education in Malaysia and Singapore

Among plural societies, Malaysia and Singapore are two countries in Southeast Asia that face the challenges of ethnic diversity since their independence from British colonial rule. This paper offers a comparative study on Malaysia and Singapore in their governments’ attempts to foster national unity...

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Main Authors: Hashim, Rosnani, Tan, Charlene
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: citiZED 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/1038/1/A_hyphenated_identity-_fostering_national_unity_through_education_in_Malaysia_and_Singapore.pdf
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author Hashim, Rosnani
Tan, Charlene
author_facet Hashim, Rosnani
Tan, Charlene
author_sort Hashim, Rosnani
collection IIUM
description Among plural societies, Malaysia and Singapore are two countries in Southeast Asia that face the challenges of ethnic diversity since their independence from British colonial rule. This paper offers a comparative study on Malaysia and Singapore in their governments’ attempts to foster national unity through education. While both the governments adopt cultural pluralism, they have different approaches in the management of ethnic groups. The Malaysian government chooses to promote ethnic Malay interests through affirmative action policies in education, while the Singapore government professes to treat all the ethnic groups equally and claims that social mobility is determined by meritocracy. This paper focuses on the concept of ‘ethnic-national hyphenated identity’ and discusses the curricular challenges common to Malaysia and Singapore. It argues that efforts are needed to encourage the students to possess a greater sense of ethnic understanding and appreciation, coupled with a greater emphasis on critical inquiry and deliberation of ethnic issues in the curriculum.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:10382014-04-16T07:30:17Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/1038/ A hyphenated identity: fostering national unity through education in Malaysia and Singapore Hashim, Rosnani Tan, Charlene DS Asia Among plural societies, Malaysia and Singapore are two countries in Southeast Asia that face the challenges of ethnic diversity since their independence from British colonial rule. This paper offers a comparative study on Malaysia and Singapore in their governments’ attempts to foster national unity through education. While both the governments adopt cultural pluralism, they have different approaches in the management of ethnic groups. The Malaysian government chooses to promote ethnic Malay interests through affirmative action policies in education, while the Singapore government professes to treat all the ethnic groups equally and claims that social mobility is determined by meritocracy. This paper focuses on the concept of ‘ethnic-national hyphenated identity’ and discusses the curricular challenges common to Malaysia and Singapore. It argues that efforts are needed to encourage the students to possess a greater sense of ethnic understanding and appreciation, coupled with a greater emphasis on critical inquiry and deliberation of ethnic issues in the curriculum. citiZED 2009 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/1038/1/A_hyphenated_identity-_fostering_national_unity_through_education_in_Malaysia_and_Singapore.pdf Hashim, Rosnani and Tan, Charlene (2009) A hyphenated identity: fostering national unity through education in Malaysia and Singapore. Citizenship Teaching and Learning, 5 (1). pp. 46-59. http://www.citized.info/pdf/eJournal/5%20(1)%20FINAL%206.7.09.pdf
spellingShingle DS Asia
Hashim, Rosnani
Tan, Charlene
A hyphenated identity: fostering national unity through education in Malaysia and Singapore
title A hyphenated identity: fostering national unity through education in Malaysia and Singapore
title_full A hyphenated identity: fostering national unity through education in Malaysia and Singapore
title_fullStr A hyphenated identity: fostering national unity through education in Malaysia and Singapore
title_full_unstemmed A hyphenated identity: fostering national unity through education in Malaysia and Singapore
title_short A hyphenated identity: fostering national unity through education in Malaysia and Singapore
title_sort hyphenated identity fostering national unity through education in malaysia and singapore
topic DS Asia
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/1038/1/A_hyphenated_identity-_fostering_national_unity_through_education_in_Malaysia_and_Singapore.pdf
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