In his recent speech in Singapore, Li Xiaobo opened a pot in the Chinese circles, reminding the people: "The real Singaporeans need to understand the fact that Singapore is not a Chinese country, only the Chinese constitute a majority, and this must be understood."
Trouble readers to tap the upper right corner of the "attention", leave your wonderful comment with everyone to explore, thank you for your strong support!
The situation in the Southeast Asian island country of Singapore is really interesting.
Although Chinese account for more than 70% of the country's population, the government has never recognized itself as a Chinese country.
This statement may seem a little strange on the surface, but it makes sense to think about it carefully.
Singapore's founding prime minister, Li Gong Yuan, has long determined this pattern, and the current leader, Li Xianlong, has alsoined this position.
Thinking back to 1965 when Singapore first became independent, the situation was really difficult.
It has just separated from Malaysia, surrounded by Muslim countries, and has no natural resources, even daily water to buy from neighbors.
In this case, excessive emphasis on the Chinese identity will indeed bring a lot of trouble.
Therefore, since the beginning of the founding of the country, Singapore has consciously degraded ethnic labels and strived to build a unified national identity.
The Singapore government has taken many concrete measures in this regard.
For example, in the housing policy, they stipulate that the proportion of Chinese in each community should not exceed 84%, thus avoiding the formation of pure Chinese settlements.
In terms of education, all schools are taught in English, but Chinese has become a secondary language.
Young people nowadays are more accustomed to speaking English, and many people do not speak Chinese at a very high level, or even do not speak at all.
In 1980, the Singapore government did a big thing. They merged Nanyang University.
The university was originally the first Chinese-language university overseas, and its disappearance symbolized the Chinese-language education in Singapore.
Today's young people in Singapore, many of whom speak poorly Chinese, are more accustomed to communicating in English.
Even television shows and newspapers are predominantly in English, and the influence of Chinese-language media is becoming less and less.
In terms of economy and security, Singapore is a cleverly balanced route.
It does business with China, its largest trading partner, with a large number of Chinese tourists traveling to Singapore every year.
But in terms of security, Singapore is inclined to the West, allowing U.S. warships to use its ports, as well as buying U.S. weapons equipment.
This strategy of relying on China for economy and the West for security has enabled Singapore to find a living space among big countries.
Singapore's demographic structure is also undergoing obvious changes.
China’s birth rate continues to decline, now just 0.94, far below 2.1 needed to maintain population stability.
The government had to adjust the proportion of ethnic groups through immigration policy.
Interracial marriages are becoming increasingly widespread, rising from 3.5 percent in 1980 to 21.4 percent now, and each transracial family is submergingly changing the social structure.
Singapore has also recently elected an Indian-born president, Shandaman, which is rare in a Chinese-majority country.
This shows that Singaporeans value skills more than racial backgrounds, and also reflects the country’s successful pluralism policy.
Li Xianlong said that Singaporeans are Singaporeans, not overseas Chinese.
This view represents the official position of Singapore: they don't agree with any overseas parents, only with Singapore itself.
This position, although misunderstood by some traditional Chinese, is in the national interests of Singapore.
In international affairs, Singapore also tries its best to maintain a neutral stance.
It not only maintains close economic exchanges with China, but also maintains security cooperation with western countries.
Sometimes this balance is not easy to grasp. For example, on the South China Sea issue, Singapore's position has caused controversy.
But overall, Singapore has succeeded in finding a balance between all parties.
Singapore's national identity strategy, which seems contradictory, is actually quite clever.
As a small country, it must find its way to survive in the game of great powers.
By decimating ethnic identity and strengthening national identity, Singapore has successfully avoided being involved in geopolitical disputes andined the country's independence and stable development.
This pragmatic attitude is worth a lot of countries to learn and draw from.
From Singapore's experience, it can be seen that the construction of national identity is a long and complicated process.
It needs to build a unified national consciousness while respecting multiculturalism.
Singapore has been quite successful in this respect, and its experience is of reference value to many multi-ethnic countries.
The main source: (Singapore's eyes are all foreigners, why are Singaporeans accepting the "small red dot" but dislike the "Poo County"?
Trouble readers to tap the upper right corner of the "attention", leave your wonderful comment with everyone to explore, thank you for your strong support!
The situation in the Southeast Asian island country of Singapore is really interesting.
Although Chinese account for more than 70% of the country's population, the government has never recognized itself as a Chinese country.
This statement may seem a little strange on the surface, but it makes sense to think about it carefully.
Singapore's founding prime minister, Li Gong Yuan, has long determined this pattern, and the current leader, Li Xianlong, has alsoined this position.
Thinking back to 1965 when Singapore first became independent, the situation was really difficult.
It has just separated from Malaysia, surrounded by Muslim countries, and has no natural resources, even daily water to buy from neighbors.
In this case, excessive emphasis on the Chinese identity will indeed bring a lot of trouble.
Therefore, since the beginning of the founding of the country, Singapore has consciously degraded ethnic labels and strived to build a unified national identity.
The Singapore government has taken many concrete measures in this regard.
For example, in the housing policy, they stipulate that the proportion of Chinese in each community should not exceed 84%, thus avoiding the formation of pure Chinese settlements.
In terms of education, all schools are taught in English, but Chinese has become a secondary language.
Young people nowadays are more accustomed to speaking English, and many people do not speak Chinese at a very high level, or even do not speak at all.
In 1980, the Singapore government did a big thing. They merged Nanyang University.
The university was originally the first Chinese-language university overseas, and its disappearance symbolized the Chinese-language education in Singapore.
Today's young people in Singapore, many of whom speak poorly Chinese, are more accustomed to communicating in English.
Even television shows and newspapers are predominantly in English, and the influence of Chinese-language media is becoming less and less.
In terms of economy and security, Singapore is a cleverly balanced route.
It does business with China, its largest trading partner, with a large number of Chinese tourists traveling to Singapore every year.
But in terms of security, Singapore is inclined to the West, allowing U.S. warships to use its ports, as well as buying U.S. weapons equipment.
This strategy of relying on China for economy and the West for security has enabled Singapore to find a living space among big countries.
Singapore's demographic structure is also undergoing obvious changes.
China’s birth rate continues to decline, now just 0.94, far below 2.1 needed to maintain population stability.
The government had to adjust the proportion of ethnic groups through immigration policy.
Interracial marriages are becoming increasingly widespread, rising from 3.5 percent in 1980 to 21.4 percent now, and each transracial family is submergingly changing the social structure.
Singapore has also recently elected an Indian-born president, Shandaman, which is rare in a Chinese-majority country.
This shows that Singaporeans value skills more than racial backgrounds, and also reflects the country’s successful pluralism policy.
Li Xianlong said that Singaporeans are Singaporeans, not overseas Chinese.
This view represents the official position of Singapore: they don't agree with any overseas parents, only with Singapore itself.
This position, although misunderstood by some traditional Chinese, is in the national interests of Singapore.
In international affairs, Singapore also tries its best to maintain a neutral stance.
It not only maintains close economic exchanges with China, but also maintains security cooperation with western countries.
Sometimes this balance is not easy to grasp. For example, on the South China Sea issue, Singapore's position has caused controversy.
But overall, Singapore has succeeded in finding a balance between all parties.
Singapore's national identity strategy, which seems contradictory, is actually quite clever.
As a small country, it must find its way to survive in the game of great powers.
By decimating ethnic identity and strengthening national identity, Singapore has successfully avoided being involved in geopolitical disputes andined the country's independence and stable development.
This pragmatic attitude is worth a lot of countries to learn and draw from.
From Singapore's experience, it can be seen that the construction of national identity is a long and complicated process.
It needs to build a unified national consciousness while respecting multiculturalism.
Singapore has been quite successful in this respect, and its experience is of reference value to many multi-ethnic countries.
The main source: (Singapore's eyes are all foreigners, why are Singaporeans accepting the "small red dot" but dislike the "Poo County"?