National Unity and Multiracial Harmony: Are these Foundational Principles Still Meaningful in Global-City Singapore?
Tuesday, 22 March 2022, 8 to 9 pm on Zoom
Chair: Kenneth Paul Tan, Professor, Department of Journalism, Hong Kong Baptist University
Speakers:
Koh Buck Song, Editor of “One United People”
Matilda Gabrielpillai, Independent Writer and Educator
Yong Han Poh, PhD Student (Anthropology), University of Oxford
At this Hong Kong launch of “One United People”: Essays from the People Sector on Singapore’s Journey of Racial Harmony, the volume editor and three of its chapter authors discuss what national unity and multiracial harmony mean to them, highlighting Singapore’s achievements and failures, and what they would like to see in Singapore’s future.
For enquiries about this talk: mkcheung@hkbu.edu.hk
Kenneth Paul Tan is Professor of Politics, Film, and Cultural Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. His books include Movies to Save Our World: Imagining Poverty, Inequality, and Environmental Destruction in the 21st Century, Singapore: Identity, Brand, Power, and Governing Global-City Singapore.
Koh Buck Song is the volume editor “One United People”. He is an author and editor of over 30 books, including Brand Singapore. As a country brand adviser, he often highlights multiculturalism as brand Singapore’s X factor. Previously, he was a journalist and columnist with The Straits Times, and a consultant in strategic communications on Singapore’s international image.
Matilda Gabrielpillai is a former journalist and academic based in Singapore. Her research and teaching interests included post-colonial literature and women’s writing, nationalisms and the scripting of cosmopolitan identities. Presently, she teaches and writes part-time and maintains a Literature education website.
Yong Han Poh is a PhD student at University of Oxford studying Anthropology, with a focus on migration and infrastructure. She has an MA in Southeast Asian Studies from the National University in Singapore and previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the Singapore Policy Journal.
“One United People” is available for purchase here.
Organized by Centre for Media and Communication Research, School of Communication and Film