Saturday, November 15, 2008

Stumped by “Ethnic Background”

I’ve just signed up for a distance-learning programme. After months and months of procrastination, followed by week after week of surfing practically all the available courses online, I finally selected one I liked and paid up for it. Upon my payment, I received the course materials the next day plus an application form that I had to fill up to register for a particular certification.

Now form filling is one of the most mundane things we have been doing all our lives so most of us would do it with our eyes closed right? But on this particular form, I was stumped by one section that required me to specify my ethnic group i.e. my cultural background. The choices listed were: White, Mixed Race, Asian, Asian British, Black, Black British, Chinese or others. Without even thinking, I crossed an “X” for Chinese. Then I re-read the other choices and decided that I should change it to Asian instead because Chinese probably meant Chinese from Mainland China. I then had to specify further my Asian background. The examples given were: Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi. I typed “Singaporean” then paused for a moment to think…should I specify “Chinese Singaporean” instead? Wait a minute…or should it be “Singaporean Chinese?”

For the first time in my life, I had to think real hard about my ethnic background…what am I? Am I a Chinese first then a Singaporean or am I a Singaporean first before I’m Chinese? After several moments of deep thinking, I decided that I am a fourth generation Singaporean who happens to be a Chinese so my final decision was I’m a Singaporean Chinese.

In today’s context, I don’t see why there’s a need to specify right down to the exact what’s our ethnic background. Moreover, I wasn’t applying for any residential or citizenship status in another country but merely doing an online academic programme. If this world would like to see greater harmony among its inhabitants, I suggest we start eliminating the need to differentiate. By focusing more on the similarities rather than the differences, the easier it is for us to assimilate and accept each other. After all, aren’t we all of the same kind…just human?

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