'Race is never absent in politics': Murali Pillai refutes Chee Soon Juan's claims that PAP's policies are divisive

Senior Minister of State for Transport Murali Pillai has rebutted claims by Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Chee Soon Juan that the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) racial policies are more divisive than they are cohesive, despite their supposed intent.

In a Facebook post and related video posted on Nov. 2, Pillai made a distinction between the safeguarding of racial equality and of creating racial divisions.

Race will never be absent from politics, he said, and so it is not possible to be race blind.

"We put in place these policies to overcome our racial divisions, and strengthen unity among Singaporeans."

What Chee said

In a TikTok video posted on Oct. 17, Chee called out Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam for supposedly "playing the race card" following the latter's Oct. 14 ministerial statement in parliament on the dangers of playing identity politics along racial and religious lines.

@cheesoonjuan Unbroken: The Power of Resilience Purchase it online at: cheesoonjuan.com/unbroken Also available at Orange & Teal #02 ♬ original sound - Chee Soon Juan

Insinuating that the PAP does the same, Chee listed a number of national policies he deemed proved as such:

"Which party insists on keeping race on our identity cards, despite repeated calls to abandon such a practice because it only accentuates the division among Singaporeans?"

"Which party said that...older Singaporeans are not ready for a non-Chinese prime minister?"

"Which party introduced the GRC system, saying that the Chinese left to our own devices would not elect minority candidates, when there is absolutely no truth to this?"

Chee alleged that they were examples of identity politics "at its most repugnant" and further accused the PAP of employing a "divide and conquer" tactic.

By dividing and sensitising citizens to their ethnic identity, ethnic groups grow suspicious of each other, Chee warned, and challenged Shanmugam to a direct and open debate.

Pillai's response

In his rebuttal, Pillai called Chee's words "untrue".

He said that avoiding the recognition of different races is not possible, simply because race is never absent in politics.

Exemplifying his own experiences in the Bukit Batok by-election of 2016 and GE2020, wherein both men faced off in Bukit Batok SMC, Pillai said that racial insults accorded to him as an Indian candidate were stark reminders that racial harmony cannot be left to chance.

"The fact is this, we cannot strengthen harmony by pretending racial identities don't exist. We cannot pretend that as human beings, we will always obey our highest ideals, but not our base instincts."

Pillai said it was not realistic that society would become "race blind" simply by removing race from NRICs or eliminating self-help groups, clan associations, heritage centres and so on that are aligned by race, addressing Chee's examples.

He further stressed the government's efforts to encourage cultural pride among different racial groups and ensure that all are represented in society and positions of power.

The point of Shanmugam's speech in parliament is to emphasise that "we must not bend at the knee to stoke racial and religious sentiments, especially during elections, when emotions can run high," Pillai said, but "we do not pretend that race is absent in Singapore."

Shanmugam also responded to Chee's comments by reposting Pillai's post on Facebook.

He said it was an "excellent" post by Murali about Chee.

Top images via Murali Pillai/Facebook & Chee Soon Juan/TikTok