Analysis Of One Vision One Identity, One Community

I am looking at a drawing that might have come straight from a children 's book. Ten doll-like figures stand side-by-side, interspersed with rainbows and garbed in distinct, culturally-appropriate clothing. The menagerie is so heavy-handed in its pursuit of ethnic and cultural diversity that I can 't help but be reminded of Disneyland 's “it 's a small world” [sic] ride. It is ASEAN 's “One” promotional graphic, and much like Disney 's renowned attraction, it leaves me feeling uneasy. Its saccharine quality makes me wonder as to what bitterness ASEAN might be trying to conceal. The tagline, “One Vision, One Identity, One Community,” seems hopelessly naïve and coldly calculating all at once. Its bubbly lettering asserts unequivocally that ASEAN

(Ibid) This fear is perhaps best represented in the bumiputera ideology. Under bumiputera, which celebrates the “native” Malay population, both ethnic and religious identity have become absolutely central to political life in Malaysia. All citizens are thoroughly sorted and categorized by the identity the government imposes upon them, and preferential treatment is given in the economic and political spheres to those fortunate enough to be considered “ethnic Malay.” This showcases an institutional interest in propping up one demographic at the expense of all others, and in my opinion demonstrates that identity politics are one of the primary tools at UMNO 's

An economic powerhouse, Singapore 's highly educated and employed populace is vaguely reminiscent of a Western society, at least more so than Malaysia 's. There is no prominent, let alone state-managed, system of racial or religious discrimination. In fact, Singapore seems to go out of its way to make identity a non-issue for Singaporeans (Lecture 7), who seem more concerned about the influence of foreigners than about racial divisions amongst themselves (Lecture 10). However, I argue that the very act of attempting to make racial and ethnic identity a non-issue is in and of itself an act of identity politics. Singapore 's fastidious management and extensive urban planning, carried out in large part by Lee Kuan Yew and the People 's Action Party, is a prime example of identity politics at play in Singapore. Singapore 's architects designed the island-nation carefully, its small size putting a premium on developmental space, encouraging extensive forethought (Lecture 7). For instance, Singapore was made to be equally accessible to all residents via the mass-transit SMRT system, with no region more economically or socially desirable than another (at least in theory) and this in part discouraged the formation of ethnic ghettos (Ibid). Similarly, Singapore 's highly coveted public housing units are designed and managed by the PAP, and their ethnic compositions are carefully managed so as to be representative