Some thoughts about the challenges to CMIO system[^0]

<Chinese Version>


As mentioned by Chua Mui Hoong in her article, "The CMIO system is 100 years old and needs an update" (16 Jul 2021), [^1] the US census protocol changed in 2000 to allow mixed-race marriage parents to mark more than one race for their children. But by doing so, their children will automatically assigned to a minority race and not deemed white, even if they may be of European ancestry. Thus leading to US census projections showing that non-whites will make up the majority of the population around 2045.

Ms Chua was right to say, such a situation is "... springs from a change in classification of mixed-race children. ...The white population is thus depleted on paper - when, in fact, many people assigned as minorities may culturally and ethnically identify as white...".

But her analogy which state that, "...In Singapore, this would be equivalent to assigning all mixed-race children (including those with a Chinese father and a minority mother) to Malay, Indian or Others depending on their ethnic identity; and then worrying that the Chinese majority is eroding...", is inappropriate. Why?

Firstly, in US multiricial construct, the white's language and religion are always in dominant position where non-whites follows; thus whether the white population is depleted on paper or in real life, it will not affect their culture and ethnicity at all. Whereas in Singapore, we do not have such a dominant construct for (or favour) Chinese or other races. Hence, what applies for the white in US may not applies for the Chinese in Singapore.

Secondly, the Chinese, as well as the Malay and Indian in Singapore, are facing a real (not an on paper) common problem. According to Singapore Population Census 2020, a decades long worried trend is accelerating, 48.3% of residents surveyed spoke English most frequently at home, up from 32.3% a decade ago [^2]; nudging all ethnic languages to become the second or third language spoken at home. Hence alarmed by our past experiences, are we seeing the gradual demise of our languages at home?

As we are all pragmatic people but not saint, we should worry about the fate and survival of our ethnic languages which form the bases, or "key Operating Systems", of our ethnic cultures and identities. It is a just and acceptable concern in "bilingual structured and social engineered" multiracial Singapore. If we failed to ensure their survival, then by 2045, we may face a situation where the white in US are still embracing their culture, language and ethnicity, but in Singapore, a high percentage of all races, regardless they are majority or minority, might feel alienated, if not at odd with, their respective ethnic cultures, languages and identities; thereby causing more doubts on our multiracial and CMIO system.

We should always appreciate any efforts made by mixed-race marriage parents to practice and keep alive their ethnic languages, cultures and identities at home and within their respective ethnic circles; they see the essences and are keeping, not ignoring them. But their efforts might not last if most people and races around them have omitted or no longer see the need to do likewise. These are long term challenges to our (non-assimilation) CMIO system and multiricial's bilingual construct that worth our constant attention.

In year 2004, our late PM, Mr Lee Kuan Yew had urged all races in Singapore to "Keep Mother Tongue alive at home" [^3]. We should heed his advice so as to maintain a better feel (sentimentally) and understandings of one's own culture in real life experiences, and thus prepared us for better and more empathy interactions (self and mutual respect) with other people (including people within same ethnic group with different views or generation gap) in our multiracial society.



以下为本文的注解(Ref):