CDCs spend thousands of dollars to promote racial harmony
By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 12 September 2009 2153 hrs

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SINGAPORE: In recent years, Community Development Councils (CDCs) have stepped up efforts to promote racial harmony and social cohesion in Singapore.

Last year, the Central Singapore CDC spent about S$750,000 on events and activities to promote racial harmony. This amount was the highest spent among the five CDCs.

The CDC said the S$750,000 spent constitutes 10 per cent of the money allocated for community bonding.

Mark Tan, general manager of Central Singapore CDC, said: "S$750,000 spent on our racial harmony initiatives is actually quite in line with what we spent on our other community efforts including healthy lifestyles and the promotion of the arts in the Central Singapore district."

The CDC said the events and activities it organised in the past one year have helped some 600,000 residents in the district understand one another better.

Mr Tan said: "We've provided support to the major ethnic festivals like Hari Raya and Deepavali celebrations and also to the various grassroots organisations which organise their own inter-ethnic and racial harmony initiatives."

Come next year, the Central Singapore CDC will tap on activities related to the Youth Olympic Games to help further enhance inter-racial bonding.

The South West CDC said it spent more than half a million dollars last year to promote inter-racial bonding and to help new citizens better integrate into Singapore's multi-cultural society.

While the CDCs say it is tough to put a price on the value of racial harmony, one thing is for sure - racial harmony is something that cannot be compromised in Singapore.

- CNA/ir