_{^{image source: Chua, M. T. (1959). National language class. National Gallery, Singapore. https://www.nationalgallery.sg/sg/en/our-collections/search-collection.artwork.html/national-collection/chua-mia-tee/p/P-0145.jpg.html}}

Singapore’s national identity has been a topic that many Singaporeans (or at least me) have mulled over for a long time. On the surface, it may seem intuitive and obvious but becomes persistently elusive when one tries to explain what exactly it means to be a Singaporean. With the approaching 60th anniversary of Singapore’s independence, a conversation about the Singapore national identity is gradually becoming more urgent as its continued elusiveness can only feed into our existential anxieties. Engaging the national identity building project in Singapore in my new article published in the Journal of Intercultural Studies, I identify a deep-seated problem that requires attention – specifically that of an emerging ethnoracialised national frame in defining national identity in Singapore; what I have called a multiracialised national identity. This is especially concerning considering the seemingly successful model of multiracialism in Singapore that has long espoused a civic approach in the conceptualisation of national identity. My paper looks into the government-led narrative of national identity and its many challenges in an attempt to unpack the national identity project in the context of Singaporean multiracialism, probing into Singapore’s national identity problematic.

Reference

Loh, S. H. (2025). A multiracialised national identity: Singaporean multiracialism and national identity. Journal of Intercultural Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2025.2519251