In today’s society, topics relating to social cohesion and race relations are often dodged in conversations in order to avoid conflict and controversy. In this interactive drama event, students were given a safe space to voice out their opinions and thoughts on discrimination and racism in Singapore. The stories were shared bravely and without censorship, bringing to surface real underlying problems in Singapore’s society as well as helping those who are unaware gain a deeper understanding of these issues.

On 17 July 2018, the Ministry of Education (MOE) joined hands with Temasek Polytechnic (TP) to organise an interactive theatre set in efforts to raise awareness about various social issues and explore social diversity in Singapore.

While a wide range of social discussions on topics such as race, religion, sexuality and body image can be touched on in interactive drama sessions, the focus of this particular session was discrimination and racism. It began with a short skit depicting a possible situation in our society. Participants were to watch the scene unfold twice; in one they simply observed and in the other they were given the chance to alter the narrative to achieve a more peaceful conclusion to the skit. This prompted them to reflect on what can and should be done to avoid conflict in situations that they themselves could unexpectedly be found in. After which, a meaningful dialogue session unpacking the issues covered in the drama ensued.

The hour-long dialogue session presented students with the opportunity to share personal stories where they had complete freedom to speak about the struggles they face. Topics that most are afraid to talk about were being brought to light from several different perspectives, giving weight to the reality of many important social issues we try so hard to ignore.

“We thought it would be important for us to set up a safe space such that the students feel comfortable sharing certain things with their peers with the knowledge that there are educators surrounding them. Hopefully, by talking about these things, they would gather ideas as well as explore ways of moving forward from the issues they face and from the problems that they have in life,” said Ms. Cheryl Lim, 32, an educational officer at the Character and Citizenship Education Branch (CCE).

The students who participated generally felt that this session was a good experience for them as it opened their eyes to issues that they did not realise were so prominent in our society. A business student in her second year who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It made me more sensitive to what other people feel and what their opinions are, and it made me reflect on my actions and words as well. I think this has exposed us to many different topics about race and religion.”

Through such thought-provoking interactive drama sets, participants gain valuable insights with regards to many social issues and begin to cultivate a higher sense of empathy and sensitivity towards  those around them. This also opens doors for needed discussion on problems in our society that we, as Singaporeans, should be mindful of.

Mr. Farid Abdul Hamid, a consultant in diversity education in Singapore and Australia, facilitated the dialogue session with the students. He said: “It means a lot that we are talking about it and it means a lot that as a society we are mature enough to want to talk about it. It gives me hope for the future generation; they will be able to understand these issues even better and can create a more inclusive society. We can only become stronger and kinder and richer because of all this.”

By: Wu Hsuan-Yun, Celeste