Race is a social way of grouping people, often using perceived appearance and ancestry, or family origins. Ethnicity concerns connections through heritage, language, customs and history. Neither fixes a person's abilities or behaviour.
Racial categories are created and used by societies; they are not separate biological types. Ethnicity focuses on cultural connections and a sense of shared heritage: histories, languages and customs passed on through families or communities. The terms can overlap in everyday and official use, and the categories used can differ across places and periods.
In Singapore, Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others are broad categories used in official statistics. A broad category can include different family histories, languages and customs. People may also have mixed heritage or identify with more than one cultural tradition.
Learning a language, hearing family stories or taking part in a custom can connect someone with a community and its past. Different traditions contribute to a society's diversity. People within a group may practise traditions differently, and appearance or a name alone does not establish someone's cultural life.
Worked example: A broad label and a family history
Lina describes herself as Malay and explains that her grandparents have Bugis and Javanese roots. She enjoys recording their family stories. Her cousin shares those roots but has chosen to learn more about the family's language through lessons.
- The broad Malay identity and the more specific family heritage are compatible. One description gives more detail about her family's history.
- Recording stories and learning a language are different ways of connecting with that heritage. The cousins do not have to practise it identically.
- Their own accounts support these conclusions. Their shared heritage would not, by itself, tell us their nationality, religion or views on every issue.
Watch out for this
Race is a fixed biological type, so a person's appearance reveals their culture and abilities.
Racial labels are social categories. Use stated heritage and evidence of actual practices to explain cultural identity; do not infer ability, beliefs or behaviour from appearance.
Check your understanding
A student describes both Chinese and Indian family heritage but speaks only English confidently. What is the best conclusion?
- The student cannot have those family roots without speaking both heritage languages.
- The student's appearance would tell us which part of the account is true.
- The account shows mixed heritage, while language use is a separate part of the student's experience.