In Singapore, race is closely tied to identity, and racial categories are commonly used in policymaking. With the rising number of inter-racial marriages in the country, is there a need to better represent and account for those with mixed race heritage?

In the final episode of the third season, host and Associate Director at the Institute of Policy Studies Liang Kaixin chats with Shane Pereira, Research Associate at IPS Social Lab and Dave Parkash, an F&B business owner who was at the centre of a viral racist incident involving a polytechnic lecturer in 2021. They reflect on the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others (CMIO) categorisation in Singapore, the difficulties they face as biracial individuals, and how they think Singaporeans could be more racially inclusive.

Find out more about biracialism in Singapore:

• Today (11 June 2021): My mixed-race children and I have been subjected to racist remarks. How can we do better, Singapore?
• Vice (17 January 2020): What It's Like to Grow Up Biracial In Singapore
• Rice Media (29 November 2019): Someone Once Said to Me, “You Look Good For A Half-Indian Guy”

About our guests:

Shane Pereira

Research Associate

IPS Social Lab

Shane is a Research Associate at IPS Social Lab. He specialises in applied ethnography and social research methods, and holds qualifications in Sociology and social research methods, which he taught for the last 11 years in both the NUS and King’s College London. He also taught Cognitive Processes and Problem Solving in Republic Polytechnic.

Shane’s research focus centres on issues of diversity, pluralism, and multiculturalism. His current research interests include ethnographic methodology, in-work poverty in the gig economy, intergenerational poverty, social and cultural diversity, and Singapore’s religious landscape.

He also has a keen interest in the social construction of cults, sects, and other minority religions.

Dave Parkash

F&B Business Owner

Dave is co-founder and co-owner of a restaurant in Singapore. He graduated with a bachelor of science in International Business Management from Newcastle University London. He is experienced in Business Development and has previously made several ventures in the F&B scene.

Dave has previously been invited to speak on the issue of race in Singapore on CNA’s On The Red Dot: Who We Are, What We Eat.

On Diversity is a podcast inspired by the Institute of Policy Studies Managing Diversities research programme. In each episode, we chat with guests to explore what diversity means to them, the changes they are making, and the changes they hope to see in an increasingly fragmented society.

More from On Diversity

• Season 3 Episode 8: Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination with Sher-li Torrey, Founder of Mums@Work and Kalpana Vignehsa, Senior Research Fellow at IPS
• Season 3 Episode 7: Palliative Care for the Young and Old with Dr Chong Poh Heng, Medical Director at HCA Hospice Limited and Tay Jia Ying, an end-of-life doula and Founder of Happy Ever After
• Season 3 Episode 6: Social Worker Burnout with Louis Ng, MP for Nee Soon GRC and Cindy Ng-Tay, Director of Home at Children’s Aid Society
• Season 3 Episode 5: Leaving the Law Profession with Andrew Chan, Partner at Allen & Gledhill LLP and Michelle Yeo, Of Counsel at LVM Law Chambers LLC
• Season 3 Episode 4: Racism at Work with Dharesheni Nedumaran, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, APAC, at Mediabrands and Shamil Zainuddin, Research Associate at IPS Social Lab
• Season 3 Episode 3: Ableism at Work with Cassandra Chiu, a vision impaired counsellor and advocate for PWDs, and Justin Lee, Senior Research Fellow at IPS
• Season 3 Episode 2: Ageism at Work with Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), and Associate Professor Helen Ko of the Master & PhD in Gerontology Programmes at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
• Season 3 Episode 1: Sexism at Work, with Corinna Lim, Executive Director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) and Simran Toor, Chief Executive Officer at SG Her Empowerment Limited (SHE)