Dual Frequencies

Some find their presence disconcerting, while others find it inspiring. Cara Yap talks to cross-cultural artists who grapple with stereotypes such as cultural appropriation, otherness, and identity.

- Cara Yap

The message is splashed across peppy tourism brochures and proclaimed with gusto during National Day campaign segments: Singapore's multiculturalism is vibrant and exciting! Yet, despite our undeniable diversity in cuisine, multiculturalism is often reduced to a tired refrain about racial harmony, leaving little room for a deep conversation about shared identity.

In a 2017 Institute of Policy Studies survey, there was a lower level of intercultural exchange in the country, despite respondents' interest in experiencing other ethnic cultures. To what extent do our parameters run on the "other side"? Is our cultural fabric bound by something similar to a shared patrimony? We meet two millennials who are exemplifying pluralism through traditional arts, leapfrogging conventions and asserting their identities.

MALIK, IN BOLD

Malik Mazlan paints with practised ease the Chinese character denoting prosperity in a cluttered studio above his mother's Muslimah hair salon - a charming time capsule whose darkened windows face North Bridge Road. Observing his deft, unfaltering strokes, you'd never guess that he blundered through art class.