Oct 17th, 2006
Racism in Singapore
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After reading a blog entry by a Malay guy called Ridzwan (I presume that is his name, going by the name of his URL), I must say that racism in Singapore is something that is still very much alive, although in appearance, everything looks nice and well.
I am not sure why some Singaporeans, especially the Chinese Singaporeans, take such a negative view towards fellow Singaporeans of another race. I speak from experience. I graduated from The Chinese High School, a school where you almost have no students from other races. I went on to Hwa Chong Junior College, where the situation is slightly better, but not much. I do notice that many of my friends who have been through 6 years of education in both Chinese dominated schools are somewhat racist.
I must say that the kind of racism I’ve seen is not the extreme kind (by that I mean actual and negative physical action against someone of another race). More often, it’s an extremely strong opinion about a race having certain characteristics and making unsavoury or even derogatory remarks.
Despite 6 years of schooling in institutions where there were few students of other races, I somehow didn’t turn out racist by any measure. I don’t know why, but I just think that it’s not right to make certain conclusions about people based on their race. While it is true that people of a certain race have slightly different habits and customs, it does not make them any less a human being.
It’s just plain unfair to think of certain races as inherently being more lazy, more unpatriotic, more prone to causing social problems etc. It’s always easier to demonise others because that makes self-reflection unnecessary. By casting others as the problem, we escape from having to consider whether we are problematic. Face it, for whatever labels that are cast on non-chinese Singaporeans, I bet to my last dollar that you will find many Chinese Singaporeans that fit the label exactly. Before Chinese Singaporeans think badly of other races in Singapore, they ought to make sure that they have the moral authority to do so.
I had the benefit of being in the minority when I went to the UK for 3 weeks in 2004. When I was there, I truly understand how it feels to be in the minority. You are always conscious of yourself because you look different from most people around you. It gave me an invaluable lesson. I think that most Chinese Singaporeans should go spend some time in a place where they are the minority and see how it feels. Nothing teaches better than actual experience.
Of course, that’s not a feasible option for everyone. I don’t think that having Racial Harmony Day is a feasible option either. What can one day of celebrations do? What is really necessary is for people of different races to come together for an extended period of time. Understanding is not forged in a matter days. It takes years. And, it better start from young. As the saying goes, old habits die hard.
Perhaps the first step in the right direction is to dismantle the SAP school system. The SAP schools focus on teaching excellence in Chinese, and students are usually Chinese. How can we reduce racism if we have such schools? I came from one such school, and I see for myself that such schools, more often than not, produce students that harbour some form of racism. And, it doesn’t help that most of these schools are academically strong institutions that attract smart students. This means that their graduates are likely to be future leaders of society, and I am not comfortable with these future leaders harbouring some form of racist ideas.
I think I’ve stirred a hornet’s nest by suggesting the dismantling of the system that I went through. I have to admit that there are exceptions, and not every graduate from an SAP school is racist. However, the odds of producing a somewhat racist person is higher in an SAP school. By the same token, I think that muslim schools (called madrasahs if I am not mistaken) should also be looked at. These schools should be confined to strictly teaching religion, and learning other subjects should be done in government schools. If we want to tackle the problem of racism and maintain racial harmony, we really need to take the necessary steps, even if they might not please certain groups of people.
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Why did Hitler have a problem with Jews? Do you think it is because of a lack of interaction? Do you think you can write volumes about the problems Jews bring without having spent time with one?
One SAP student to another, I do not believe the school is to blame for racism. Chances are it is the racist parents who would choose to send their kids to SAP schools, not the other way around. If anything, my alma mater taught me to be proud of my heritage, and it is with this pride that I can under and respect the heritage of other races. If you succumb to the mainstream attitude to hide our racial identities in the name of racial harmony, speak English, dress western, then the converse it that, you will subtly begrudge those who speak Malay and dress like an Arab.
I love Indian food and once, I chided for stupidly eating the colourful stuff I am unable to name on my plate, by someone who was from a secondary school of a decent racial mix compared to any SAP school. That same person also declared he will never touch any Malay/Indian food because it was prayed over and offered to foreign gods.
You can bask in your halo of politcal correctness, but when you are old enough, you will realise this whole world is racist, including yourself. It is not a problem anyone can fix. But it is a hatred any loose cannon can stoke, especially those eagerly offering a solution.
Have you heard of the genocide in Rwanda? Hutus killing Tutsis? Do you know that they were originally one race, but were labelled Hutu or Tutsi based merely on physical traits by the Belgians? If the two races so closely related can breed such immense hatred, what chances do those with clearly distinct appearances have?
The key to combating racism is tolerance for diversity. That include tolerating SAP schools and madrasahs. If you were to force politcal correctness across the board, demanding say, racial quotas in schools the way we have racial quotas for HDB flats, the ultimate victims could end up being the racial minorities. Just ask any Malay family trying to sell their flat in Hougang.
Sorry, I’m going to digress for abit. I’ve always wondered how come Chinese families have so few kids despite a fairly reasonable income. Whereas Malay families have many kids despite a much lower income? Is it a cultural thing?
Hi Jimmy,
I do not think I am, in your words, “basking in the halo of political correctness”. I see that SAP schools have a higher tendency of breeding racists, compared to those from non-SAP schools.
It is interesting that we have differing experiences, but I don’t think that it makes either you or me wrong. It’s something worth exploring.
However, I disagree with you that the key to combating racism means tolerating SAP schools and madrasahs. The reason is because these institutions are to skewed in the kind of races that they attract. How can you ever seek to understand another race if you don’t even get a chance to interact with them in the first place?
I never said that I am for a quota system. I am just saying that we should not be allowing schools to segregate races. I came from a government primary school where there were Malays and Indians in my class. If it can be done in some schools, why not across the board? My point here is that we should look at our society and reduce the opportunities for people to develop racist attitudes.
I am glad that you appear not to have turned out racist, even though you came from a SAP school. However, my observation is that, not everyone is like you, in your words, “my alma mater taught me to be proud of my heritage, and it is with this pride that I can under and respect the heritage of other races”. My opinion is that you are the exception rather than the norm.
And, since you said the key to combating racism is tolerance for diversity, how do you think you can develop tolerance if you don’t even have an opportunity to interact with people of other races? Do you think you can develop tolerance without understanding first? I don’t think so.
Hi Chris,
I am not sure why the Chinese these days don’t have many kids. It wasn’t the case during the time of our grandparents.
I suspect that it’s not a cultural thing. I think that it’s a general phenomenon that with increasing education and affluence, people are less likely to want more kids because of greater understanding of the costs involved in bringing up a child.
Perhaps the problem seems more acutely manifested in the Chinese people because the proportion of Chinese in Singapore is very high, and thus maybe you hear more stories.
Hi Andy,
You see thats the thing. Alot of people come to the conclusion that Malays are ‘lazy’ and they ‘don’t study’. It’s a scathing accusation which is passed down from generation to generation in SOME Chinese families.
Yes, Chinese families have less kids nowadays because they are more educated (so to speak), and they have better financial planning to indicate how many children they should have(very few), in order to have quality-of-life.
SOME Malay families place less emphasis on family planning, they don’t exactly worry at the very beginning how much they will be able to offer their kids as they grow up. If 4 kids is a good number for them, then they will have 4 kids (despite a low income).
As a result, SOME Malay families are unable afford sending their children to higher institutes of learning. Its a vicious cycle and because of this, some Chinese like to label Malays as ‘uneducated’. Which is obviously unfair.
What do you think?
Erm, I’m Aaron, not Andy.
I agree with you completely that many people come to the conclusion that Malays are ‘lazy’ and ‘don’t study’ and that such perceptions actually perpetuate in Chinese families.
My own family is an example. While I don’t think my parents are extreme, they do have some deep rooted notion about Malays in general. Even when I point out that their notions are also common among the Chinese, they would defend themselves and say that it’s not as bad. I still cannot understand why they think like that.
And yes, there is certainly a vicious cycle going on. I do think that our education system lacks one aspect of teaching, and that is financial education. In the past, we emphasize on a good education so that we can get high paying jobs to get rich. Now, we emphasize on entrepreneurship to get rich.
Unfortunately, while we have taught our people the importance of getting rich, we have forgotten to teach them something even more important, and that is how to spend their money wisely.
I suppose the vicious cycle is not a matter of education per se, but rather, lack of knowledge on financial planning.
Of course, there are people who just want big families, no matter the cost. I believe everyone should be allowed to make their own choice, and we just have to help the less fortunate along, instead of branding them as “uneducated”.
Hi Aaron, I’m sorry I got your name wrong..haha
From a different perspective then..
Some people want big families despite low income (eg.sub 2k hsehold). They embrace the idea of having many children to support them when they’re old, fully aware that their finances dangle on being chronically insufficient. Predictably, years before reaching such a stage where their kids are old enough to support them, they are unable to cope, lamenting a lack of support from the Gahmen.
In a way, they can be seen as architects of their own downfall. Of course, in the course of being a giving and gracious society, we should strive to help these people. BUT..would they really have been “poor” if they had lived within their means?
sorry, i wasn’t done yet, accidentally clicked on “submit comment” haha. Yes continuing on my last post.
Yes, people the right to choose how many kids they have, we’re aren’t China with some draconian child policy. But you see, SOME malays are caught up in this vicious cycle ,in a problem thats been inherent in many malay familes for years.
You can’t say “I’m sorry, I couldn’t plan my finances for my family because they failed to teach me “financial planning” in school. Being born and bred in Singapore, the high cost of having a child doesn’t border on the unknown, on the contrary, its common knowledge.
I have many malay friends, and unlike their parents, they are more financially savy than their parents’ generation. They plan to have small families and offer their future kids the best they can give them…..not the best I can give them divided by six. Things are improving and hopefully, such notions that malays are ‘uneducated’, ‘poor’ or ‘lazy’ will gradually fade away.
Great point, Chris. I completely agree that most of the “poor” people are usually the architects of their own disaster. This is why I always tell my friends that they should go seek a good financial planner and learn how to take care of their finances properly.
I’ve talked to my fiancee a few times on how we (as in people of our age) are in the transitional phase of our society. Our parents expect us to support them because their financial planning mentality is to depend on the kids. However, we have our own debts and problems to carry as well (housing loan, car loan, study loan and whatever other things you can think of). We are really stuck in the middle.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t have a choice. It’s just too bad. What I can do, however is not to perpetuate the cycle by breaking my own dependence on my kids in future. And, I think that it is important that the young people these days are educated on this.
You’ve given me inspiration for my next entry. I’m going to sleep on it a little tonight and write about it maybe tomorrow. The lack of knowledge of financial planning among young people is something that has been worrying me.
I hope that the notion goes away too. I have a number of Malay friends and acquaintances, and I am dead sure that they are more brilliant than many people of other races that I know. It’s just a shame that there is this general untrue perception about them which I don’t know where it came from.
Great discussion Aaron, kudos to u.
It was nice to have you inspire me too. Cheers!
“Do you think you can develop tolerance without understanding first? I don’t think so.”
Are you implying that anything you cannot tolerate anything you dont know? I dont think so. The essence of tolerance is to give the benefit of doubt not when you know, but when you DONT KNOW. When you get older, you will realise how little you do know, even of things in your immediate surroundings.
How much do you know about Islam, for example? What constitutes halal food? Is the the absence of pork and lard sufficient? Did you know that while most Muslims in Singapore consider shell fish like mussels halal, it is not necessarily true for other Muslims?
If you dont know any of those I mentioned, does that make you a racist? I didnt learn all that from a Malay. I read it from here and there. If you have a genuine interest in learning, why would you be fenced in by a SAP school or a madrasah?
There are many reasons why people turn racist, but a chief cause is that people feel their racial identity is under attack from another race. This is exactly what you are trying to suggest. Make a Chinese less Chinese, make a Malay less Malay, make an Indian less Indian, and we will all live in blissful harmony. You want to know what can happen?
Consider the example of our neighbour, Indonesia, a populous land of diverse race, language and religion. (What? Indonesia is all Malay? Trust me, most Malays will proudly tell you if they have Boyanese or Bugis blood in them.) Indonesia, in their effort to achieve unity, forced all Indonesians to speak Bahasa, a language even the ruling Javanese do not speak. The Chinese in Indonesia must have been particularly because the Indonesian went so far to ban all Chinese literature. And then they tried to migrate the races around to dilute the ethnicity of any one area.
Today, Indonesia is the poster child of racial harmony, right? You want to spend a Christmas in Ambon perhaps?
oops typo in the first line. Should read
“Are you implying that you cannot tolerate anything you dont know?”
Jimmy keeps using the phrase “when you get older, you will realise….”I honestly wonder how old you are Jimmy, but you don’t have to phrase it like we are just young punks are we don’t know anything.
Respecting “elders” isn’t easy if they have so much disdain for youth.
damn typo “i meant you don’t have to phrase it like we are just young punks and we don’t know anything”
I am not that young but I am not that old either. The surest sign of unbridled youthfulness is the belief that you almost know everything. Everything is either right or wrong.
It is humbling when you finally see the real world in ugly shades of gray.
In the exchange between the two of you, your ethnocentricity is clearly exposed. You think that financial planning, family planning is the only way to happiness. In your world, is there enough room to tolerate people who believe that a big family is happiness in itself? That spending a lifetime cleaning toilets is not degrading?
Hi Jimmy,
I think there is a huge world of difference between knowing and understanding. I never said that you need to know before you can develop tolerance. I said that you need to understand.
Tolerance is indeed about giving the benefit of the doubt about things you don’t know. But, what is the basis of tolerance? It is still understanding.
You can know everything, but at the same time you can choose not to understand and accept what you know. The next question of course would be how do we develop understanding?
I have no clear answer to that, but what I do know if that it is easier to understand if people actually talk to each other more. If people don’t even get the chance to talk to each other, would they have a chance of understand where each other is coming from?
And, I never suggested that we should reduce the racial identity of any race. I encourage each race to be proud of their identity and heritage. There is nothing wrong with that. What I think is wrong is to have specialised institutions that effectively shuts out another race in practice, although not in theory.
I don’t think (and I never said) that not having SAP schools will make a chinese less of a chinese, or that not having madrasahs will make a Malay less malay. That’s taking what I said to the extreme.
I only that the probability of developing racism is higher in an environment where you don’t have other races to interact with. Why can’t we have institutions where people of all races sit together in the same class and then have teachers teach about the heritage of everyone’s race all in one sitting? Must we segregate in order to learn one’s heritage?
If the lack of socializing is the cause of racism, it is rather simple to solve. One could either abolish SAP and/or have racial qouta for all schools just like what we have for HDB flats. It may even work better than HDB qouta as students spend a greater part of their waking hours in schools!
But seriously, I suspect that this has to do with the enforced racial and even religious harmony in Singapore. People try to minimize any confrontation or percieved confrontation between different groups. In the end misuderstandings are left unchallenged or unexposed by being unexpressed.
In a civil society, people will step on one anothers’ toes once in a while. But if all are reasonable people such interactions may potentially yield true understanding and respect. The contact would also force people to abandon any unrealistic preconception of one another.
Instead in Singapore, there is only OB markers and emphasis placed on the CMIO classification of races. They discourage interactions and helps to reinforce unrealistic stereotypes of what each artificially created CIMO group is like.
Hope that made sense
Quoting Jimmy,
You think that financial planning, family planning is the only way to happiness. In your world, is there enough room to tolerate people who believe that a big family is happiness in itself? That spending a lifetime cleaning toilets is not degrading?
I don’t think anything was said to the effect that only small families bring happiness. I was only theorising that one of the key reasons that result in the constant vicious poverty cycle is lack of financial knowledge.
I fail to see where did I claim that financial planning is the only way to happiness. As a critical social science student, I am not so naive. My point is that if people are more financially aware of the cost involved, they will make better decisions.
Should they choose to still down down the path of trying to raise 6 kids on a $2,000 monthly income, at least they know the likely consequences.
I reiterate that you are enititled to your opinions, and I am entitled to mine. I never claimed to know what is right or wrong, and in anycase, the truth is relative. What I said is the conclusion of what I see.
“Why can’t we have institutions where people of all races sit together in the same class and then have teachers teach about the heritage of everyone’s race all in one sitting?”
Because people dont want to. You will have to force them, with quotas, just like HDB flats, or the racial mix will never be right. Birds of a feather flock together. And people forced into doing things will not be happy doing it. You cant force people to be friends. Think Yugoslavia. As soon as the totalitarian regime fell, the races start slaughtering each other, after decades of racial harmony.
Let me sum up all I want to say in one sentence:
You cant hate people you dont have to spend time and share space with.
Are you not making an inherent assumption that people don’t want to? Going by your logic, should we just leave things as it is, just because “people dont want to”?
You don’t have to force people to be friends. That will never succeed. What I’m merely saying is that we should not be providing an environment that increases the probability of developing racism.
Going by the theory of probability, most things are usually distributed normally. There will always be extreme cases, but as the normal distribution curve shows, these are the minority. Most people tend to fall in between, and those are the people we should be working on.
Fundamentally, ideas about race and ethnicity are nothing but social constructs dreamed up by humans. What we understand of race and ethnicity today is the result of ideas that were passed on down to us.
As human beings, we are capable of higher order thinking and shouldn’t we question why things are they way they are, instead of making assumptions like “people don’t want to”. It is not justifiable to continue something that is wrong because some people are resistant to change. If everyone had such a mentality, we would still be living in caves.
And, your one sentence summation sounds really odd to me. It seems to me that in your opinion, only hermits and anti-social people don’t hate others.
Hi YCK,
You hit the nail on the head. In Singapore, the racial harmony we haveachieved is not on the basis of understanding, but rather avoidance.
We avoid issues that might cause unhappiness and discomfort, but this is just stopping the symptoms, and not solving the problem. The problem of racism still exisits, and to cure that, we really need people to talk, and not avoid the issue.
If we keep avoiding the issue, one day, when there is no longer a strong government, this ‘racial harmony’ will just fall apart.
Quoting Jimmy:
In the exchange between the two of you, your ethnocentricity is clearly exposed. You think that financial planning, family planning is the only way to happiness.
———————————————————–
I don’t think Aaron’s and my comments are ‘frog-in-a-well comments.’ I’m not exactly young, I’m a working adult. Not to say I’m a genius, but you are being a tad condescending in your efforts to get your point across.
I never mentioned that family planning or financial planning is the only way to happiness. But I believe its one of the primary causes which unables some malays to break out of the poverty cycle. This is quite valid.
Lets face it: why bring a kid into this world if you can’t give him the best. In Singapore, the attainment of a degree is simply mediocre, its not like majority of degree holders can afford extravagant lifestyles.
Times have changed, in our fathers’ generation, it didn’t use to be this way. Now, Singaporean society is continually striving and improving and the PAP always keeps repeating like a skipping pirated VCD : You must re-train yourself to assimilate yourself back into the workforce, age is not a barrier” (its a load of crap to be honest)
That is why, a lot of Malays are being left behind, its not that they don’t want to embrace the changes coming into effect. Its simply not within their means. Unless they break out of the cycle, they will always be ‘bums’ in the eyes of many biased Chinese people.
damn another typo..must be lack of sleep i meant
“But I believe its one of the primary causes which prevents some malays to break out of the poverty cycle. This is quite valid.”
I suppose then, in your book, someone from a monolithic racial environment will have a higher chance of being a racist? How much more really? 10%? 20%? 99.95%? Then you better inform our good government to stop importing PRC students, since they would have no understanding of Malays or Indians, and will be the worst perpetrators of racism against the minorities. Is that the truth? I dont think so.
PRC students, like SAP students, are acutely aware that we know nothing about the ethnic minorities, and should be more likely to be careful in our interactions. In contrast, my observation is that those who mingled with the minorities since their playground days and had bad experiences first hand, will have pretty fixed racist ideas that will be hard to erase.
And as you stated, racism is something passed from generation to generation; it is something that parents instill in their children. Did your teachers at Chinese High tell you over and over again that xxx race are lazy bums, yyy race are drunk wife beaters? Then where did you get those ideas from? You think someone from non-SAP school has more trouble matching the letters to the race?
So why blame the SAP schools?
Chinese High was a all boys school too. Does Chinese High have a higher than average proportion of homosexuals? I spent a total of ELEVEN years in my all boys SAP school, from Pre-Primary to Sec 4, but I had no problem befriending Malays and Indians (or girls) in JC, because I have no prior racial prejudices to speak of. In fact, I feel I have more racial prejudices today than when I was 17, as the bad experiences accumulate.
Like I said, you can bask in your halo of political correctness for now, but someday, when you find it financially prudent to have children, I dare you to send your children to schools that have higher than national average proportion of minorities. More minorities, more opportunity to bond, right?
Chris,
have you considered an alternative worldview, where children are not seen as financial liabilities or investments, but as a blessing from God. More children means more blessing from God. And if God willing (or Insha Allah, as a Muslim would say), the children will grow up and be successful. We should not worry about what to eat, what to wear or what we put on our feet. God will provide for His children, as long as we faithfully worship Him.
You probably think that is naive superstition right? That those who believe in this shit is in for some big financial troubles? That’s ethnocentricity. BTW, this is really a Catholic world view, not Muslim, but I dont think it is far off the mark.
Aaron,
since you are so much into understanding other races and financial planning, I suppose you know a lot about Islamic banking perhaps? That Muslims are not supposed to collect interest on their loans, and therefore bank accounts are technically forbidden, but tolerated, but buying “normal” bonds are a definite no-no. Muslims are not supposed to pay interests for loans as well. But hire-purchase is a workaround. That Muslims are not supposed to gamble and therefore forbidden from buying life insurance, because that is tantamount to taking a wager on their lives. Anything wrong?
Hi Jimmy,
Once again, you are putting words in to my mouth. I never said that SAP schools teach their students to be racist, or anything to that effect. I have reiterated time and again that it’s an unhealthy environment because you don’t get the opportunity to understand each other.
School is not just about time in class. You don’t need teachers to teach racism in class. All you need is for some students, out of ignorance, to perpetuate these ideas outside class, or out of sight of the teachers and the ideas will just fester.
I find no other plausible reason to explain why some people I know from my school are racist, even though it was never taught in class. And, it’s not just an isolated case. It’s a whole group of friends who share similar ideas.
And once again, I reiterate that these are my observations, and I am not going to argue with you over percentages. It seems to me that you are out not for intellectual debate, but to get personal. I fail to see how statements like these help to advance your points.
“Like I said, you can bask in your halo of political correctness for now, but someday, when you find it financially prudent to have children, I dare you to send your children to schools that have higher than national average proportion of minorities. More minorities, more opportunity to bond, right?”
You are welcome to continue commenting, but I think I’m pretty much done replying because I see no intellectual value discussing with you. Thanks for taking the time to write. I appreciate it.
[...] I didn’t expect to have such a strong reaction from Jimmy Mun, a fellow SAP graduate over my comments. My discussion with him can be found here. [...]
I dont believe the comments were personal, yet, but I can try.
First of all, the only way your own argument sticks is that you yourself is afflicted with racist ideas because of your SAP schooling. If you are not racist, even though you are surrounded by racists, what made you different? Enlightened parenting? Racially harmonious primary school environment? If you are somehow immune, then you probably have the cure at hand, unless you insist that your genes are superior. That will be a bit harder to fix.
Secondly, so your SAP school obstructed you from understanding other races. What have you done to catch up? Signed up for Silat classes in your community centre? Learn to play cricket in university? Shop in Little India? Watched a Bollywood movie?
Think about it: the problem is with the school or with you?
Aaron,
I was directed here by the Intelligent Singaporean, though this is the first time I am here, I do find the writings pretty substantiated by your personal experiences, interesting if not enlightening, which emphasized on an issue which had been prevalent within our society that we close one eye to.
I guess we do not pretend that racism do not exist in Singapore. It does and it happens all the time, minutely, implicitly, but yes, still there niggling and nudging our senses from time to time. As we can see from the classified advertisements from time to time where only chinese speaking candidates are allowed certain jobs, friends fielding derogative jokes about other races, parents objecting to inter-racial relationships/marriages, and so on. I do not name these examples from thin air, but from personal experiences from young, and with other people.
Looking at SAP schools, their primary purpose originally was to instill interest and further encourage chinese students to pursue their mother tongue. Resulting in a chinese dominant population within these schools, while I would not say that to focus on their mother tongue would directly result in students developing into racist adults, I do agree with you that providing an increased multi-racial element might encouraged better understanding between students of different racial origins. Instead, I feel that most race prejudicial opinions or notions are passed on through the family structure. Too often, the slightest passing comment of those ‘lazy bums’ at some minority race smoking at a park bench, or that disdainful look from our parents when passing by a less than well off minority sets off the tone of how we look at our minority neighbours from young. I am instead of the thought that SAP schools do not have to be abolished, but perhaps introduce other racial elements within the curriculum to expand racial understanding.
Although subjective, better understanding does not necessarily translate to acceptance, but it’s easier to dismissed racial or religious practices through ignorance than understanding them.
Jimmy,
It seems that me that you harbor pretty extreme views with regards to Aaron’s statements. I do not disagree with you that this isn’t exactly a perfect world which we are staying in, and we do not live in an illusionary trance that Singapore is a multi-racial utopia, we have our problems, and certain actions and/or policies could help better the situation.
Right from the beginning, you’ve mentioned of Hitler’s problems with Jews, and his constant interaction with them which brought about his hatred through time. My point of contention here is, you had used a person whom had deep seated anti-semitic views brought about by racial superiority ideology. He had brought about policies which not just persecuted Jews, but the disabled, homosexuals, blacks, Jehovah Witnesses, Free Masons, Catholic and Protestant clergy as well. Your view of identifying problems committed by a racial or a religious group due to constant interaction and prejudices ensued due to differences and friction forged through time, is therefore extremely flawed when tied to a man whom had a flawed ideology to eliminate humans of different racial, ideology, physiology, and religious standings, which he deems flawed. And since you subscribed to the use of the word problem within your comment instead of issues, which therefore means you felt the same as Hitler did, would you care to illustrate further what or why had caused you to feel the similar sense of prejudicial bias towards other humans?
As for you viewing this entire world as racist, I could probably see from your point of view of where that came from. As I’ve mentioned right from the start, we don’t live in a perfect world where everyone could accept anyone for their differences. Here and there, we see signs of racial/religious/nationalist bigotry over the world, from the United States, France, Thailand, South Africa, and the notorious Rwanda genocide, the fact remains that they have their own problems, and more often than not they closed an eye to the situation, and as emotions build and explode in their faces, we have circumstances which even the authorities could not control. But, let us not be eager to brand every single person as a racist, until you have seen, touch, and known every single person upon this world, to even start naming one whom you do not know of as a racist, you are projecting yourself as ideological bigot by dismissing those whom are offering honest views to a situation.
And perhaps to correct your facts, with regards to the Rwandan genocide, the Tutsis and the Hutus were originally of linguistically separate groups and migrated to Rwanda from different regions and timeline altogether. Since the 15th century, the Tutsi clans merged to form a single kingdom, ruling the Hutus even when they were the minority within the country. The fact that the Tutsis controlled the military and land ownership since then, systematic marginalization and disenfranchising the Hutus both socially and politically had caused deep seated racial bias. It was when Rwanda was ceded to the Germans (Not the Belgiums) in 1885, the Germans chose not to colonize Rwanda themselves, but instead chose the Tutsis to rule in their stead, which further exacerbate the divide between the two races. It was only after World War 1, did Rwanda became a protectorate of Belgium, and they followed the German example by allowing the Tutsis to rule. Which until 1959 when Belgium granted Rwanda self government, the democratic elections that followed finally empowered the Hutu majority politically. Years of racial speculations promoted by the Tutsis and colonial masters to justify the Tutsi rule had ingrained a deep racist schism between the two groups, which finally imploded into the Rwanda genocide in 1994. While the two racial groups do have certain physical differences, do perhaps get it clear that it had been politically motivated policies which had caused such deep seated ingrained racism between these two closely related groups, thus causing the genocide in the first place.
While one of the few points which I do agree with you, is tolerance for diversity. We live in a world of differences, differences in appearance, social status, wealth, faith, cultural inclinations, ideological and philosophical views. The fact that the world had advanced technologically quickly, and we could move from one end of the world to the other within hours, we are still trying catch up in terms of social advancement, to accept and tolerate differences. We are seeing such advancements around us, not too long ago, Singapore was a cultural brewing pot, differences are abound, and friction inevitable, resulting in racial/religious riot. That has come to pass, and here we stand as a single nation, while we retain our differences, tensions were lowered by education, understanding differences, and not ignoring them. While our political leaders have done a good job till now, it’s perhaps time that we should start talking about these so called ‘taboo’ topics instead of avoiding them. Better understanding of what is different from you allows frank and open discussion with regards to why such a practice was there in the first place, such as to why Muslims are not allowed to touch dogs, simply because back then in the 6th century, plagues were common and canines had been known to transfer rabies and sicknesses, Mohammed declared that dogs were impure and anything a dog touches must be washed seven times is a matter of hygiene, as such is the same reasoning for the consumption of pork. If you do not have that understanding, and opted to dismiss or object a religion’s practices due to unconcerned ignorance, it has nothing to do with acceptance, but of blatant moral inconsideration. I do not assume that being in a SAP would make you racist as I’ve reiterated, but the allowance of diversity within the course of study, to increase the level of awareness of the diversity, therefore lowering the chances of friction resulting from ignorance. While you chose to attached Aaron’s idea of abolishment of SAP School system as making Chinese less Chinese as a form of racial motivated attack on their identity is of absurd linkage, if you have understood his words in context was to increase students awareness of diverse multicultural in a non-SAP system. I may not agree with his suggestion to stop SAP but to improve on it, I would not even consider his words in that form of provocative train of thought. Jimmy, you’ve displayed incredible knowledge on social matters and news of our world, yet, you had equally astound me with your lack of understanding on the context of someone’s words.
And the fact that you’ve understood that this world is gray, even written laws of constitution could even be subverted with prevarication. Aaron and Chris might have proposed that better financial planning would allow individuals to better cope with difficulties due to economic situation, which in fact would refute some of the racial bias resulting from poor economic situation linked to certain racial groups. And it surprises me that you had failed to see that, and though I agree with you that a better economic situation might not alter the situation, but it would discount the very argument which certain bias had originate from in the first place, as such bias loses credibility in the face of continuous reality, it loses leverage and therefore would be discarded as time goes on. No one could change or alter one’s perception with a snap of a finger or an implementation of any policy. But it could help, that what matters and what we are trying to achieve, to better the situation, and not pour cold water or blemish the motivation with accusations of ethnocentrisms
As I further my evaluation of your comments, it seems to me that you are pronouncing support of totalitarianism as a basis for racial harmony? No totalitarian government could stop or halt the progression of racial schism or prejudice; it merely serves to sweep the problem underneath the mat with threats of violent retaliation or oppression against any possible racial violence. With the lack of proper open discussion, or the dissemination and education of the society to the differences that exists within the relevant community, subdued frictions served only to propagate the hidden tensions beneath the surface, until it erupts into a flourish of mindless hatred and violence when the regime ends, as was evident in Yugoslavia – Serbs and Albanians, Rwanda – Hutus and Tutsis, Iraq – Sunnis and Shiites, and the escalating violence in Sudan with the lack of an impartial governmental control. No nations, countries, empires, kingdoms had stood the passage of time, what transcends, are the descendents, of humans reliving an unresolved conflict inherited from ages past. With your final word, which had totally thrown me off with its unfettered truthfulness yet lack of foresight, in this world of technological advancement, how many could say that one could avoid another unless he chose to cut himself from the rest of the world? In this current age of globalization where economics, politics and social structures are dependent on the co relationship and cooperation between states, you had in one sweeping comment, determined that social acrimony would not arise with the lack of interaction, you may be right, but that possibility is far-fetched if not incredulous within this time and age. Avoidance seeks to sweep the problem underneath the mat, open and rational discussion allows solutions to be found across the population spectrum, as a society, as a community.
Let it be known that China, is not a monolithic culture, while there are a large majority of Chinese within its borders, the minorities consists of the Zhuangs, Manchurians, Hui, Miao, Uyghur, Yi, Tujia, Mongolians, Tibetians, Buyi, and even immigrant Koreans. Each and every single one of these minority groups might be minorities within PRC, note that their population demographics exceed Singapore’s total population many times. And with regards to religious diversity, you are looking at Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and many others, and what gave you the impression that PRC students inherently do not know of their own country’s ethnic cultures and religious diversity? Such comments had so expounded your single minded ideological bigotry based on stereotypical observations of a country which you perceived of as a monolithic population. As I’ve stated earlier, racial bias outlook could be adopted or passed on by their parents, as they are the very first to communicate social outlook to their children, as a child, one would have no inkling as to that are the social norms or cultural etiquette in relating to one of another ethnic race, one could only receive that information from their parents, before moving on to schools where they would have possible interaction with others, and from there, as any humans capable of higher thought, determine if the indoctrinated social outlook of their parents were correct or in context. SAPs do not cause racism; they merely serve to lower the possible interaction between students of diverse cultural or racial descent, thus not improving on the chances of a student to review his/her social outlook towards others of differing cultures, which may result in increase misunderstandings due to ignorance that may lead to racist views. And on as an appropriate end to this point, I have no reservations to sending my child to schools of higher proportion of minorities, in-fact, as long as the course of study is relevant, he could be in a class of Indians/Malays/Filipinos/African Americans for all I care.
I realized the further that I dissect your comments and remarks; I realized how pointless this exercise has been. And perhaps now I finally understood how you’ve felt Aaron, *smiles* nonetheless Jimmy, you are a very intelligent man, your capability to assess information which had been laid available to you, had somehow perhaps mould your perception to this particular point. You may choose to refute the above points that I have stated here (Aaron you would not mind right? *chuckles), if you wish, I could even email you the information which I had acquired within those arguments which I had placed forth as annexes for your information.
The fact that we as humans of logical thought sitting before our comps and exchange rational thoughts and views is something for which I am glad for, something which the less fortunate might not have able to enjoy. Treat each other with respect, and you will be respected, even if you chose not to subscribe to another person’s views, do object with in a civil manner and present your views in a considerate manner.
You may choose not to accept another’s views, just do not subvert words and brandish another as someone whom he/she is not without substantiation. With that, don’t expect anyone to return with civility, but pointed, sharp, vociferate replies.
Aaron: Pardon this particularly long comment, I had been a little pricked by Jimmy’s obtuse replies. *bows*
Well Azmodeus, of course I don’t mind. I am honoured that my little blog is deserving of your time to write such an extensive and detailed reply.
I agree that Jimmy is an intelligent person, but he appears to hold some very deep rooted notions and that he’s not willing to budge on them, to the point where it seems to over-ride his rational capacity.
It’s been a fruitful discussion so far, and I certainly wish we will eventually have a world where we will not judge others by colour, or any other physical characteristics for that matter. I would like to think that human beings are higher up on the evolution ladder. Therefore, while birds flock together, man doesn’t necessarily have to, beacause man can think.
Wow, its the best comment yet by Azmodeus..Its reallly well written.
Hi Aaron, I enjoyed reading your entry, they were very thought provoking so I decided to drop you a comment. I believe that the whole society, including friends, parents and teachers can all be the influential factors which cause a child to become racist.
One thing which is lacking in Singapore school is the teaching of Cross-cultural or Intercultural Communication. Most people would think that living in the same country, the way they communicate should be the same but they neglected the fact that underlying values and beliefs within ethnic cultures are different and that may affect the way we perceive certain things. Stereotypes normally occur because people are not taught how to be cultural sensitive in the society and do not understand the other culture. (They tend to generalize certain groups of people or race from what they hear or see from one or two person. ) But instead the whole issue is being ignored by preventing any discussion about it. Many people also tend to understand only the objective culture but not the subjective which gives them the knowledge to empathize with the other culture.
I think that the responsibility of such cultural education lies within the family (the parents) and also schools but to change the entire mindset of people who are already brought up in a certain way is seemingly difficult. What is worst, people tend to be very critical there which means a discussion of such may bring about a series of debate which will not produce any good result.
Certainly, many factors influence the development of racist mentalities, and schools are just one of the factors. The reason why I brought it up is because I have seen it for myself how the lack of diversity has resulted in the development of racist ideas.
Teaching cultural sensitivity (by teaching I mean the usual teacher in classroom style) is a good thing, but unfortunately, sometimes the best lesson is to experience being discriminated against. It is said that the wise learn from other people’s experience, while the not so wise learn from their own experience.
Taking into consideration the normal distribution, most people probably fall into the not so wise category and the best way to teach them is to let them experience being discriminated against. Nothing works better than that.
Alternatively, we can simulate some degree of simulation of discrimination as a form of lesson, especially in schools. I was very inspired watching “A class divided” because the effects of that one lesson was carried on through the adult lives of those kids. We really should think about doing something like this, before the kids start developing hardcore racist ideas.
If you have not seen the video, you can watch it here.
Making people get along through homogeny is an inferior solution considering what you give up.
People should not be denied their culture. What have you really achieved when you strip people of their culture just so they get along.
You can do all you can to educate people, but you still have to let them make their own decisions. Decisions such as choosing to send their children to madrasahs, SAP schools, Catholic schools, Japanese schools, schools with specific cultural value that help make this pluralistic society that we value.
At the end of the day, everyone has the right to go to hell in their very own hand basket. If people don’t have the freedom to make the wrong decisions, the right decisions that they make are meaningless.
Correcting racism by getting rid of madrasahs and SAP schools is like achieving world peace through nuclear holocaust.
We want to learn to live respect and live with these differences, not eliminate them.
I do hope that you read the entire post in its context. I suggest dismantling such schools because they provide an unhealthy environment for racism to fester and grow.
I never said I was for denying culture. I think that every group’s culture is important because it’s something to identify with.
While it is true that “everyone has the right to go to hell in their own hand basket”, then why does the state do things like compulsory education? Those who are not interested can just “go to hell”, no?
I’m just of the opinion that each society has something that they value and steps should be taken to try and attain those values. People should be given freedom to make decisions, but at the same time, as I always say, it should be an informed decision.
If after mixing together with people of other races, talking to them and having a better understanding still leads to the choice of racism by the individual, then, fine.
Hi Aaron!
I, too, blame avoidance. If there isn’t frank exchange of views on “taboo” topics such as race, how can we understand each other better? Censorship of all things racial and religious is not going to foster harmony. It’s merely pretending that such fissions don’t exist.
Well said Joey.
Censorship is no way to address racism. Especially not entire schools! Getting rid of is in fact an act of deniance.
Aaron, like you, I think having frank exchanges is absolutely the way to go to foster understanding and respect. It’s crutial to addressing racism.
Like you, I had the SAP experience. (For 10 years) Like you I went to live in a foreign land were I was the minority and I realized how yellow my skin really is, and for the first time in my life it made me very conscious of my race.
All that has led me to embrace the wealth of colours that the different peoples of the world bring to the this thing we call humanity.
People should be free to celebrate (or not celebrate) their diffrences. People should open their arms to others to celebrate with them.
People should NOT be afraid to be different and be reduced to midocre homogenety so that some might have a false sense of harmony that is not based on true understanding and respect.
Just like there is nothing inherently wrong with being of a certain race, there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to go to a majority Japanese, Malay, Chinese, American, Korean, Indian, Catholic, Islamic, Buddhist, secular, whatever school. (All these schs exist in Spore)
You seem to suggest that such schools are hot beds of racism just because they are “different.”
School certainly did not stop me from being curious about other peoples’ cultures. I’d go as far to say that school (yes, the SAP one) encouraged me to be curious about other cultures. School also provided opportunities for me to get to know people of different cultures. Some kids didn’t see the opportuniteis or didn’t care. You can’t force it.
Schools with certain cultural leanings/heritage do not, by virtue of having strong cutural identities, cause racism to flourish. It’s idividuals who are ignorant and/or lack respect that perpatuate racism.
Families do exert a very huge influence on any child’s developement too. In fact, I suspect that identifying parents who perpatuate racism will be more effective than getting rid of heritage schools. Now then, do we go around getting rid of families that exhibit racist tendencies?
Besides, there is so much more to life than the institution of “school.” No doubt, in Spore’s case, school to most kids encapsulates more or less the entirety of their childhood experience. Still, school is not the beginning and the end of a child’s or anyone’s existance.
Opportunities for genuine cultural exchanges are there in our everyday lives. What’s there to stop anyone from making friends with all the different people we meet everyday? … blame society?
That said, I do agree, that formal education in Spore is relatively centralized and can serve as a very effective catalyst to foster true respect and understanding of issues pertaining to racism.
I remain unconvinced though, that getting rid of heritage schools is an effective way to achieve that goal.
Getting rid of heritage schs is a gesture much like banning liquids on airplanes. It’s very visible and high profile, but is ultimately futile. It only inconveniences good people and dosen’t begin to address the problem.
I think you’d agree what’s infinitely more effective is to promote critical thinking. So that people will learn to seek knowledge and see truth. So that people may decipher for themselves what respect and harmony and all that good non-racist stuff is. Only then will racism be truely eradicated.
Dear Chiaw,
Well, like you, I didn’t turn out racist although I came from a SAP school. What bothered me was that a large proportion of my friends turned out somewhat racist.
In a environment where we don’t have other races around, it’s very easy for racist ideas to perpetuate because people don’t see a need to be sensitive. I mean, there’s no one to take offence and so students don’t really think that much about making racist remarks.
A couple of remarks in jest is fine I suppose, but the danger is when it spins out of control. It is debatable whether closing down schools that have a high proportion of one race is the best solution, but it doesn’t take away the fact that such an environment certainly doesn’t help at all.
I guess we need some brilliant ideas on how to educate our people, just like the brown eye/blue eye idea.
[...] So Aaron Ng believes that SAP schools play a part in the continuing existence of racism in Singapore. [...]
Like the famous DM song from the 80s go,
“I can’t understand what makes a man,
hates another man,
help me understand!”
Thanks to Ridzwan, we’re finally nudging the OB markers.
I too came from SAP primary and secondary schools, have tonnes of racist chinese friends, managed to go overseas, though for many more years, and return a better man.
On the very first place, the notion of “race” is scientifically disputed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race
The institutionalisation of race in Singapore is one major problem. It is anthropologically wrong to classify us as “Chinese”, “Malay”, “Indian”, “Eurasian” and “Others”.
By the way, there’s no such thing as a “Chinese” race! “Chinese” is a nationality. The correct term is “Han”.
Then many of our “Malay” friends are not even Malay, but Javanese, Bugis, Bawanese etc.
My point is that there is over simplification of the highly heterogeneous society in Singapore. Instead of admitting the chromatic pluralism of our population, the government chose to compartmentalise us, and thus led to reinforcement of prejudiced generalisations, the key to racism.
As for SAP schools, its main raison d’être is political - to satisfy the needs of the majority Chinese population just after independence. It is still a sacred cow today.
The ironing out of intra-community differences during post independence days - banning of Chinese dialects, instauring Malay and Tamil as lingua franca for the respectively (heterogeneous) community - has brought about the side effect of contrasting inter-community differences.
Today, government efforts like Racial Harmony Day are constantly highlighting these differences (Wear your ethnic costumes and bring your ethnic food!).
Could real racial harmony come about when Singaporeans start appreciating not differences, but our similarities?
“As for SAP schools, its main raison d’être is political - to satisfy the needs of the majority Chinese population just after independence. It is still a sacred cow today.”
I totally forgot about this. Thanks for pointing it out, quzy.
Hi Chiaw,
If “heritage” schools are indeed nothing more than heritage schools, then getting rid of them would be censorship. However, I wonder if these schools are actually serving a very different purpose of (intended or otherwise) racial segregation. If so, I’m all for getting rid of this racial segregation.
I agree that schools are not the be-all-end-all of a child’s education. Which is why I think we can all learn to love our heritage outside of schools. It’s not something that can be learnt anyhow. So why the necessity for “heritage” schools?
I’m not saying that SAP schools encourage racism but that it does nothing to counteract (what you suggest is influenced by the family - and I agree it might be so) racism. Having come from a secondary school with different races and then gone into a predominantly Chinese (except 2 Eurasians and 1 Indian) JC, I do miss the interaction with non-Chinese.
Jimmy Mun said:
Today, Indonesia is the poster child of racial harmony, right? You want to spend a Christmas in Ambon perhaps?
Hi Jimmy, do you know why you said that? Why not you say “spend Hari Raya in Ambon perhaps?” because majority of Amboneese are Christian?
I believe you know that the people of different religions in Ambon have been living peacefully for hundreds of years until somebody using religion to create this trouble recently?
By the way, why you have mixed up religion and racist issue?
i think it’s ironic that what we have here, is a case where the majority is arguing about raceand racism in Singapore.
No offence meant by that btw - It’s just funny to me, an Indian girl.
To my way of thinking- If you want to know is SIngapore is truly racist and paternal, please watch “I Not Stupid” -which was hailed as THE representation of Singaporean Society. There were no indians, no malays, and no girls.
And when i raised this issue to my friends all they could say was, “er…it was targeted at the majority wat”
And being an indian girl in Singapore that disturbed me beyond belief, for in one fell blow Jack Neo had managed to wipe out everything i ever stood for and identified with. And alienate me in the process by using chinese. Now i was not only an outsider, i was never going to be accepted into that community til i spoke the language too.
Before this, i never believed Singapore was that racist, it’s never been a issue with me. But now i might be beginning to think otherwise.
Hi kayjal,
I don’t think “I Not Stupid” is not the representation of Singapore. It’s clearly slanted towards the chinese, and it is a chinese production. I fail to see how does it qualify as an accurate representation of Singapore.
As someone from the majority race, I think surprises you why I would argue against racism. I think it’s not a matter of race here. It’s a matter of logic and rationale. I argue against gender discrimination, I argue against age discrimination of workers, I argue against discrimination of the poor. The point here is that fundamentally, regardless of what physical or societal characteristic, no one human being is beneath another.
I’m thankful to see, based on comments to my blog, that there are still people in the majority who think like I do. We should all help each other to make our society a better place, regardless of one’s affiliation, gender, race, religion or whatever.
My apologies for the late reply, as I had not dropped in since my last reply. And my apologies if, in my poor choice of words, seem to be promoting segregationist policies.
To Azmodeus, I did some reading and although there is no clear evidence that your theory of the development of Hutus and Tutsis are necessarily more correct than mine, I can give you the benefit of doubt. That said, it doesnt detract from my basic point that the two races are practically indistinguishable, and yet they still found the capacity for immense hatred. And your example of minorities in China is a straw man. Yes they exist, but they are almost entirely packed into the border provinces. Try and befriend an average PRC student ask if he had met any of those races in life before.
First off, let me explain to you why I am so disgusted with this blog post.
Now if a non-Chinese expresses concern about SAP school, I can understand, because SAP schools are almost always 100% Chinese. But for an SAP student to accuse SAP schools as a breeding ground for racists, is an utter disgrace, not least because it is untrue. For starters, perhaps Aaron can detail to us what scientific methods he used to deduce that SAP students are more racist than non-SAP students. In my working life, I have met many highly racist people, none of them from SAP schools. What Aaron Ng said of SAP students, is no different from Straits Times suggesting IJ convent girls are easy. Are we racially insensitive, yes. But more racist? Please prove it.
Even though the Chinese is the majority race in Singapore, the Chinese in power are not from the Chinese schools. The Mandarin speaking Chinese community constantly feel under siege by those who dislike our “Chineseness”, and when we get too pushy with issues, we get labelled “Chinese Chauvinists”. This is where I feel solidarity with the Malay community, because they too are constantly cautioned from “playing the racial card” when they are seek to assert their racial identity.
Some people see SAP schools as evidence that the Chinese majority promoting racial segregation, I see it as an appeasement for the destruction of “Nantah”. And even if people like Aaron Ng fail to shut the SAP schools down, most SAP schools are in ill health and will follow Nantah soon anyway. The strong ones like The Chinese High is/was the exception, not the norm.
That said, I like to mention that two of my closest buddies are Muslims, one is hypersensitively orthodox, and one is lapsed. That is how I have such a nice perspective of Islam, beyond mere reading. One would check for halal certs before eating while the other eats kway chap with me, while elaborating why the Prophet outlawed pork back then (because they were dirty, but not any more) .
One of them fit the lazy mat stereotype nicely, initially. He leaves work right on time and refuse to work on weekends. It turns out that he had a family business to help run, and when the business folded, my goodness, he was raring for work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But it was a process that took several years to develop. Which is the point I failed to make clearly earlier on. Superficial contact with other races in a secondary school setting may not enhance racial understanding at all; in fact, it might even reinforce racial stereotypes. There are plenty of opportunities to bond after secondary school, and maybe it might even be more conducive then as we are more mature.
Did I mention I used to play hockey in university with a team that was almost entirely Indian? Even then, given the deep friendships I have with other races, I cant say I am not racist, and I seriously doubt anybody can declare that they are not racist either. It is a beast we have to contain, every day of our lives. And when the conditions turn rough, when we let our guard down, when we feel threatened, the beast breaks out.
I like Chiaw’s analogy with banning liquids on planes, because that is exactly how I see it too. You think Malays and Indians will cheer if SAP schools shut down? You think non-Muslims will feel happier if madrasahs are shut down?
Talking about “I Not Stupid”, if you watch the drama serial version at 9pm on Saturday, you may find that there is this subtle racist joke on one of the Indian/Malay friends of Cheng Cai, the main character.
The joke is mainly on the colour of his skin, being more black. However, I am not sure if this is targeted at other races, or at Chinese who are more tanned. To my knowledge, no one has complained in the media about this yet, perhaps due to the low popularity of this show.
Hi,
Similar to you, I received 6 years of studies in an all-chinese environment. However, I did not feel any presence of racism in school. In fact, it were my parents who often made racist remarks. I thought the SAP school concept is not good either. It promotes an all-chinese environment. As a result, students in SAP school are not exposed to friends from other religion and lack understanding of each other’s culture. I think it’s particularly true for girls as compared with guys, since guys often get to know friends from other race in the army.
Well Carine,
I never said that the schools teach racism. I only felt that a number of my friends were racist. Well, it could be that they were racist to begin with, but as you rightly pointed out, SAP schools promote an all-chinese culture. Students can freely make racist remarks without restraint, and this breeds insensitivity. Over a long period of time, such remarks can become ingrained into the person’s psyche, and they become permanently racist for life.
Army does help a little, but what I observe from some friends is that they might be smiling on the surface, but privately, that’s when all the racist remarks start spilling out.
Do you even read what you write? So people will make racist remarks privately in the Army, but not in the non-SAP schools? Could it be that non-SAP school leavers dont make racist remarks in your presence because they dont feel private when talking to you?
Maybe you’re right. There is something especially racist about The Chinese High/HCJC/HCI. I cant debate with that, since I never attended those schools.
But you have no right to slander the alumni of the other nine SAP secondary schools you didnt attend, unless you can prove that the situation is equally bad in the other schools, and is clearly worse than non-SAP schools, which you also didnt attend.
Well, I attended a non-SAP school, and it is abound with racism..
Now lets take a closer look at the assumption that
familiarity with other races will help to promote racial harmony.
Doesn’t that conflict with the proverb that “Familiarity breeds contempt” ?
Now, this contradiction means that at least one of the above statements are wrong. And it is either the first statement, or maybe both.
To set the record straight, I am Chinese.
I think its because as different races, Chinese, Indians and Malays, our roots shape our beliefs which sometimes, runs contrary to what each race holds valuable. These contrary beliefs/values gave rise to stereotyping of races, which, quite honestly, I think even the races themselves may quietly take some pride in.
For example … Dr. Mahathiar himself mention in his “The Malay Dilemma” that the Malay race is by nature laid back (may be valued in some other culture too!). Hence, mat’s have been labeled as lazy, especially when you compare them with the hard driven Indians and Chinese. Having said that, I have Malay friends who can hold their own against the best Caucasian, Chinese and Indian professionals. But when you encounter a group of Malay dispatch riders waiting at a clinic in the morning to “buy†their MC for the day, somehow the “racist†statements attributing to “Lazy or low IQ Mats†will come to mind.
Indians are know to be snakes and untrustworthy in business dealings. How many of us have encountered this? All we need is to experience it once and the racist statement “Between a snake and an Indian, who do you kill first, the Indian, of course”, comes to mind. And I think Indians do themselves no favours when they do not conduct themselves “well†in business dealings. People tell me that because Indian’s have the gift of the gap that they are cleaver in twisting and turning what is implied and “agreed” (hence two tongue snake). Others tell me that because Indians value conflict and dissenting views (that’s why there are so many political parties in India), nothing is confirm until its confirmed … This runs contrary to many of our Chinese forefathers who take pride to being able to do a deal through a shake of hands, where a persons word is valued. Again, I see a clash of values here.
We Chinese are known to be greedy, calculative, kiasu … depending on which dialect group you belong to, or even where you come from. As they say in China some years ago … Singaporeans Chinese are stupid (just look at suzhou industrial park, govt. got con); Taiwanese are bastards (they drive a hard bargain, leaving the local PRC partner with little or nothing); Hongkees are the best (smart and willing to share profits).
I can safely say that my experience with Singaporeans Indians, Malay and Chinese citizens (who has a family member who has gone through NS), not recent PR’s, is that, the stereotyping that you often hear from these racist remarks no longer hold true for this group as I personally feel we have assimilated the best and worse from each other, after 39 years of being together. Chinese are learning to be as relax as the “lazy mat’s†and enjoying it too! And, I have seen some unethical Chinese snakes that would put the Indian snakes to shame. Many mat’s are doing very well for themselves and are giving the so call “hardworking†Chinese a run for their money, which I think is good.
New immigrants of various races will bring with them their values, they need to be aware of how these values conflict with others. While we value our diversity and aim to create a cosmopolitan city, we should not mix the pot blindly without any understanding of the foundation and values of each race.
Not trying to give a “proof” of situations in SAP schools. But just want to relate my personal experience.
As a lone non-Chinese, I spent 4 years in River Valley. First 2 years were quite alright, with rare anit-racial torment. But as my peers grew up, it was a difficult time in Sec 3 & 4.
One classmate even wrote in an essay, “racial prejudice is our right of discrimination”, just like how we discriminate among commodities when we do a purchase. And how did I know ? the English teacher made him read aloud his impressive essay in front of the class.
Countless other events. Like when classmates did not even want to partner me in class activities. I just endured for reasons like I wanted to complete my CL1, so I would not have to continue 2nd language in JC, and also it was a good school which was very very near to my home. And of course did not want to cause hassle to parents by switching around schools.
After having gone through 4 years, most of classmates were by default going to HCJC, which I could also qualify for. But I decided enough was enough. So went across the road to NJC.
There I met 90% good Chinese, and 10% ugly ones, and it was comfortable (well good enough). Even some classmates who were racist in River Valley High changed for the better while in NJC. I was happy for them, as they were learning humanity.
The above is just an account for those who are questioning how can we compare unless we have gone through SAP and non-SAP schools. I did. And thats my experience.
Interesting topic. I think a distinction needs to be made about someone or a group of people being ‘racist’ versus being ‘racialist’.
The differentiation is that a racialist holds views that different groups of people tend to have certain traits and tendencies that permeate more in one one group and not another. These characteristics may be hereditous, cultural, religious, economic, etc. It does not mean that a racialist harbor insidious (racist) convictions of inherent blanket superiority, i.e. only when he takes the view of differentiating group chactereistics as the basis for claiming special privileges and/or for putting down and doing harm to those deemed racially different does he become a racist.
Without denying that things can constantly improve, my belief is that while many Singaporeans have racialist tendencies, they do not frequently translate into racist actions (particularly on an individual level). This is perhaps truer of the younger generations that are better educated and intergrated (NS helps a lot), and have better opportunities in life compared to a few generations ago.
As for the SAP issue… SAP schools, like madrasahs or other special groups are inherently racialist (again, nothing insidious meant by that term). Are they more likely to be breeding ground for racists and racist actions than a more heterogenous school despite good intentions? Maybe, given the likelihood of ignorance or insularity going unaddressed. However to broad brush the programs or alums as racist would be unfair and extreme (not claiming that anyone here has claimed that).
I’m a first year poly student in Ngee Ann Polytechnic and there is a compulsory first year module I am required to attend. This is the reason why I am at this blog.
The module is “Individual and Community” and I am required to write a hypothesis and carry out a research based project with my group of four regarding the community. My other three friends and I decided to work on Racism and how we are all racially tolerant but not exactly racially accepting.
My group is (I flinch at the idea that I have to state the race of my group member) made up of one Indian and three Chinese. I am one of the Chinese, but even through the racist jokes, honest communication between us is what keeps our group strong even though this is a sensitive issue.
My Indian groupmate let me name him P. Is a funny guy with a great sense of humour and he honestly tells us what he feels with this funniness that eases the tension of such a taboo topic.
When I first felt his concern regarding racism (it was through a racist joke that he started talking about it) I decided that racism was something we SHOULD do about. It’s a touchy issue but it should be discussed openly without narrowmindedness and honestly. What do you feel about this race or that race? Why? And get responses. Things get ugly when people get offended by assumptions. And that is why being open minded is important and essential. My friend P took the stereotypes with an open mind and he joked back and clarified… He made things clear.
Honest communication is the key to getting racism out of the picture. The first step is to admit we are all racist because of our prejudices.
Not all prejudices (attitudes) turn into discrimination (acts or behaviour), but it can.
SAP schools may be at a higher risk of “breeding racism”, and this I understand but even if it was abolished… I don’t think the problem is solved. This may be an assumption but I feel it will contribute to racism because of the unhappiness. The students of these schools who most probably house the most potent and dangerous sentiments might be upset by the abolishment and this might create racist views and aggravate the situation (e.g. “Why must we do this for them?” This cannot be proved, but it is a possibility. And anyway, forcing different races to interact may or may not work. I have my own prejudices as well even though I come from a neighbourhood school since my Kindergarten days! Some of my prejudices were enforced while interacting with students of other races because they fit into my schema of them some point or other. I wasn’t really getting to know how they feel, and so I couldn’t let go of my prejudices. It was only after honest interaction with classmates of different races (in poly) that I became acutely aware of my own prejudices and how I needed to make that change!
It begins with me. Its not about cancelling out a school. Its about telling people around you what you feel about racism, not avoiding it!
In fact P’s mom was shocked that he was doing such a controversial topic and asked if he wanted to “get into trouble”. This is the system of fear we have in Singapore.
Tomorrow is the day of my project submission where my team is supposed to present our findings. And this is how we are going to do it. It will begin with us. The same way as it has begun with you while you discussed your views honestly on your blog and following up with the comments.
Perhaps what is more effective is when you help clarify others doubts about races and their prejudices… And by introducing friends of other races to them and by opening discussing racism together.
Its just my opinion. (:
I loved reading all the comments and I appreciate you starting the ball rolling. It was great to read everything posted here.
Regards,
Carrie Sim
I came across this site trudging thru linkages after linkages and came to this article.
I myself believe racism is still evident in Singapore.
I mean, I don’t believe in racial harmony. Is there such a thing as racial harmony?
I believe the correct phrase to use here is racial TOLERANCE.
If racism is non-existent in Singapore, why a lot of job ads in the papers require English & MANDARIN?
Isn’t it so obvious that the advertisers are exploiting a loophole here?
I am all for it if a job offered in the papers requires the applicant to speak Mandarin due to the nature of the job.
But it really pisses me off when to find out the job doesn’t really require Mandarin as a mandatory option.
Pissed off is an understatement here.
Unless people in Singapore get rid of the stupid mindset of being racist..racism will thrive for eternity.
Let’s start by treating each other equal.
I’m a Malay. And proud of it.
And I’m proud that I have Chinese & Indian friends that treat me with respect.
For I respect them the same way as they do.
hi Aaron,
Let me begin by saying that as soon as I finished reading your articke, I heaved a sigh of relief.
Just a couple of days back I started relief teaching in a predominantly chinese school. I made the mistake of checking out their class blog. The racism in it was both horrifying and dismaying. For one whole day I was quite shaken-hell, I was even a tad bit vengeful (canyou blame me?) and I considered telling the authorities about this class blog of theirs.
Instead,I’ve decided to have a discussion with them about it first preferably with the help of your posting. (Can I have the permission to disseminate it to a class of 40?)
Your article is well-written, balanced and echoes a lot of my own view-points. Most importantly, it yanked me out of becoming a racist myself in reaction to their comments in the blog.
Thank you!
Rajini,
I am so sorry to hear that your students are expressing racist comments in their class blog. I don’t think it’s at a stage where it’s malicious though. However, the kids need to think harder about the basis behind racism. They most probably ignorant, so I suppose it’s a good idea to make them think about their assumptions about race.
Please feel free to use whatever you need.
Hi Aaron Ng, my name is Rajen i am singaporean & im not that proud of it… but currently i live in US due to college…
WOW you amaze me… being chinese yourself, you feel that there is “racism” present in singapore & it involves your own race & its good that you kinda stood up for the minorities… well what i wanna say is that i grew up mixing with all races but my parents did’nt really direct me to mix with this race or that race blah blah ,etc… they just told me to have a good friend.. & i did… but sometimes in school i can actually see signs of racism even though its minor… like making fun of the names & labeling their skintones… i mean yes the minorities are dark beacuse of melanin but in a way melanin is good it protects the dark skin from getting cancer or any type of skin problems…but what i am trying to say is maybe in the next few generations to come, singaporeans would be all well educated & be a more courteous & well mannered citizens because the older & more crude communities have died & its like a new leaf for all…
singaporeans must be constantly reminded that we are all like living here temperory even though the aborigines are malays but due to the fact that the world we live in is in fact not ours.. but to the nature & its animals, we just like took the whole lot & called it our home… singaporeans lack the ability of openning up to the community… language based schools is a big disaster & i don’t think parents who send their children to those schools are even good singaporeans either, if everyone learns from a school where you only understand another person’s race from a book has bound to have some defects on the child later in life he/she will not only ruin his/her life but others too… i mean we live in the 21st century not the 20th?? i used to take the bus while i was in singapore & sometimes i can just like see racism happening around me… & its like sometimes i just wanna like shout & voice out but i can’t as im a minority myself… but i heard that more & more minorities are migrating overseas just to get away from the majority because they kinda feel that majorities are the domain & they take things & only provide service to their own race… i can see it from the singaporean minorities i’ve met here & when i talk about singapore, they just say “singapore sucks” & they even advise me to migrate here, haha im like what drove them to this state?
i hope problems like this are small now but when tension mounts, its bound to erupt… i mean singaporeans should really not fake it on television being harmonious & crap & celebrating racial harmony day to show that your good but bad on the inside but to start cracking & working it out… sitting down talking to one another about problems like this before its too late… luckily the singapore is an “uptight country” not like US, the freedom of speech is limited in singapore but what i am trying to say is freedom of speech should be granted but revised if you want your citizen to know what they really feel about each other…
rajen krishna
Hi Aarron, it is indeed interesting to hear a person of Chinese decent talk about racism in Singapore. It’s a good sign, because it means that there is an awareness… Racism I feel arises as we look at the world with ignorance and fear.
I feel the older generation plays a large part. I’ve got friends who are Chinese, Indian, Malay, Eurasion, Caucasion… lets say I’ve got friends from all ethnic groups. But sadly most of the Chinese friends I’ve got are usually Chinese of overseas decent, brunians, malaysians… because they have felt the whip of racism, they don’t practice it and it’s nice being with them.
The Singaporean Chinese on the other hand… tsk tsk… very different. They’ve built their fixed views… especially from their families.. They tend to be insensitive with their words. Those that are not, realize it, but their number are not enough and worse they pretend its not there, or a problem. There needs to be more awareness and action taken. There’s just not enough people here doing what has to be done, ask them why? Simple, don’t be a hero, u’ll get into trouble, maintain the status quo. Thats the fear… very much I feel because of our government and the way the handle themselves.
The one way I’ve over come racism is simply to realize we are not just what we look like but alot more. I don’t stand for racism. I stand up to it whenever I get a chance. Oh and btw I’m what u might call a Rojak. Half Indian and half Sinhalese. and I’ve got dark skin. And I’ve been called names because of that although I can say that the people who’ve used such terms tend to end up on the worse end of things, it’s still unpleasant… I’ve lost Job opportunities because of my skin, race thankfully not because of my religion… Heck it hasn’t been easy. Even I want to migrate.
We have something special in Singapore, where a myrid of races and religions meet, but with the media and our present governments habit of avoidance, things are definately going to explode. Racism is definately a human social problem. It won’t go, but if you deny its existance, It will grow. There needs to be a change.
A simple thing to do is to make sure that in all the local drama’s, u see all the races. Media is powerfull, it is a tool that should be used wisely. And they must not just potray them with a stereotypical view. If you think the malays are having it hard. Look at it from the indians point of view, and not just the fair Punjabis or North Indians.
Sometimes I think that most Singaporean Chinese have a white color fetish. Fair good, dark bad. Think about it, are u guilty of it? What are u going to do about it?
And Racism isn’t just with the Chinese, I might add. I’ve got Indian friends who are racist too… mainly its a retaliation. Sometimes its just a superiority complex. (which basically means weak ego… needs to put others down to feel good.)
The Malays have it too… its everywhere… The only way to make this a smaller problem is to have an ability to actually do something about it. Talk more openly about it. Enough with whats politically correct. The more we deny it, the worse it’s going to get. I feel you can never totally remove it, but things can surely be better. And if you’re not making things better, then u are part of the problem.
The youth today aren’t helping much too… espcially with the present attitute that u see in the busses and trains. They have a strange sense of humor. I seriouly hope things get better… sadly don’t see how.
I hope this site that u’ve set up will inspire others to look into themselves to eradicate racism. We all have a part to play.
hello dear my name is kenny am an african wishing to come study in singapore. having read all the stories on this blog. Pls what is the fate of a black man in singapore?
Wow, i was searching for “racism in Singapore” (i’m not a Singaporean though), and came across this post (and this blog
). This is a really good discussion.
I actually searched for ‘racism in Singapore’ to see how is it different from the racism in Malaysia, where the MAJORITY are Malays (and i am a Malay). I think i came down to a conclusion that, when you are in the majority, you usually think differently because of the ‘comfort’ (probably) of being in a majority group. I’ve never a racist for as far as i remember, and wonder why some of the Malaysian Chinese hold strong grudges against the Malays. I can’t even imagine being a racist, but when i think about it, would i be thinking differently if i am a Malay growing up in Singapore and in the minority group. I don’t know..
I’ve got tons of stuff on Racism in Asia (Singapore included) as well as links to anti-racist sites, drop by and take a look.
Good discussion. I believe the best way to solve the problem of racism is to educate people that ‘race’ in fact doesn’t exist (biologically speaking) and to spend more time educating your children on other cultures as well as our own.
Understanding breeds respect. Tolerance is not enough.
Kenny - sorry but in my experience almost all Asian countries are racist against blacks, except perhaps Japan. However, there is very little racial violence, compared to European countries or the US.
Aaron, kudos to you for hosting this discussion.
Too much discussion about racism in Singapore goes on purely from a majority Chinese standpoint which makes so many assumptions about what racism is, or what’s bad about it, without listening to the points of view of the people who actually experience it most. As a Chinese person it disgusts me when other Chinese people use racist epithets and then, when they are called on their bullshit, claim it’s harmless when they’ve never asked the opinions of the people who are actually affected by the constant demarcation of themselves as different and inferior on account of skin colour.
The lack of real integration (despite the uneasy tolerance) in Singapore is especially apparent when you consider the lowish rate of cross-cultural relationships and marriage. I remember reading a newspaper report on couples in interracial relationships where a Chinese woman married to an Indian man reported that when she picked up her children from school other Chinese parents would say to her, seeing the clearly mixed-ethnicity children, “How could you dirty yourself like that?” It’s just atrocious.
On a smaller and less important note, I also think Chinese people in Singapore (Singapore-born Chinese people, I might say, since people from other countries are also obviously treated xenophobically) are often objects of racism in a different way. It’s not as bad as racism against minorities, but it involves fetishizing certain traits that you must have in order to be “properly” Chinese - otherwise you’re regarded as a race traitor. This strikes me as also a problematic aspect of the way we conceptualise ethnicity and heritage.
Hi Aaron, it’s very nice to know that good people like you do exist in Singapore
But anyway, I think dismantling the SAP schools and madrasahs are definitely a good move, but this needs to be followed with other steps.
I admit I have never attended any of those schools, and I have not encountered any racists from those schools (possibly because we move in entirely diferent circles thus I’ve had little chance to see their racism); rather, I’ve met plenty of racists from the multiracial schools I have attended. I have no way of knowing whether single race schools produce more racists than multiracial schools.
Thus, I don’t agree that we should dismantle these schools on the grounds that they produce racists. I think it is highly possible that people who are already racists tend to choose the SAP schools, thinking that these schools are somehow better for being Chinese; being Chinese is, after all, an ideal in Singapore.
Let me give this example of a conversation I recall having with two secondary schoolmates on the bus after school. The three of us were from different classes, but since I am Indian, my class had a significant number of non-Chinese, while both of their classes were all-Chinese (this segregation is often done in multiracial schools because of mother tongue timetable arrangements). So girl A says (with a smug look) to girl B and me: “My class is better than yours, because it’s all Chinese.” I stare back, slightly shocked. Meanwhile, girl B pipes up that hers is also all Chinese, what?! I think this incident shows that there is some unspoken knowledge among Singaporeans that being Chinese is somehow superior and ideal. And interestingly, I later heard from these two people that they wanted to go to HCJC after their O levels. :/ This is what I mean when I say that people who are already racists tend to choose the SAP schools.
But I still feel that such schools should be dismantled. The reason being that in such a homogeneous school, especially the SAP schools, people can get used to an environment where minority races don’t exist, and might bring this attitude out to real life later. Just look at how many job recruiters want applicants who speak Mandarin, even when jobs don’t need it. They simply want to (re)create an environment where there are only Chinese people who speak Chinese. Being around a non-Chinese is just sooooo uncomfortable. Dismantling the SAP schools would help to broaden people’s comfort zones. Also, it would discourage people from getting comfortable with the invisibility of the minority races. This invisibility thing is another issue; I personally feel that we are being ignored. Looking at all the signs that are in Mandarin only, the absence of minorities in advertising, the bilingual sales staff etc who are deliberately picked to cater to the Chinese when no such thing is done for non-chinese, I realy feel that Singapore is wiping us away from existence, although we make up about 25% of the population.
After all, what is wrong with learning Mandarin/ Chinese culture/ Islamic studies in a normal school setting? And I know this might make some SAP schools alumni angry, but I really wonder how many people choose these schools because they are really interested in immersing themselves in Mandarin/ Chinese culture and heritage. I think more often than not, people choose these schools because they are simply the better schools, and maybe because they subscribe to the idea that Chineseness is just superior.
Of course, dismantling the SAP schools and madrasahs is far from enough. I think the most important step we need is to talk about things openly, and unfortunately this is not very feasible given our OB markers. Even if I wanted to set up a blog on race issues in Singapore to encourage open discourse, I’d probably run into some trouble with the authorities. No wonder people are coming here to discuss racial issues, when your original entry was dated more than a year ago. This, I think, is very telling.
But seriously, people need to discuss things more, especially those who are minorities. If we don’t look after out interests, who will? To anybody who reads this, anybody at all, please please please speak up whenever others say racist things; don’t be like me in the above example, staring blankly back at the person. And I also think it’s time for some of us to move on from just giving examples of racism they have faced and grumbling that “yes, there is racism in singapore”. We need to start examining these racist incidents and try to understand what kind of attitudes and firmly held beliefs are lying underneath, and then seek to question and turn over these irrational ideas. I know all of this may sound too idealistic and hopeful, but it’s better than nothing.
I was reading some of the replies there, and I am glad that the sensitive topic did not descend into a name calling session as it often did on some websites.
Definitely more should be done to minimize prejudice in Singapore, and among possible actions, open communication. Being in an interracial relationship has opened me up to the racial prejudices in Singapore. I get asked stupid questions like, does your bf have an indian smell? Honestly I got very offended. Internal prejudices sometimes make one imagine things.
Hi Aaron + other posters,
I liked the article - not necessarily agreeing with everything - and many of the posts, though wasn’t able to read all (so many!).
I appreciate both sides of the issue re: SAP schools and madrasahs. On the one hand, making people think you are forcing them to loose cultural identities that are important to them may backfire and produce even more resentment and racism. On the other hand, too many ethnically exclusive environments are not conducive to developing people that are genuinely open and comfortable and respectful to each other.
To pick up on the second point - some people who champion their identity strongly (i do not mean this as a criticism) can also sound high minded and politically correct about respecting other groups, and I am sure most are sincere. However, when it comes to the day to day, nuts and bolts of living and working in close proximity with different people, they find their principals challenged by the, shall we say, shock of how different some people can be, and I think we all know how easy it can be to fall back on stereotypes in these cases.
Living and working with different groups on a daily basis forces you to learn what people are really like, and how to deal with it. Not all muslims are saints, some really are fundamentalists. Not all Chinese are repectful and tolerant, some are chauvanist racists. But then you also see there are many that aren’t, and many in between. And you learn to deal with people as individuals, whenever possible, as much as possible. Children who attend ethnically exclusive schools, I fear, are deprived of these very important experiences and environments. In contrast, I feel the average Singaporean (who does not attend such schools or live in such communities) may be politically incorrect, and even crack the occasional off colour joke, but is generally quite open minded and comfortable with cultural difference (compared with many other nationalities, as people in other countries are often not exposed to the kind of diversity we have here). This is a national trait that we should treasure and work to maintain, and improve.
Another point: class. A lot of the time, what we mean when we talk about race, is really class. Within each ‘racial’ group, people belong to different classes in different proportions. E.g. even today, working class Malays form a higher proportion of the Malay community than, say, working class Chinese do in the Chinese community.
If we ‘corrected’ our racial statistics and even annecdotal observations for class, i think that many of the differences and disparities we ‘objectively’ observe will shrink, although I concede they will not disappear (class does not explain everything).
Also, I fear that talking about certain problems in racial terms (e.g. educational performance, drug use, gambling, teen pregnancy and STDs) is not helpful, because we do a disservice to Singaporeans of other races that are statistically less afflicted. E.g. People see weak school performance as a Malay or Indian problem. So they focus on Mendaki and SINDA. What about weak Chinese students? What if we did a study that found that, more than ethnicity, the real factor for poor school performance was parental income and education? (which i suspect is the case)
Wouldn’t we ask why the Singapore working classes are being neglected by the government and Ministry of Education, why the school system favours students with well educated and wealthy parents (who can give more coaching, tution, guidance etc). Why are the problems of these students being hived off and subcontracted to amateur charity organisations? Does Mendaki, which gets money from the Malay community, really have the resources to tackle the problem, compared with CDAC? Is this a fair policy? Is it even a smart policy?
I think it would be a good idea to be in Singapore for say 3-5 years , earn good money and leave. I don’t think it’s a place where someone like me can spend their lifetime doesn’t matter even if I am hugely successfull in my job.
Racism will exist as long as u identify yourself as a race. but when u see urself as more then just the psysical and know that you are beyond definition, then that problem ceases.
When there is unfortunately a system that is run by people who think in narrow views, this problem will become worse. Only when there is a system where people truely are sincere and not just saying that they are benevolent but instead have malevolence in their hearts, can these issues really be addressed.
Evil really prevails when good people are afraid of doing the right thing. It is fear that must be overcome, and that needs courage, and love.
One thing that needs to be done is to take sincere effort to stand against this evil. When people of your own race talk badly about another race. Point out that that is wrong. Letting a fool continue to think he can get away with his ways is a greater crime then being the fool. That can only be done with wisdom and love.
At the same time it would be also important to reach out to others of different races and cultures. When done, you’ll see actually there wasn’t much differences at all. We really are pretty much all the same within.
I hope someone from the Government is seeing this and sincerely takes the initiative to do something, instead of taking perfunctory messures. Please stop the Wayang.
Racism seems to be ingrained into the Chinese being. I don’t know why, but I have noticed it whether I am in Singapore or in Canada. Of course, racism is less in Canada than Singapore.
What disturbs me even further is that Indians, as a group, have good education rates, incomes, socioeconomic factors, and etc. In some areas, like university degree attainment or income, they are higher than the national average. And yet, they face the most discrimination. Why? The answer is obvious. Darker skin. Education, success, influence, etc, doesn’t seem to matter to us (Chinese) and skin color is more important than all of that. Really disturbing, isn’t it.
I respect people like yourself, Aaron, who have grown in environments which create racism but do not adhere to it themselves. And that’s what a lot of Chinese Singapore communities are like, they are pre-disposed to be racist, not in the overt American way, but in a subtle way.
Ironically, Japan, which has always been the big example of a xenophobic and ethnically intolerant country, is actually seeming to open up and become a bit more tolerant and less racist, and is far better than Korea and especially China in that regard. There’s a blog by a black guy in Japan who actually doesn’t experience that much racism at all. In comparison, the black person in China will be reminded every second that he is black.
When I visited Canada, I visited an Indian friend whose daughter was in her room playing with a neighbor (a Cacausian). Apparently the neighbor girl just came up to her one day and said “wanna play” and then the parents brought her over and they became friends. Somehow I don’t think the same thing would happen in Singapore. It seems more likely the Chinese parent would say “no, no, daughter, come play with our Chinese friends here, come on”. And the daughter, what’s she going to do? She listens to her parents and the racial intolerance continues.
Another Chinese friend of mine in Canada lived next door to an Arab family and they were best friends, their children played together every day and they went on vacation together. Honestly, do you think that would happen in Singapore?
It all goes back to an almost artificial kind of growth in Singapore. Places like Canada and America were once racist. They organically matured and grew out of it, and most people in Canada today don’t say racist things just because they don’t feel like it or know that it’s wrong. But I think most people in Singapore don’t say racist things because they might get in trouble or they know it’s not allowed.
I am highly impressed when I read the arguments and the issues brought up in the blog about racism.This clearly shows that there are indeed some mindful Singaporens who are indeed aware of the racism issues in Singapore.
First to start it off, I am an Indian and I have been subjected to many racisms issues,not just with the Chinese majorites but with the Malays as well.
I am currently a student in Singapore Polytechnic and I have been treated in a racist manner by many…not just me but the other minorites in my class as well,that is to say the Malays too.And I would like to add that the racist people who make those insensitive remarks are not all from SAP schools but they are from normal neighbourhood schools.And to add to this,they even make such racist statements in front of the teachers,who choose to ignore it. So my dear friends,as we can see…racism is not born out of schools…but rather with the individuals.I have often been involved in group projects and very often,the group members discuss in Mandarin despite my plea to them to speak in English where I can understand it better.Finally tired and jilted by them, I often end up working on my own..
And I also have to agree with the fact that minorites with us face relatively lower job opportunites than the Chinese majority.Very often,we find job advertisements listing for candidates to be Billingual..that is to say…literate in English and Chinese and very often these jobs dont even require the need for one to be Chinese speaking.
I think the problem really lies in the fact that we are still not well knowledgeable about each others’ race yet…and our government still is not doing enough to tackle this problem.It’s time to look into this matter in another scope now.Thanks!
The problem is simply that the majority has no desire to ever sympathize with the plight of the minorities. I know, I am in this community and even if I bring up a sad story about discrimination nobody cares. They don’t care because it doesn’t affect them so it doesn’t matter.
If I was a minority I would move and go to Canada or some place similar. Why should I stay in Singapore and contribute my work and education to the country and majority people who pay no attention to it? That’s not how I would live my life.
I don’t want to say I am ashamed of my community, but I have lived in two places in my life, Singapore and Canada, and the difference between the majorities of both countries in regards to racism is astounding, and due to one thing - conscience. There is a national conscience in Canada that realizes that racism is morally inadequate and wrong. This does not seem to exist in Singapore. We in the majority only seem concerned with ourselves at the expense of others. The idea that we are harming the lives of other people never comes into our minds, we are unable to think like that.
Sad.
racism is an international issue and it happens everywhere.
lets think out of the box. u need to be intelligent to understand. why most jobs in spore require english and chinese languages? its because most companies in spore are dealing with both english and chinese speaking clients locally and internationally. If I have a business, I would recruit biligual in english and chinese too and thats the norm unless my business has connection with eg, say India, then I will recruit someone who speak both english and indian. u need to understand chinese language is in favour due to the economic blooming of china, chinese take up hong kong, taiwan and chinese population is everywhere. so, the chinese language is important in the world. Singapore is a modern china, to think of it, singapore is like another taiwan or hong kong.
Maybe our government can help by consolidating jobs that require non chinese speaking positions in the website to make job search easier. by dismantling sap school and so would be a harder method to implement. certain things in life is better not to go in depth but give suggestion in the shortest period.
we are chinese singaporean and mandarin is in our blood. it is natural for us to converse in mandarin among ourselves, unless mandarin, bahasa and hindu are banned during our great grandparents days and only english is our only language, then we all got no choice but to speak english only.
and for the foreigners, if I’d to born or work in a richer country, any countries that are more developed than singapore, I will be facing racism too. This is a practical and realistic world . we need to learn to accept it. and there is no such thing as fairness,
even in a family, parents would more or less show favourism to a sibling.
Lyn lin… your comments are very worrying….
Lyn Lin,
Calling Singapore a “modern China” like Hong Kong and Taiwan means you know very little about Singapore’s history or the principles it was founded on, and shows to me exactly the problematic trend which is occurring. By calling Singapore “modern China” you have already wiped out every non-Chinese in Singapore as being nothing. How would you appreciate it if the positions were reversed?
As I said, the problem can be lessened, as it already has in places like Canada, but the majority unfortunately, like Lyn Lin, will not do anything because it doesn’t harm them personally. They cannot understand the idea of being compassionate towards others, or thinking from others perspective.
It’s funny how Lyn Lin said that she thought others needed to be “more intelligent”. It’s people like her who need to grow up and start realizing that they are not the only ones who deserve to be respected in their lives.
I have to say that I’m very impressed with your arguments. I don’t think the problem only lies with the SAP schools though. Even though I am a Malay, I look very Chinese thanks to my heritage and I’m experienced my fair share of racist comments from Malays(oh shocker). You can say that because of that, I’ve had a cynical view about the majority of the Malay race, as ironic as it is. I know people from both the SAP schools and neighbourhood schools and I find that the students from neighbourhood schools have less racial tolerance. In fact, my best friend, who’s Indian, was insulted by a group of Malay teenagers from a nearby neighbourhood school who openly made a racist comment about him today.
I was from a school with a Chinese majority(there were only 2 Indians and 20 Malays from my batch I think) and throughout my 4 agonizing years there, I never faced a racist comment once. Perhaps I was fortunate enough to be in the midst of a discerning group of people but I felt more at ease with my Chinese classmates than the Malays who had a tendency to stick together.
Hi Aaron
I am so glad to come across your blog. I applaud all of you who have contributed to this eye opening discussion. I am currently doing my research on Family Studies (mainly Tackling Racism) for my Bachelor in Early Childhood Studies. I have been living in Singapore with so much bitterness all these years due to all the “missed opportunities” that I could have had, if not for my race. I have had my fair share of racist experiences - turned away for jobs ‘cos of my skin colour to even as petty as, loosing some Chinese friends ‘cos one of the girl’s mom told her that Malays with long hair always have ‘kutus’ (headlice - and no, I’ve never had them). Unbelieveable isn’t it!!
Why is racism so obvious but yet invinsible? Are we talking about the same country - Singapore - ‘One People, One Nation, One Singapore’? When and how can we make that slogan a reality? Most of us seem to be walking around in masks, hiding our true feelings about the big “R”. Too afraid to discuss the subject openly in schools, in offices…
The bottomline is EDUCATION! To eradicate racism is to educate our children from the word ‘go’ (by that I mean as early as possible). Our local schools need to adopt a school curriculum that promotes togetherness, similarities, understanding and respect of ones culture and beliefs. I believe we seriously lack this in our schools. Taking away the SAP or Madrasah schools may reduce racism but implementing a curriculum in these schools that includes other races, I believe, would be a better choice. Whether or not the Education Dept would adopt that is another story altogether. INTEGRATED CURRICULUM that is the word. With that, our children will be better exposed to all races, cultures and beliefs. Old wife’s tale of what each races represent will just be a saying and our children will be able to think for themselves and decide what is right.
Singapore is a cosmopolitan country where we not only have the usual Indians, Malays, Eurasions and Chinese. We have more and more expats and foreigners (British, Australian, Dutch, Americans, Indonesians, etc) adopting Singapore Permanent Residency and Citizenships. Quite a number of them attend our local schools too. We also have to be sensitive to them and include them as well.
We need to talk about what makes us Singaporeans rather than you are Indian Singaporean, Malay Singaporean, Eurasion Singaporean and Chinese Singaporean. Why bother segregating ourselves? Why do we need to indicate our race in our NRIC? What’s the purpose?
My children goes to an International School simply because our local curriculum lacks integration. As I am married to an Australian, I really need my children to be accepted as who they are and not reprimanded for their mix race. The school curriculum promotes healthy discussions where they talk about all the different cultures, religions and believes openly. In their school, they celebrate UN Day (similar to that of Racial Harmony day but more elaborate) where everyone’s dressed in their national costumes and share legendary stories and beliefs of each child’s culture and religion. Children dance to different ethnic tunes, share food from different countries, parents come in their traditional costumes and join in the fun. The children embrace each other’s background and most of all they see the sameness in their friends rather than the differences.
I once overheard a child’s conversation with his friend about why they are of different skin colour. One of them simply answered, “I am as tan as you are as white. I suppose that’s because I am Indonesian and you are British.” No heart feelings and such excellent answer. I learnt a lot that day, reflecting on my personal self. During Christmas, the school celebrates all the different celebrations celebrated around the world (Hari Raya, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, etc) and the school will put up a concert with all the different performances. Teachers and parents play a big role in making this integrated curriculum work. I believe our local schools could adopt a similar approach and although we can’t totally eradicate racism, we can definitely reduce them here, in Singapore.
I suppose it is good for all of us to talk about it but ultimately, we need to put something into action. It has to start with us! We have to educate ourselves first and reflect on who we really are. Get rid of our biaseness and racism. This is definitely a very long process. This topic itself has been blogged for since 2006!! Good on you, Aaron!! … and say hello to Peiying too.
Strange that the last entry was written on my birthday
On a more important note: I think that Singaporeans who faces these racisms should really stand up for themselves.
I am not asking to pick an argument but perhaps correct them or let them know how you feel. We can start with our good friends.
The ones that says things without realizing that it offenses your race(they might not be referring to you but you feel that pinch).
I have this example from years ago when I was in primary school.
I had a PE teacher(I wasn’t sure what race he was because of his name and he didn’t look Indian at all…or African for that matter) who was dark. He had got married to a Chinese and was showing his wedding photos to our class.
One of my friend made a remark that he really matched the suit and that she don’t think she can see him(catholic wedding, bride wears a white gown, Guy the black suit). It might be an innocent remark(I do not know, we were young after all) and everyone else started laughing. Except for me and that teacher. He did not response(he looked hurt at first then angry), so I did. I told them how we felt . They just shrugged it off, not caring for how we really felt. I felt good standing up for myself and was even given a nod of appreciation from him.
But it hurt, that they do not think of or ignore how I really felt. It was the only time I stood up. Now I always think twice when wanting to correct my friends. When they see a dark Indian man (both workers and Singaporeans) walking pass they get all scared and cover their top body with their bags afraid they might get rape(even when they are literally flat up there… and that girl always complain that these Indian men always stares at her breast).
When I hear this I always wanted to say how about those Chinese workers or chekopeh(spelling?) that I could be afraid of and that her assets weren’t going to attract them since women of their race have significantly larger assets…(ignore these girly stuff, even at this age).
Then I stop and think, am I being racist too? I start worrying if I might her hurt their feeling. I then try thinking of other ways to express how I feel and not retaliate immediately so as not to appear offending and by the time I do so, it never gets heard.
They always say a remark and then look at you and go “But you know that I am not talking about you right?”
But they are talking about my race and I say nothing.
I have realized that over the years that if I had stood up for myself, at least in front of friends, I could have help them understand how we feel (because they are not bad people….just ignorant) and they would have been racially aware and sensitive.
I recently talked to my close Chinese friend about this and got her to think about it. I don’t see her laughing at racist comments or joke anymore, infact she herself will voice out her opinions when she hears one.
I’m interested in the opinion of Lyn Lin on 25 Jun 2008 at 1:44 am. She said : “.. u need to understand chinese language is in favour due to the economic blooming of china, chinese take up hong kong, taiwan and chinese population is everywhere. so, the chinese language is important in the world..”
I am an asian-french doing business in shanghai. I have found that more and more shanghai-nese are speaking and using english perfectly as they are now becoming more global-minded. Most of the time, we signed official - BILINGUAL business document & contract. If extremely required, we can get help from professional translator to avoid significant misunderstanding at the end of the day. Same also with my friend who is involved in very high business dealing ( Government to Government). Most of the time, english is used as the official language.
In this case practically, i just do this :
1. If i have to make a deal with someone who is not ( willing or able) to speak english, just bring along my native colleague to become the liason officer. He is more than happy to help me, as i also help him when we do business trip together to France.
2. I still learn mandarin, with reasonable & achievable target. Just to understand passively, when i am surrounded by natives who tried to cheat on me.
Indeed, if singaporeans want to be considered as more “superior” than caucasian ( because they can speak & write chinese) or more “superior” than the native chinese-migrants ( because they can speak english better), they have the right to do so. Disregard most of the time, their english quality is also TERRIBLE…. such as ” 10 dollar can do what laahhh !!”
It’s refreshing hearing people speak about racism in Singapore. I am a Eurasian Singaporean, part Chinese and my father is a Caucasian American. I was born in Singapore but I’ve spent more time in the US. I still go back to my country often and associate strongly with it.
Many Singaporean Chinese do not understand racism. Many hold an “us-them” mentality.
“Oh yes, we are all Singaporean and live in a racially harmonious environment.” This is what my uncle and auntie tried telling me. We were stuck in traffic on the causeway and there were many people walking alongside the cars. My uncle saw an Indian man and started shouting “eh eh! neh neh neh! apuuuuu neh neh neh! Indian always like that! Stupid lah!” There were a dozen or so Chinese walking right behind him. Why target him? What’s the point of it?
Singapore’s national language is Malay. The anthem is in Malay. Yet my 5 year old cousin, for example, does not know this.
“You know ah, my Malay friend, she Malay but can speak Singapore.”
me: “What you mean by Singapore? You meant to say English right?”
her: “ya ok lah. but she dark girl, how can she speak?
me: “She is Singaporean too. All Singaporeans know English.”
her: “But she’s a Malay girl, they bang sai here, bang sai (crap) here lor!”
my god………
Some Singaporeans say, this is my culture, that is yours. We must understand and embrace. They are our national holidays, not just theirs (Deepavali, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa). They are our languages (English, Malay, Chinese, Tamil) not just theirs. Many Singaporean Chinese children are now being raised in an environment that is like China! All Mandarin speaking, only eating Chinese food, no non-Chinese friends, watching all Chinese media, music, etc.
The government has fostered an environment where people believe racism is merely not insulting people of a different color. I would say the Kampong days were much better judging from stories of my Grandmother. Chinese pig farmers kept their animals well secluded to not insult their Muslim neighbors. Grew up eating different food, and no, having Roti Prata with sugar every week does not count as it does with many of the young generation. We must teach Singaporeans to have a desire to know and love the culture of Singapore-not just that of the Chinese.
To Lyn Lin: How dare you call Singapore a Modern China. That comment complete disregards Singapore as a nation in Southeast Asia and non-Chinese cultures. As others noted, you don’t understand the history of your own nation. I don’t want Singapore to be merely a “Modern China.” There’s enough representation of China in the world right now. We are Singapore, or as the tourism board would say (hehe), “Uniquely Singapore.” Lyn, I do not deny that Mandarin Chinese is a very important language. But you do not have to give up the Singaporean Chinese identity for a Mainland China one. And no, Mandarin is not in the blood-Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, etc. are. Many Americans are of German descent, but they wouldn’t call German as being their mother language, they associate with English. Singaporeans should focus less on heritage searching and more on being Singaporean. What ever happened to Rojak? Where our culture is made of many put together? Judging from your comments, you are a Chinese nationalist who seems to hold the interests of the Chinese people higher than Singaporeans as a whole. People like you who contribute to Singapore’s Chinese-isation that makes so many PRC nationals feel at home here (which I have nothing wrong with) but gives them the impression that Singapore is a Mini-China. You completely avoided the topic of racism in Singapore and spit out smart aleck crap.
Despite all this, I love Singapore. I want to return home and work to create a better understanding and make Singapore a better place. I love all Singaporeans-of all ethnicities and creeds. Majulah Singapura and goodnight!
Dear friends,
I am glad checked on your site.Very surprising to such fresh air of youngesters who can think so openly.
I am a mother and have a 4 year old son.In my daily life i come across racisium so often.Sometimes I think i committing a crime by allowing my son to stay here in singapore depriving him of hi freedom of speech and action.
I have worked here in singapore for last 15 years and paid taxes and cpf very sincerely.
But,yesterday on diwali i asked a 2 of my friends to comeover to my place for diwali.we were talking in HDB Amphitheter space near my flat.After a hour a so 2 of our friendly neighbourhood policemen visited us to give us warning that we are disturbing our neighbours.
And we were talking in the amphitheater in the hdb flat.Very surprising how my neighbours could hear us.
It only shows that our neighbours who are chinese cannot bear to see us atleast happy once in a year during our festival for 2 hours.
Let me remind my fellow singaporeans that every week you can watch a handful of chinese crowd assembling for some dance or song function where skimply dressed chinease girls will be dancing and singing throughout the midnight in loud chinese songs -they are not even bothered to speak even a single word of english. all annoucement ,songs everything will be in chinese. and that will be so loud that even if you close your flat doors you can hear your tv.
Doesn’t that disturb the neighbours.Or is their tolerance level more when it comes to hearing chinese songs.
or they consider us deaf and dumb.We don’t have any rights to call the police in this case.cause we are not chinese majority?
Surprising indians attrending such fuctions are so humilated that they don’t attend such functions next time onwards.
I am so sad about my son’s life in singapore.I just request Chinese people TO PLEASE LIVE AND LET LIVE.
God has created different races to live in this world.Otherwise he would have created only chinese -only -rece in the world.
CAN YOU BE MORE BROADMINDED.PLEASE.
my little sister who goes to RGS was telling me how one of her friends commented that she was “allergic to Indians” because apparently, an Indian man touched her and she broke up in rashes. Oh, so race is a disease now? This is a smart(I suppose? She did make it to RGS albeit through DSA) girl who has been raised in Singapore for the last 13 years of her life and yet, she doesn’t bother hiding her racial prejudice. The same girl and and a friend had also exclaimed loudly “I don’t want to watch already lah” when the Indian dance team did a performance in the school. Also, Whenever I walk with my Indian friend(who is a guy), many of the Chinese(older generation) will stare and give us disapproving looks because we’re of different colour. I think there is a need for Singaporeans to exercise more racial tolerance nowadays. If we allow and continue to close one eye about the racism present, it won’t be too long until riots may occur.
I must say that racism is inherent in Singapore and this could be due to the fact that our country is only 4 decades old and thus it has not matured well enough. Also, we are a nation of diverse cultures of varying proportions in terms of population, crime rates, social and economic success and political power….
Well, I come from a reputable junior college of the nation and I must say that the environment there is a mish-mash of racial tolerance and racism. I can’t be helped that students come from a variety of 20 over schools ranging from SAP, missionary, autonomous and neighbourhood schools. AS a result, we have people banding up in cliques of either similar school, culture etc. Well basically, it’s like different worlds all squeezed into one college.
One clear observation is that SAP students from Nan Hua, River Valley etc will speak chinese even though non-chinese speakers are present and they often create a nucleus of similar minded friends. I know that can’t be helped but please understand that people do have feelings and insecurities. How would you feel if people of other races talked in their own languages in front of you and looked at you in a suspicious way? You’ll definitely feel weird and as if you are like some outcast or something, if you don’t then you’re just deceiving yourself or you are thick-skinned….
Another observation is that students from ‘premier’, ‘elite’ or missionary schools so called tend to be too expressive, have some air of superiority etc. Well, can’t be helped that most of them have thick wallets (no kidding, they literally do). They usually are more boisterous (no fault in being so) but they tend to be insensitive towards the financial inadequancies of others like for instance they would often suggest that the group go out for lunch at some ice cream restaurant that cost a bomb to go to or to a steam boat dinner (imagine that, $20 !!!!). It’s not really their fault, it’s just that they are too used to their own world that they do not see what others lack.
Well, I noticed that most of the neighbourhood students will just be on the fringes of cliques and not be able to mingle well with them especially if these cliques are predominantly from the same school: this is a case when the school emphasises a spirit of brotherhood to peers. While this is good, we must note that their spriit of brotherhppd does not extend to others. WHo can blame them if we only just know about them for less than a year?
Basically, I’m saying here is that a difference in culture creates divisions in society and also it creates people who are too comfortable with their own parameters. Just like in my college, our society is fraught with people with comfort issues. They just want to socialise with whom their are comfortable with and just push aside others. And yes, I was a victim of racism. A group of cat high boys compared me to a picture of human excretement in the toilet bowl. Isn’t cat high SAP? and they wrote on their blog that their leader is the pro at discriminating against people, verbatim. Some how word got out and I was forced to shut up and sign a letter saying that I’ll not be a racist and write things like that in blogs tgt with those ignorant racists. Yeah all of us signed but I felt insulted because first of all I’m not a racist and second of all I’m the victim! They made us do some group project that took a serious toll on my studies. Hello! I’m the okay one.
As mentioned earlier by someone, there is a distinction between a racialist and a racist and also someone who is observant. I’m observant but I don’t go around saying generalised views to everyone because it is not entirely true. I urge all Singaporeans to be observant yet respectful of the differences that exists between cultures and between individuals. Diversity must be respected because if we are all the same, we’ll be as dull as gray uniforms. My earlier paragraphs state my observations as I used words like ‘they tend to….’ etc. Now don’t label me as a racist!
So we need to widen our comfort zones, we need to respect diversity of individuals and communities, we need to be knowledgeable and understanding and not ignorant of differences.
Sometimes I feel sad because I’m a victim of prejudice by the majority and also by my own race. It is just part of some Malay’s psyche that they must not be happy with the successess of others and they must feel envious of it. Okay, jealousy is okay but don’t go around bullying me and spreading rumours but instaead upgrade oneself for the progress of the Malays and mind you, I think that is a main reason why we malays do not progress much, we envy but do nothing. We are envious of chinese who are rich, have superior culturak influence and political power and yet we keep talking and doing nothing. All talk propagates mere hate and lies and it is not constructive to repair racial ties! We need to take action by improving ourself and engaging with others. If we keep talking, all that hate keeps moving in a perpetual cycle within a community and it just gets worse every moment. This applies to every other community too.
Since, I was young my cousins, my malay friends in primary school etc they just treated me as an outsider as if being academically inclined means that u are not a malay. That hurts and it gets worse the higher up you go where the number of malays get smaller less than proportionately to their population percentage. I’m like sandwiched between both sides and I on the other hand feel obligated to help my community to progress when I’m older. It is terrible to be different (in terms of any aspect, race, academics, talent etc) but terrible only because you think it is terrible for you to not enjoy the comforts of life of not being discriminated agianst. Being differnt is not terrible, it is something to be celebrated with because we have identity. We dont need common ground to work together, we just need to understand and acknowledge the differnces inherent in each individual and race and we must accomodate to it accordingly. After all, we have the basic freedom of action and belief and we do not have to abandon or alter our identity just to fit in. For instance S’pore and M’sia is inherently differnrt but we respect our differneces and we still hold talks and cooperate tgt in joint missions like patroling the malaccan straits etc…..
Hi everyone,
I am a Singaporean Indian who has traveled to many countries. Frankly speaking, Singapore is the most racist place of them all. About seven years ago, I went to stanford Uni to do my Bachelor. After enduring many years of racism in Singapore schools, I was very insecure about myself. I went to Stanford, fully expecting to be degraded even more.
Much to the contrary, the situation there was much better. My first friend there (a girl), was was very beautiful and smart. In singapore, that would have been equal to many disdainful looks from passerbys and such (she was also white). She was the first good friend I had in years. I explained all my problems to her. She really helped me build my self confidence, by talking to me, introducing me to her friends and such. Her friends were from all over the world. One of my best friends was a Jamaican. Amazingly, not one of them thought of me as “oh, he’s Indian. Let’s make fun of him”.
In my third year at Stanford, I met Melissa, who had just transferred to Stanford from another school. The moment we met, we fell in love. (Actually, she asked me out, then I fell in love). We are now happily married, and living in Singapore. Yes we do get dirty looks from a lot of people when we go around in Orchard road. The moment they see us (A brown skinned guy going out with a stunningly beautiful white girl), their eyes widen and the stare at us.
I think by now, you must have noticed a recurring topic in my post: colour.
In singapore, it’s not so much racism as “colour-ism”. People mostly make fun of skin colour. One common notion is that brown sinned people are dirty. If we just see past the appearance of the person, we can see them for the human they are (as I and Melissa have done).
Also the key difference from America and Singapore is that Americans openly speak about racism. I have been blatantly asked questions like “how does it feel to be a brown skinned man?”. Americans have ACCEPTED people are of different colour. Whereas in singapore we are trained to keep our racist thoughts to ourselves, instead of openly speaking about it.
I think that Singapore will become a truly multi racial country when it accepts that people of different colour are just different on the outside, not on the inside.
Warm regards
Aswin
Reading Aaron’s 1st mail, I wish all Singaporeans of all races and religions think like him. Then, Singapore would be a better place for all.
Cheers
Marginalised,
I came from a reputable sec and JC and continued my education further but I don’t remember my own friends, relatives and family members marginalising me just because I am “academically inclined”. And many of my brilliant Malay friends who are “academically inclined” don’t remember having such problems. And your comment was the first one I have ever seen throughout my life where “part of some Malay’s psyche that they must not be happy with the successess of others and they must feel envious of it” were taught. Perhaps it is just your issues? From one Malay to another: widen your social circle perhaps even within your own community as well ( I’m just assuming)
When these SAP school students meet a caucasion guy do they discriminate against him even though they have never really spoken or interacted with one?Sure they would feel a little bit akward but i don’t think in their head they would be thinking”honky!” or”bloody Nazis”..”Red skin bastards ” bla bla .. so how come a white guy gets treated diffently from a Malay or Indian. There was this one time while i was shopping in Wistma Atria at orchird road when i saw this tall dark African man.First think that came to my mind was “whats he doing here?i thought African american males were’nt really that succesful compraed to their white counterparts, o well he’s handsome anyway i wont stare bla bla”Of course that notion is completely bogus! but my point is that the only impression i get out of any minority ive never met is either from the tv(dramas or bla bla) or from what my friends and family tell me.So i doubt you can form some kind of tolerance to another race if you’ve never met or interacted with one..but your not exactly gonna hate the shit out of em..O ya and since young i’ve seen loads of documentries on civil rights and Martin luther King.But you know whats really fucked up is that almost 0 people in my school know who martin luther King is…infact some are so clueless that they think Jesus came from Englad or America because he’s potrayed as a white man..i think children in Singapore neeed a wake up call and should be more exposed to films and any source knowledge about other races..cause in the end even if theyve never met a black guy or latin american or indian or malay ..at least they know the facts about their culture and history and not some fucked up notion conjured up by their parents and friends..infact maybe malays who are more religious feel its a blessing to have children and therefore more of them have babies..whereas the chinese who are more work orientated and think of money first before having a kid fun.find it more difficult to grasp the idea of having loads of em..?god knows anyways..sorry for using the F word..
sorry spelling mistake ..the word”fun” accidentally appeared in my last sentence ..my bad
Good point.
Lyn,
I would like to point out that “Hindu” and “Indian” are both not languages. Hinduism is an religion that originated in India. India has 22 official languages and 22,000 dialects. None is called “Indian”. All are Indian.
Thank you.
With Regards,
Siddharth George
Hello, Aaron,
I came across your blog while researching on prejudice. I’m so happy that there is a chinese soul, trying to eliminate racial discrimination in Singapore, I’m quite taken aback by your blog post, because many Chinese(not all), have the tendency of being racist towards the Indians, since we’re the minority.But you, are definitely outstanding. The abolishing of the SAP system, Madrasah, and etc, are seriously very good solutions i must say. Thanks for trying to build a racism-free society.
Hi. i don’t think that dismantaling the SAP schools would help a lot in reducing the cases of racism.
As it was stated, these people would be the future leaders of Singapore. If we do not have these schools, then who would lead Singapore in the future? Hope you get the point….
Oh! And by the way, can anyone tell me what challenges the eurasians faced in the past? It has nothing to do with that topic just now. I would appreciate it if anyone replies.
Dear Clarissa,
“Hi. i don’t think that dismantaling the SAP schools would help a lot in reducing the cases of racism.”
I should be a step towards reducing racism whether you like it or not. If we keep saying that we should not abolish something because we assume that it will not help a lot in reducing racism, then we will go no where in our path towards a tolerant and cohesive society free from the plague of racism.
Instead of using the word “abolish”, I would like to say that we should instead “transform” SAP schools. Change the system, that is, we should get rid of the system that inspires people to harbour racist thoughts and replace it with a more secular and multi-cultural one.
If elements within the society still insist upon the continued existence of SAP schools then, we should divorce it from the mainstream school system and make it into a special (or private) institution that teaches niche subjects. Example, School of the Arts, Singapore Sports School. It should not be a jewel amongst the choices of schools for students who have completed their PSLE and who wish to pursue their mainstream education, meaning, reduce its significance as the upper-tier choice of schools. If it remains to be a popular choice for top scorers, then that is where the problem will persist.
For example, the Madrasah (where there are two types: full-time and part-time) is a separate institution from mainstream education too. It is not a school that accepts students based on high academic merit but rather students choose to go there based on their personal choice to pursue their education on a separate path from the mainstream. You cannot abolish the Madrasah because “part-time” students go there to learn about the law, history, scriptures, philosophy and traditions of Islam and those things form the main focus of the education there and without it, these students have no option to turn to learn about Islam. Hence, wpuld it be feasible if we transform the SAP schools that preach Chinese culture and tradition into such a school, either a part-time one or one that is distinct from the mainstream system, in other words, its admission is not determine by high mainstream academic qualification rather by their education in their own Chinese heritage. If others still argue for the abolishment of the Madrasah, then I thus urge fellow netizens to look at the case of Sunday Schools which I admit are a lot similar to Madrasahs than to SAP schools.
“As it was stated, these people would be the future leaders of Singapore. If we do not have these schools, then who would lead Singapore in the future? Hope you get the point….”
I’m not smiling here.
Your response is so typical of a majority of people here in Singapore who believe that SAP schools are the elite schools that will be the only type of school that will produce most if not all of the future leaders in Singapore.
If we do not have this type of schools, we have other schools such as Raffles Institution, National Junior College and the missionary schools. If you were not informed yet, Raffles and NJC are producing more leaders than any other instituition and I believe and am convinced that it is because of the environment and type of education in these schools that transform the potential leaders into future leaders. I find it rather shocking that anyone would choose to believe that SAP schools are the key to becoming a future leader and SAP schools are the only creators of these so-called future leaders. They are one amongst the many schools in Singapore that produce future leaders.
Are you trying to say that only Chinese students educated in SAP schools will become future leaders or stand at a higher chance of becoming one? Then, I must say that I feel truly sorry for you and your kind for your ignorance of the fact that the minorities exist and are equally or if not better suited to be your future leader. And I truly pity the minority races for their predicament if such mentality of them being incompetent and unsuitable to lead were to exist and they would thus suffer from not having much of a say in the decision making process whether in business on in society.
And I truly hope that such a scenario is not in existence for the sake of everyone and for you.
Hey check this out - Chinese blogger writing about her experience at Simpang Bedok. Is this racist?
http://kiss-xx.blogspot.com/2009/06/outings-outings-outings-over-weekend.html
No kidding. Well, not really close enough to what I’m used to. So I might view it as normal insensitivity on their part while others will react strongly towards it. I must say that I’m not entirely pleased with it.
I always thought that the people of the minority races would have harboured such thoughts against the majority but looking back and reflecting on the friends that I have, I realise that IT IS the MINORITIES who are the least racist in comparison to the majority race.
These people, who under the guise that they are not being racist actually use that pretext to soften the intensity of the cruel and baseless remarks that they wish to infect on others. Hence, they are able to continue masquerading as racists within our society. I once had a friend who said that he is not racist, rather he is discriminates people based on skin colour. That is the most ridiculous thing that I ever heard and is a huge logical fallacy.
There is nothing special or disgusting about each of our skin colour and I dare say that since the British Colonial era has ended, the majority race see it fit to fill in that vacuum of social power and try to delude themselves into believing that they have ‘white’ skin which, will immediately be dismissed in the US as ‘yellow’. So much to make out of it but hey, I’m not racist, I do not wish to fight fire with fire.
There is nothing wrong with having dark skin and if the author of that blog didn’t know, Singapore was ruled by the Malays and it was a part of a greater realm like it or not. Just like Hong Kong was to China which strangely was given back in the end. However, there was a time whereby the kings of this realm have significantly darker skin than their subjects yet, it was not marked as a skin of inferiority at that time.
Singapore has become a modern nation that is multi-cultural but I realise that by ‘tyranny of the majority’ (political term, present in most countries), we ostracise the minorities and hey, even the disabled and the foreigners.
I think the blogger along with the other racists are RACISTS due to the following inherent root fears hidden in their hearts. Ever since they took over the ‘mandate’ of social rule from the British, they have been on their tethers lest others try to undermine their much enjoyed political, economic and social dominance. The Malays have to endure distrust and social injustice upon them while the Indians are the frequent subjects of cruel jokes. It is no more than a foolish attempt by paranoid people to weaken the position of others as much as possible so that they can continue to enjoy their social prominence forever.
Even in the blog, the author said that she was not happy with the fact that there were so many Malays in that Mad Jack restaurant. This represents a symbolic psychological challenge to the long held belief that the Majorities will forever be dominant in quality and quantity and a symbolic event like that would sure shake the psyche of any one like her. And expectantly, the service and quality of food became worse than it should have been perceived by a normal patron or if the restaurant was entirely populated by her race. Sometimes, we tend to see what we what to believe in and for her case, she chose to see inefficiency and crude service and quality that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I once had a teacher who claims that the racial harmony is rubbish; only racial integration will unite the country. Yes, true but sadly racial integration means the indirect consequence of the subjugation of the individual cultures by the dominant place. As long as the minorities are not assertive enough or there’s no cultural authority to regulate this, it would never succeed without resentment. Just look at Singlish, and look at the precentage of phrases, grammar and vocabulary that is Chinese based: it is greater than 75% and this is quite disproportional to the population percentage in Singapore.
Imagine with racial integration, we will have the scenario whereby there will be a final ‘cultural coup’ by the majority culture and the minorities will be pushed to the sidelines. If you think that the minorities will take that final straw as normal and choose to ignore it, then you are wrong. Even if there are no blatant oppositions, there will surely be underground resentment and perhaps a movement to counter this.
Think why JI and other terrorist groups exist. One of the main reasons is the above mentioned scenario. However, their actions can never be condoned. But will we be willing to risk fracturing society and cause another terrorist group to be born again? I think not. A mature society is one that accepts, tolerate and even equally shares one own culture without an intention to dominate. Rather, with the intention to share it sincerely with others.
It is down right silly to force people to change to adopt a Creole version of another culture based on the majority one and i don’t see the Chinese in America, Africa, South East Asia and etcetera ‘integrating’ into their native cultures and neither do the Europeans. And neither should the minorities in Singapore. Instead, we should be acknowledging one another’s presence, respect each other’s culture and share.
Frankly, I don’t see much difference between the condition in Singapore and Malaysia, one is less direct while the other is blatant or even possible, one has an inefficient and unstable government that cannot keep its mouth shut to the media well while the other like most other mature governments is undoubtedly the best.
Thank you. Please reply with constructive comments.