On Race and Racism in Singapore
Singapore prides itself on its racial diversity, religious tolerance, and the general peaceful coexistence of three major ethnic groups within the small island. It’s population largely consists of people who identify as Chinese, making up 76.2% of the citizen population. Malays make up 15.0%, ethnic Indians make up 7.4%, and Eurasians and other minorities make up the remaining 1.4%. While the national language is Malay (due in part to a previous merging with Malaysia), English is the main working language and is the most widely spoken. Singapore’s approach to diversity has been multi-faceted; from a mandatory bilingual education to hosting celebrations and holidays for major cultural events like Chinese New Year, Deepavali, or Hari Raya Puasa, it has created a distinct identity across ethnic groups and done surprisingly well considering how the nation-state turns just 54 in 2019. However, despite numerous policies put into place, instances of casual racism and xenophobia are glaring indications that there are, and will always be, gaps between policy and practice.
While prejudice doesn’t really exist on a systemic level (for Singaporeans), many people still hold on to certain ideas about other ethnic groups. Off-handed comments about how “Chinese people don’t generally speak English well” or assumptions about literal taste (https://mothership.sg/2019/02/casual-racism-singapore/) show that casual racism runs rampant. This isn’t altogether too surprising considering how there are and will always be racist people wherever you go, but the problem lies in the fact that nothing is done to shine light on or address this issues in Singapore. Virtually no articles exist discussing casual racism in Singapore, and there are definitely none on national media in Singapore. For a country with the most competitive economy in the world, Singapore still remains extremely politically conservative and national news outlets will not publish anything deemed even slightly politically incendiary or “deemed to incite racial and religious hatred.” Criticism of the government or the governing party is discouraged, and this draconian approach to journalism has been a primary factor in allowing casual racism like this to go unaddressed.
On the other hand, when you look at prejudice and oppression in Singapore as a whole, you start to realize that the situation is far worse for foreign unskilled laborers in Singapore. In Singapore, these blue-collar workers are categorized under having a Work Permit, and statistics show that Work Permit holders made up 17.2% of Singapore’s overall population in 2017. In fact, out of the 1.3 million or so working foreigners, almost 1 million of them belong to the unskilled labour camp (TWCT). These Work Permit holders usually work as domestic helpers in homes or construction workers, and usually hail from the Philippines, Bangladesh, or Indonesia.
Considering these numbers, it is shocking how xenophobia functions on a systemic level resulting in de-empowerment. In order to even gain this permit in the first place, these workers usually pay upwards of $15,000 to even gain entry to work in Singapore. The less educated they are and the more remote of a location they come from, the more they pay to come work in Singapore. As such, when facing domestic abuse or encountering other types of employer harassment, they are less likely to raise a complaint against their superior that could bring this tenure to an end. Factors that further exacerbate this is Singapore’s lack of a minimum wage and no notion of “overtime pay” because there lacks even a categorization of maximum hours worked in the first place. Singapore’s justice system also places the burden of proof on those submitting claims, and these workers with a limited grasp of English are especially vulnerable to being taken advantage of. A whole host of other problems exist for these workers, but the most glaringly obvious is the widespread xenophobia among Singaporeans. They are often harassed, marginalized, and looked down on, and for a country claiming to have peaceful, co-existing diversity, the plight of these unskilled labourers is an embarrassingly obvious red flag that says otherwise.
This article is not to say that racial diversity in Singapore is a failed ideal. In many ways, Singapore has succeeded in bridging divides and fostering diversity. However, it is glaringly obvious that more needs to be done. These issues are not being addressed because these issues are not even being made known to the public, and the first step that needs to be taken is the loosening of media restrictions in Singapore. Freedom of press precipitates progress, and without it, this situation is set to only worsen from here.
TWCT. “Foreign Workforce Numbers, 2017.” Transient Workers Count Too, 27 Apr. 2018, twc2.org.sg/2018/05/22/foreign-workforce-numbers-2017/.