In light of everything that’s been going on, I’ve been reconsidering systemic racism in my own surroundings and have come to learn that it’s even more prevalent, highly institutionalized, and widely accepted in Singapore than I’d thought. I was surprised, which says a lot, but the following two practices that I highlight in this article are just two of many. Ultimately, I encourage readers to re-evaluate their own surroundings to recognize and address elements of systemic racism there. 

For basic context, Singapore prides itself on its multiculturalism and ethnic diversity, and comprises of approximately 75% Chinese, 15% Malays, 7% ethnic Indians, and 3% “others”. Singapore celebrates almost every ethnic holiday that falls under these ethnic categories, but there undoubtedly exist underlying racial tensions that frame the way Singaporeans approach life. 

Despite this ethnic composition, the school that I used to attend had an ethnic composition that was almost entirely Chinese. Out of 1600 students across four grades, I met at most 5 individuals who weren’t Chinese, and this was largely if not entirely due to the fact that my school, Nanyang Girls’ High School (NYGH), was an SAP (special assistance plan) school. SAP schools are primary (grades 1-6) and secondary schools (grades 7-10)  that were designed with the specific intention of developing “effectively bilingual students” that are “inculcated with Chinese values”. To gain entry into these schools, students needed to be proficient in both English and Chinese and typically had to undergo rigorous testing. Essentially, they’re just made to be ethnically homogenous. 

At the same time, these schools constitute many of Singapore’s most elite institutions. Take Hwa Chong Institution (HCI), a notorious feeder school for Oxford and Cambridge. This is just one example of many, and these benefits can and should undeniably be attributed to the added resources that are offered to SAP schools. Between increased funding and coveted education pathways, these schools continually exclude other ethnic minorities and essentially cultivate the idea that Chinese culture is inherently superior and more valuable to learn and preserve. This system effectively breeds cultural insensitivity, and as someone who studied in one of these schools, instances of racial microaggressions are hardly rare. Students who spend years in SAP schools inevitably graduate with a warped sense of Chinese culture in relation to the cultures of ethnic minorities, and minorities who attend these schools inevitably end up tokenized.

In addition to this certifiably insane education system, Singapore continues to employ a race-based housing system, with quotas determining where one can or cannot live. The Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), ironically, was constructed with the very purpose of preventing ethnic enclaves. It mandates that resident compositions of government-built housing–where about 80% of Singaporeans live–need to reflect the ethnic percentages of Singapore. Because of this, people are essentially only free to buy and sell property to people of the same ethnicity.

This inflexibility with complete disregard for varying socioeconomic levels has inevitably and unsurprisingly led to a plethora of problems, leaving some apartments perpetually empty and forcing certain ethnicities to pay higher prices for the exact same living areas. Because of differences in median incomes between ethnicities (which can also be tied back to systemic practices in Singapore that favour the Chinese over other ethnicities), some Chinese-designated flats that cost less typically remain empty, like Malay-designated flats that cost more. Given Singapore’s continual struggle with land and living space, the EIP is undeniably arbitrary, ineffective, and racially-motivated. At the same time, because the amount of competing buyers for Chinese flats exceeds that of Malay or Indian ones, Chinese flats and Malay or Indian ones often sell for vastly different prices. The EIP also forces children of mixed races to literally just pick one of them, and essentially assumes that forced racial mixing automatically leads to integration. Ultimately, the EIP is a sloppy and thinly-veiled racial statement that underestimates a problem it claims to be able to single-handedly solve.

These are just two elements of a highly complex system that continues to oppress, which is a theme that seems to be recurring everywhere, albeit in some places more than others. With that in mind, change on a bigger scale cannot be expected without a careful reconsideration of our own surroundings.