Preferential racism in singapore?

0Hazrul Azhar Jamari • 22nd Nov 2007 • My Notes

Earlier this month, TODAY, a local daily free paper ran a front page article on Singaporean’s differing attitudes to race-related issues. The article cited studies conducted by the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies over a sample survey of about 1,824 Singaporeans aged 15 and above polled face-to-face answering questions on their willingness to interact with people outside their race in a variety of everyday scenarios.

Quoting an example of some of these questions, Singaporeans had no qualms over who becomes Prime Minister. Most Chinese Singaporeans do not see a problem with having a Malay Prime Minister. Neither do they have any issues with asking for help from a policeman which is not their race.

It all seems colour blind in the public domain. But…

When it comes to personal issues like marriage, 99% of Chinese would prefer marrying someone of their own race. 31% of Chinese were alright with marrying a Malay or Indian. Compare this to 52% of Malays having no problems with marrying a Chinese. 46% of Malays had no issues with marrying an Indian.

Wait. there’s more. 2 in 10 Chinese also said they would not prefer to invite friends from other races to celebrate special occasions such as weddings.

While this is a snapshot of what the feelings are on the ground, we may just be touching on the surface. About 342 people refused to participate for undisclosed reasons and this may be an indication that they may hold views which are politically incorrect or not in the spirit of multi-racial/cultural Singapore.

It seems that colour still plays a major role in a Singaporean’s life, in particular the Chinese majority. But this isn’t something unknown. In my 25 years of living, I’ve had many first hand accounts from my Malay friends who were victims of racial differences.

Lets consider 1 story from a close friend of mine. Me and F. were one of the few bright Malay students in a local neighbourhood primary school. Our principal then was a Chinese chauvinist who usually upped the ante of Chinese superiorty in school. At least, in my opinion, he seemed subtle, but his stand was pretty obvious.

We were both in EM1, and was part of the 12 borderline students who showed potential in the Pri 4 streaming exam and were offered tentative places. We had the choice to go to EM2, or try our hand at gifted programs in EM1. My father obviously wanted me to go places. So that year, I was 1 out of probably 4 Malay students in the group of 12 that were invited. I believed a Emy, a bright and talented Malay girl was one of those already confirmed to be in EM1 which makes it 5 bright Malay students in the class of possibly 30.

We slugged it out for a year, and yes, EM1 was probably the toughest program I had ever been through. I could handle the English, struggled a little with Math, and still could take the Science, but for some reason, I’ve never before that had so much trouble with Malay. If you think that Malay is so easy to pass, wait till you do it at EM1.

And I fell through the cracks. It was pretty much a relief for me. I’m sure, given more guidance, I would have survived EM1, but there was too much pressure, and the following year, I was transferred to EM2, in the 4th class out of a cohort of 8 classes.

F. however should have continued in EM1. Only 6 students could continue to be EM1, and he was number 5. The school allegedly made a mistake, and he was pulled out of EM1 on the very first day of school and transferred to EM2. In his place was a Chinese girl who finished 8th out of the 12 invited. I remember I must have finished 10th.

You see this rubbish that happened nearly 16 years ago? Call it a case of honest mistakes but come on, that was clearly a case of racism.

F. didn’t complain. He had a social problem in that he had a shy personality. So he didn’t have the ability to complain that injustice. If only he did, maybe he’d still be in EM1.

16 years has passed, and today, 99% of Chinese would still prefer marrying a Chinese. 69% of Chinese would not even consider marrying a non-Chinese.

I observe people’s habitats around me and I notice that young Chinese students would usually mingle with other Chinese students. For some reason, during their teenage years, colour played an important role to them. When I was at Fish & Co, meeting up with ex-colleagues, I noticed how this table of Chinese youth seemed so exclusively mono-colour.

I have also noticed how some Chinese people with low paper qualifications could attain a position of high ranking without the hard work, honest Malays like us had to go through. This was my main grudge in my last employment. I could never respect that superior of mine. When I left that company, I heard of an undergraduate NUS malay girl who replaced me, being offered a lowly diploma pay. After 3 months, she negotiated for a raise, respectable to her qualifications. She was offered a small increment that was a slap in the face for Computer Science graduates. She left, and good for her.

For some reason, I suspect that other Chinese employers play favourites to their kind. Most Malays undervalue themselves, because that’s what they have been paid thus far from their employers.

In my last employment, my manager told me of an experience doing a phone interview with a Chinese candidate, and how snobbish and racist this person was when she asked for his desired pay.

In his words, “I’m a Chinese so I expect my pay to be high. I’m not like those Malays which deserve lower pay”.

If Malays can’t get jobs, it’s obvious that if they do, their pay will be lower than their Chinese counterparts. It seems that Chinese expect their pay to be higher by virtue of skin colour alone. This is a sad reality for a meritocratic state.

But I’m sure that these thoughts are not mine alone. Or if you feel to disagree with me, please enlighten me. I’d love to know what other Singaporeans think.