Singaporeans and Caucasians

[Z]

to RPO - good info. good rant. i understand being pissed at such ignorance. don't let ignorant buggers get you down. after all, they have to live in their own petty little fiefdoms...

[fymk]

Everywhere there is gonna be someone who resents foreigners in their homeland and I do think we Singaporeans do generally treat caucasians well or better .
I have been overseas like in Australia and the UK , and I have been yelled at " to go back to china" (even tho I am Singaporean) without provocation, shown the finger and lewd remarks regarding asian women. So if you think laughter is bad ....wait til you suffer the experience I have . How do I deal with it? I ignore them...because they are not worth my blood pressure.

[NBB]

fymk,

I can sympathise. I had a lot of Asian mates back in London. Caucs can be so vicious without any provocation whatsover. It scared me and I'm a white dude.

I'm sure that if the majority of Asians realised how awful some of their brothers and sisters were slagged off in their face while they're in the West, we Expats would be copping a motherlode of crap instead of all the hospitality we're now enoying in the East.

But let's hope the majority of the abuse is just ignorance and boredom, as opposed to real malice.

NBB

[PhantomX]

fymk,

I can sympathise. I had a lot of Asian mates back in London. Caucs can be so vicious without any provocation whatsover. It scared me and I'm a white dude.

I'm sure that if the majority of Asians realised how awful some of their brothers and sisters were slagged off in their face while they're in the West, we Expats would be copping a motherlode of crap instead of all the hospitality we're now enoying in the East.

But let's hope the majority of the abuse is just ignorance and boredom, as opposed to real malice.

NBB

The local Singaporean is about the least malice inclined Asian you can find if you don't poke into his private space that is
Most of the 'racist' rantings you get is just plain ignorance, innocuous stuff compared to the variety that you get in Europe Oz and the US of A

[gaston]

The racism might take milder forms in Spore (laughing, giggling, poking fun at caucs). But the sheer number of Sporean who get involved in that form of racism on a daily basis is shameful. There is hardly a day without Sporean grinning silly at you, giggling about you or laughing at you.
Its silly and at some point it just gets on your nerves.
In France racism against Asians might result in verbal and physical abuse - but that are rather isolated cases. In Spore a huge number of people commit these mild form of racism day in day out. Its a daily experience we caucs face.

[NBB]

The racism might take milder forms in Spore (laughing, giggling, poking fun at caucs). But the sheer number of Sporean who get involved in that form of racism on a daily basis is shameful. There is hardly a day without Sporean grinning silly at you, giggling about you or laughing at you.
Its silly and at some point it just gets on your nerves.
In France racism against Asians might result in verbal and physical abuse - but that are rather isolated cases. In Spore a huge number of people commit these mild form of racism day in day out. Its a daily experience we caucs face.

I dont experience that at all - ever. I think in all the years I spent in Singapore one local guy hurled a "fcuk you" at me. And that was in Sim Lim after declining to buy his gizmo.

Could be I just don't notice it of course. But I really do not see it. Even after trying to consiously pick up on it for several weeks running.

Maybe they're trying to chat you up

NBB

[To NBB]

My apologies to everyone for this out of topic post. Your kind indulgence pls.

To NBB:
Read somewhere that you're from Curacao originally and it piqued my curiousity as I presently live in the Caribbean myself-- Jamaica. Did a short stint in Barbados several years ago as well. Gosh its a small world after all when you go on an expat board from Singapore and meet someone posting whose roots are in the Caribbean!

[christopher]

Singaporeans can be VERY racist. Just hang around with the local Chinese guys in your office and see what they say about their Indian colleagues behind their backs. The trouble is, these people don't see it as 'racism' - if you bring up their attitude, they'll just shrug and say 'But it's a fact... Indians are always <insert suitable ephitet>."

Oh BTW, you do realise that many Caucasians here are just as guilty, in one way or another? (And then there's the FRENCH.. don't even get me started...)



chris

[manuelo]

It seems as if Singapor is just like any other freak place.
Why they pride themselves as being different? Racism is alive here as any other dirty place.

[NBB]

To NBB:
Read somewhere that you're from Curacao originally and it piqued my curiousity as I presently live in the Caribbean myself-- Jamaica. Did a short stint in Barbados several years ago as well. Gosh its a small world after all when you go on an expat board from Singapore and meet someone posting whose roots are in the Caribbean!

It is a small world, yes

I spent my first 7 years in Curaçao, fond memories. Both Singapore and Curaçao are sun-kissed islands. And that's where all similarities end, hahaha!!

Strangely enough, I'm more at ease in Singapore that the West Indies - much less edgy when it comes to racial stuff. Way safer too in terms of crime. Although I spent some time in Antigua and found the locals very mellow there, no racial baggage to speak of, very laid-back mon 8)

Oh, and my landlady in London was from Jamaica. She was the sweetest woman. And, wow, could she ever cook!

What do you do? Will you be back in Singapore?

Anyway, keep in touch.

NBB

[Cynical]

Really this debate has gotten past beyond funny
The fact that racism in whatever form exists in every country should be no surprise. This does not mean one should condone it
The fact that people need educating is also accepted
However what surprises me is the sensitivity that foreigners coming to Singapore especially of the western variety demostrate on this issue when the brunt of the 'racist' attitudes is being borne by other races.
On the one hand they berate the locals for being prejudicial in their attitudes to other races and on the other they get sensitive over innuendo and insinuations of racism directed at them that really smack of immaturity rather than embedded racist attitudes
To be frank, most westerners get away with murder with their' superior' middle finger' attitude ubiquotously demonstrated on the roads. They've gotten away with much more in the colonial days anyway, So what's the big deal with the 'middle finger' you say. But frankly they would have gotten away with much more if not for the strict enforcement of law on a no holds barred basis ala michael fay. Witness Hong Kong as an example.
Don't get me wrong, this is not a rant against westerners. The matter as it stands in the Singapore context is much too mild to make a mountain of mole hill of. But the silliness that has been demonstrated in this forum of late has gotten me sufficiently riled to raise it.
What of the other races? Well the deluge of Indians and the sea of Malays surrounding the country is a constant nudge and reminder that Singaporeans have to be accomodative in their stance. Again, prejudices here run not just on racial lines but on dialectic and regional bases as well , case in point being the study mamas and karaoke chantueses, massesues and the like from all over the mainland.
So, racism is alive in Singapore as in all other parts of the world. But the manifestations of it here are something that other countries would give their right arm for in exhange for theirs being exported elsewhere. For this go no further than Washington DC and Brixton and the likes of them

[RPO]

to RPO - good info. good rant. i understand being pissed at such ignorance. don't let ignorant buggers get you down. after all, they have to live in their own petty little fiefdoms...

Thanks for understanding. You had another post here that seems to have disappeared. Any idea what happened? Its too bad because it was really good and well written.

[Global citizen]

It is a small world, yes

I spent my first 7 years in Curaçao, fond memories. Both Singapore and Curaçao are sun-kissed islands. And that's where all similarities end, hahaha!!

Strangely enough, I'm more at ease in Singapore that the West Indies - much less edgy when it comes to racial stuff. Way safer too in terms of crime. Although I spent some time in Antigua and found the locals very mellow there, no racial baggage to speak of, very laid-back mon 8)

Oh, and my landlady in London was from Jamaica. She was the sweetest woman. And, wow, could she ever cook!

What do you do? Will you be back in Singapore?

Anyway, keep in touch.

NBB

Presently here as we own 2 restaurants and looks like we'll be staying. Have been here for 11 years now and this is the fifith country I've lived in due to spouse's previous job.

My roots are S'porean but home seems to be whereever. You've been around a bit too, haven't you? I may be back this year for a visit if time permits. If you're ever here in Jamaica, you'll definitely need to look me up if you 're a gourmand. Food is in our souls and I still miss the local food now and then.


Cheers.

[bigmoose]

The only thing I see as an issue is the attitude of old Singapore women. They are the ones that most often rudely bump into my children in malls and try to run me down on the road when I'm jogging. They never have said excuse me or sorry. What happend to this generation?

I've been in Singapore for 6 months and comparing it to Tokyo, San Francico, London, New York and other big cities, Singapore seems rude.

[PhantomX]

Old Singapore women ie in ther 60s and beyond are of a different generation cant be compared to the babay boomers , the first lot of whom are now in their 50s. Baby boomers were the first of the lot to receive an education and therefore more schooled and exposed to the world, whereas the pre-boomer generation were not so privileged. But though they may seem gruff on the outside they have hearts of gold. They have tasted hardship during the Japanese occupation and know what poverty and deprivation means and therefore are more ready to lend a hand to down and outs than many of the boomer generation. None of the boomers and post boomers have any comparable experience that has marked their lives since by definition they would have been born after the Japanese were sent packing. So its hard to judge a book by its cover.