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Whats with the race preference?

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OdinZA
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Whats with the race preference?

Post by OdinZA » Mon, 16 May 2011 6:24 pm

Just looking through some gumtree ads for accomodation (moving to Singapore in July) and I noticed that some ads state "No Indians".

Will renting prove an issue if you are of Indian descent ?

Thanks

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Post by JayCee » Mon, 16 May 2011 6:27 pm

Are you looking at HDB rentals? There are race quotas in every block to stop 'ghettos' from forming, ridiculous and racist but this is Singapore

OdinZA
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Post by OdinZA » Mon, 16 May 2011 6:44 pm

No, this was for a condo. In the old South Africa, we had a law called the "Group Areas Act" that restricted where you lived based on race...

Apologies if I am breaking any rules by posting a link.
http://singapore.gumtree.sg/c-Apartment ... Z282899905

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JR8
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Post by JR8 » Mon, 16 May 2011 7:08 pm

OdinZA wrote:No, this was for a condo. In the old South Africa, we had a law called the "Group Areas Act" that restricted where you lived based on race...

Apologies if I am breaking any rules by posting a link.
http://singapore.gumtree.sg/c-Apartment ... Z282899905
I called the agent and the call went like this (rather dodgy line, so I didn't catch it all 100%)-

Me: Hi calling about the flat in Paya Lebar.
Dan: Oh yes
Me: Wondering why the ad on Gumtree says no Chinese or Indians
Dan: Oh which are you?
Me: Oh neither, I'm English, I was just wondering why the ad says no Chinese or Indians
Dan: You're what?
Me: British, United Kingdom
Dan: Oh that should not be a problem
Me: [Making it up now] But my dad is Indian, so I look it, wondering if that's a problem.
Dan: So you look Indian right?
Me: Well, half-half you know
Dan: Should be ok. ('where are you now, call me when you arrive, we can view some condos' etc....)

They don't seem to have race discrimination laws in SG... ?

OdinZA
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Post by OdinZA » Mon, 16 May 2011 7:43 pm

Right, so as a person of Indian descent but one that has never been to India would potentially not be allowed to rent that particular unit.

That is rather disconcerting. I think I'm going to miss the relative freedom of London.

That call is rather amusing though :P

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Post by snowqueen » Mon, 16 May 2011 8:47 pm

Well, at the condo I'm in there's lots of indians so I guess it's down to the individual landlord as well in some places.

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ecureilx
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Condos

Post by ecureilx » Mon, 16 May 2011 9:11 pm

Sad to say, a lot of condo / apartment owners are afraid to rent to Indians, Filipinos, Chinese (from Mainland) etc. based on their preference ..

A flip of the classified for apartments, used to have a lot of "STRICTLY NO INDIANS, STRICTLY NO FILIPINOS, STRICTLY NO CHINESE" ..

Of late that has reduced ..

JR8, call the agent and ask why they don't want indian .. and you may get a lot of responses, like 'too many visitor', 'always cooking' .. etc. etc.

Same goes for Filipinos ..

You have to say the magic words "I DON'T COOK AT HOME", "NO KIDS" .. "ONLY ME AND MY WIFE" ... etc. ..

Unfortunately, preference is nothing that can be done about .. some landlord even quote past experience of certain races disappearing .. (ok, maybe one chinese tenant, so all china tenants are to be avoiided .. but, hey this is Singapore - so strereotyping is normal .. ) :D

and it also depends upon the market - low demand, anything goes .. high demand 'I prefer only japanese tenant .. ' etc ..

Jaycee: the ratio applies to HDB purchase .. not for anything else

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Post by revhappy » Mon, 16 May 2011 10:24 pm

I have experienced that a lot. But luckily not all owners are like that. In fact they know that saying no to Indian expats is missing out on a huge market.

The funniest incident was when an agent asked me whether I am north Indian or a south Indian. The agent was a chinese and I dont think he has even seen the Indian map ever in his life. I told him I am a west Indian :lol:

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 16 May 2011 10:27 pm

The reason so many advertisements are seemingly anti-Indian is actually due to the cooking habits of a lot of them (definitely not all - I can vouch for that). :wink:

This is a very old thread but it is still valid......

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic49952.html
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by revhappy » Mon, 16 May 2011 10:27 pm

JayCee wrote:Are you looking at HDB rentals? There are race quotas in every block to stop 'ghettos' from forming, ridiculous and racist but this is Singapore
I dont think that rule applies for HDB rentals. Its only applies for HDB sales/resales.

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 16 May 2011 11:08 pm

Hey Rev, you are no longer bothering to read the threads, huh!?! The HDB quota things has been mentioned twice already. :o
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by ecureilx » Mon, 16 May 2011 11:10 pm

Revhappy : Loosing out in the market ? If you been here long enough you will know that the agents are the proxy for a lot of property, and they don't mind keeping the place closed ..
sundaymorningstaple wrote:The reason so many advertisements are seemingly anti-Indian is actually due to the cooking habits of a lot of them (definitely not all - I can vouch for that). :wink:
Yes, gotta agree to that .. many an indian has lost his deposit as the owner needed to chemical wash the kitchen or need to re-do the kitchen area fully .. :D :D

And a lot of oil in the cooking is the sure recipe method to ensure that you are not welcome

Likewise, when I was in Normanton park, my neighbours, filipinos, used to cook the stinky fish, till the other tenants in the block sort of pressured the landlord to not rent to filipinos .. and that was ten years ago :D :D

My 2 cents: meet the agent and convince him/her .. if you sorely like the apartment, but don't give in to the oft used tactic of a 'stretching' of the budget ....

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Post by revhappy » Mon, 16 May 2011 11:11 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Hey Rev, you are no longer bothering to read the threads, huh!?! The HDB quota things has been mentioned twice already. :o
Oops my bad! :oops:

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Re: Condos

Post by nakatago » Mon, 16 May 2011 11:33 pm

ecureilx wrote:Sad to say, a lot of condo / apartment owners are afraid to rent to Indians, Filipinos, Chinese (from Mainland) etc. based on their preference ..

A flip of the classified for apartments, used to have a lot of "STRICTLY NO INDIANS, STRICTLY NO FILIPINOS, STRICTLY NO CHINESE" ..

Of late that has reduced ..

JR8, call the agent and ask why they don't want indian .. and you may get a lot of responses, like 'too many visitor', 'always cooking' .. etc. etc.

Same goes for Filipinos ..

You have to say the magic words "I DON'T COOK AT HOME", "NO KIDS" .. "ONLY ME AND MY WIFE" ... etc. ..

Unfortunately, preference is nothing that can be done about .. some landlord even quote past experience of certain races disappearing .. (ok, maybe one chinese tenant, so all china tenants are to be avoiided .. but, hey this is Singapore - so strereotyping is normal .. ) :D

and it also depends upon the market - low demand, anything goes .. high demand 'I prefer only japanese tenant .. ' etc ..

Jaycee: the ratio applies to HDB purchase .. not for anything else
My flatmates and I picked up on this discrimination so now we [shamelessly] tell them things so we'd get a flat. We'd be only four adults during the viewing (no long term visitors tagging along!); oh we're all professional working 9-to-5 jobs with the occasional overtime...that sort of thing.

For what it's worth though, I'm not most Filipinos (different accent, different thought patterns, kinda anti-social) so when I talk, potential landlords already get their stereotypes shaken up.
ecureilx wrote:Likewise, when I was in Normanton park, my neighbours, filipinos, used to cook the stinky fish, till the other tenants in the block sort of pressured the landlord to not rent to filipinos .. and that was ten years ago :D :D
...
Unfortunately, a lot of Filipinos are NOT conscientious. Sad but true.
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."

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Re: Condos

Post by JR8 » Mon, 16 May 2011 11:50 pm

nakatago wrote: For what it's worth though, I'm not most Filipinos (different accent, different thought patterns, kinda anti-social) so when I talk, potential landlords already get their stereotypes shaken up.
Oh no, aren't into black clothes and slasher moves issit? :) :P

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