Is there racism in Singapore?

I was in Singapore for 2 months as a part of my Study Abroad Program. I had enjoyed the hospitality of Singaporeans. I came across few bad apples as well, but not every country is perfect. You cannot generalize everyone if you stumble upon few bitter racists. But I would like to highlight two of my memorable times in Singapore: 1) On my first day in Singapore, I was totally confused with the way public transport functioned. I entered a bus and I looked for a bus conductor to buy my tickets. To my surprise there was no bus conductor and only driver. I was unaware of the MRT system that time and I had no change to pay the driver. However, these 2 lovely aunties of Chinese ethnicity came up to help me. None of them spoke fluent English but they saw the tension on my face and so they paid for my ticket. Their smiles were heart-warming. I would never forget their kind gesture. 2) I used to visit a local restaurant in Chinatown regularly. I love Chinese food and the restaurant suited my budget. Initially I felt awkward as I was the only Indian eating there that time. People did stare at me. But one day the lady who ran the restaurant came up to my table and sat with me. She was one of the kindest ladies I had ever come across. She would ask about my student life in Singapore and she was also curious about the Indian culture. We also discussed her immigration story and soon enough we became good friends. She was very humble and even offered me free treat occasionally. My point is that Stereotyping people is not a good practice. It gives a wrong impression of a community. I did face minor racial issues in Singapore but the above 2 memories are what I carried back to my home. I have enjoyed my time in Singapore and will visit again in the near future.   :)

The fact that all the rules are made to uphold the majority status of one race itself makes it evident that there is systemic racism in Singapore. In fact people of minority races are chosen for important jobs only if they agree to maintain the status quo and run along with the majoritarian policies or they get weed out. All this is implicit and hard to prove since laws are made such that it leaves a lot on human judgement of the executive which can be guided in a direction. If you consider the facts that the population of one race in Singapore has remained almost the same (around 74%) despite a large immigrant pool coming into Singapore over that last 50 years (assuming people from all races want to migrate to Singapore equally), and the fact that despite the claims of meritocracy people of one race figure largely in the merit pool(almost 90% are from same race) which is unlike anywhere else in the world; then its quite clear that either these majority people are geniuses who for some unknown reasons lived in abject poverty just 50 years back(not just in Singapore but in their motherland too where there was no British oppression) or there is tacit & implicit racism in Singapore upheld by the collusion of people of a race and some race prostitutes (people of minority race who act as a facade of inclusivity for their facist masters). Singaporean majority people are ganging up against people from other races in both government and private sector work-places all the time, they make it quite evident that they do not accept minorities as their bosses unless they are forced too. Even when working for bosses of minority races, Singaporean majority employees are always working against the interests of the minority bosses and colleagues, and trying to get them fired. Having said that, there are some positives too. Since the government of Singapore is quite business minded it ensures that there is none or little physical violence relating to race relations. Lets face it, Singapore's is not the only right-winged system in the world, the Republicans in the US and the Conservatives in UK and some party in almost every other country represent the same mind-set. Majoritarian politics is the seed of racism in any country today and so it is in Singapore. But unlike in the US where black people are beaten to death in police custody there is no such forms of racism in Singapore. People are progressive, younger people from majority group are more open to debate even though they have been brought being told that theirs in the better race. There is hope that in the future if Singapore rejects majoritarian politics then it can become a model society one day.

Yes, there is definitely racism in Singapore. I was born and raised in China but American-educated. I went to Singapore for an exchange program during my sophomore year in college and I found that the longer I stayed there the less I liked it--as a traveler and outsider I found Singapore clean and charming, but when I started living there, I got to see the ugly parts of Singapore. The discrimination was very obvious in many cases: the aunties/uncles would treat me differently depending on what language I speak. I got much better treatment when speaking English(I have an American accent, and for some reason Singaporeans find it charming). And surprisingly, the locals have "names" for every race that's not Singaporean: for mainland Chinese, Caucasians, Malays(from Malaysia), Indians etc. I have also heard various racist comment from my classmates there, and it made me very uncomfortable. So overall, no, I did not like Singapore and would not live there for long.

I'd like to mention that as an Indian, haven't you experienced racism in India? Location based: We are prone to call everyone from the southern part of India as a "Madrasi" (of or belonging to the city of Madras, now Chennai), even though there are 4 different states in the southern part of India with their own unique culture, language, cuisine, style of dressing etc. We are prone to call people from the north-eastern states as "Chinkis" (being from China), for their mixed Indian-Tibetan origin. Everyone from north India is a "Punjabi", even though that's just one state. Caste based: My wife and I belong to the same caste, but different sub-castes (yes, there's a thing like that). And I see that it comes up routinely, as a matter-of-fact thing in conversations with our relatives, who don't have the best of opinions about the other caste. There are a few more levels of castes there; and discrimination is rife. I could go on, but suffice to say that it hurts when it happens to us, not when we perpetrate it. Having lived in Singapore (without a PR) for 7 years, racism exists in a subtle way, but much lesser than it is in my own country, India. And so few people indulge in it (and in hush tones or negligible acts), that looking at the benefits that Singapore offers you, it doesn't even cross my mind in day-to-day life. Racism exists everywhere, we either accept it and move on, or move elsewhere if it hurts our self respect that much.

Of course there is. There is Racism everywhere. In my experience it's more akin to when 5 year old kids bully the other 5 year old if they feel that what was rightfully their toy has been given to someone else. You see, the mind of an average Singaporean adult, according to me, is that of an entitled child. Why should 'they' get what I cant? And the adult part of them gets in justifications like 'I did NS, 'they' are just here for the money. It's a bit whiny and immature. Also, 'white' people, even if they are dirt poor, are considered better. Singaporeans are unique in their sense of entitlement. Add a generous amount of cowardice to that. Singaporeans don't /can't challenge the government, they get sued by their own 'elected' leader. They feel entitled to a better life, so they don't bother with the menial work. So their only outlet is to lash out at the more vulnerable population who they think is robbing their economy. It's sad really. Check out the recent Filipino day controversy, and especially check out the comments by these well educated Singaporeans. I literally begged my company to let me go. I was willing to forego my pay, but they had the decency to give it to me. Was rejected a flat in a condo twice, coz apparently I'm Indian and would could spicy food. Mind you, this is a condo. I was happy to pay. Living in Hong Kong for 5 years I was used to racism. But Singapore was a different ballgame.i feel the people there are brainwashed into being infantile. So they feel powerless to change anything. And really really upset when they feel their candy is being snatched away by 'brownies'.

Race relations are very much like the US in the 60s though its of a passive-aggressive kind. Interestingly enough, most people you ask will be surprised/baffled/indignant at the mere suggestion of it here. Try this if you have a willing accomplice who's part of a minority. Say something racially insulting to a minority member here (in front of the majority who happen to be his/her friends) and it's almost a given that no one in the majority will even flinch. I've found the best way as a minority (here) is to stand up with confidence, as this will surprise the many who expect you to cower.  Know when to pick your battles. Besides, people can be generally racist but tend to single out someone in a situation as a non-loser. You might even get a compliment. This is how it sounds : "You're not like other__(insert race)_____" Or: if you get can decipher Singlish (a variation of English only spoken + understood in Singapore or perhaps neighboring Malaysia) go visit online forums and just read what people say when there's a situation where Race is seen as a factor. ...too funny... Without going any deeper, I'll leave it as it is. Time will sort it out out. I say this as I see a shift in the teens who have their own minds, who question their existence, as opposed to accepting it like the few preceding post war generations. I'll be surprised if I see across-the-board improvements in my lifetime, nor am I holding my breath for it, but I'm no longer saying it won't happen even after all I've seen. Live in Love.

I found a lot of racism when I lived in Singapore. Coming from the  UK I thought racism would be less but wow I was so surprised at the extent of it. Not the violent attacking type but subtle, excluding. One of the first conversations I had with a group of local people ended up with them deriding Indian people, Indonesian people etc etc. I just thought,  get me out of here. As a white guy I suffered quite a lot of racial intolerance, especially in the "heartlands", (as the locals call outer areas) but was confident enough to laugh it off.

Singaporeans are racist to some degree as all humans are when generalized. I would prefer to say that Singaporeans are elitist, any nationals/ethnics can be tolerated if they appeared to be either rich/cultured. I am a Singaporean citizen, but when I had a Thai girlfriend, when people found out, they asked me if she was a tranny or a hooker WTF! Likewise an Indian gf/bf would be acceptable to a Chinese family, provided they are from a "rich" family. The Singapore government's talk about maintaining the ethnic percentage of the Singaporean definitely contains racist overtones. On the whole, Singapore is probably less racist than its neighbours, or even the civilized West in my limited experience.

Yes. definitely. Minute compared to countries like Australia, America but definitely exists. But racism usually occurs in social caveats of ignorance. It is not just the indians, but the other foreigners as well, Myanmars, Filipinos and the Chinese. There is also discrimination among the local races. The point is, discrimination exists everywhere and it would be naive to think otherwise just because of what the country serves you in a plate.