When I first started blogging, many people I knew in my immediate circle did tell me that they found my views to be “Anti-Western,” and my sister felt a little sad that I might have had “unhappy” times growing up in the West.
The truth is, I actually had a happy enough childhood in the
Western world. Some of my best friends are Caucasian and I adore my White
American family that came from the second marriage of both parents. However, I
do take the view that that period of my life was “paid for” by family (Dad had
money and Mum gave her time) and I don’t have anything that I am particularly
proud of achieving from that particular period. What little I achieved, was
here in Asia, dealing with Indians and the Islamic World. I take a certain
pride in never being “guided” by some advanced brain in New York or London but
from having dealt with emerging Asia, specifically the Indian Expat community
on a personal level. Call me strange but I don’t particularly see being a “Western”
copycat as something to be desired.
Having said all of that, it doesn’t mean that I don’t see
the value in things coming out of the West. I appreciate things like “rule of
law” and “one-man-one-vote” (say what you like about democracy but it has thus
far been the best way of removing bad government), which were concepts that
came out of the West and yes, I do admire Westerners who found the spirit of
adventurism that seems to suppressed in many Asian cultures (say what you like
about expats being the lot that didn’t make it at home – at least they moved to
somewhere where they could make it.)
Hence, while I may be the surprising person who grew up in
the West but did not become an “Anglophile,” I don’t dismiss the views that
certain Westerners have of our society, particularly when it comes to the issue
of race. For the record, my formative years were spent as an “ethnic minority.”
For the record, I was never “bullied” because of race. However, I can count the
number of incidents of being on the wrong end of racist behaviour on one hand,
I did encounter them and they were not nice. In fairness to my Caucasian
friends and family – they were always there for me when I needed someone and for
the most part I was always “Li Tang,” who happened to be born elsewhere rather
than “Li Tang that Chinese boy,” (OK, the only time I knew someone refereed to
be as “that Chinese bloke,” was in a positive light – the bus driver for my
final year sixth form ball told the teachers that “That Chinese bloke was
decent,” because I had helped clean up after a mate of mine had too much to
drink and puked over me).
So, having spent a good portion of my life as an ethnic
minority, I remain aware of what it was like to be an ethnic minority even
though I’ve spent the last 20 odd years as part of the ethnic majority and I do
believe there are issues that need to be discussed in the public sphere. While
I do agree that ethnic minorities should not demand that the system bend to
them (As an ethnic Chinese, I had to recognize that I could celebrate Chinese New
Year in my private space but still had to go to school because it wasn’t a
national holiday in the UK and I had no right to demand otherwise), I do
believe that the ethnic majority does not have the right to treat ethnic
minorities as they please (Neo Nazis, Proud Boys and other groups that actively
promote violence against ethnic minorities have no place in civilization).
As such, I like to think that I take the side foreign construction
workers who not only bear the brunt of being at the lowest end of the pay scale
but also get the wrong end of the stick for being ….well a shade darker than
the rest of us (as I’ve always pointed out, you merely need to see how active
the police are in Geylang and Serangoon Road but mysteriously absent at Orchard
Towers, even though the same things go on in those places). I am not sure how
one can defend this on any moral grounds and so, it was rather interesting when
someone on TRemeritus called me a “racist shit stirrer” on TRemeritus when I
pointed out that saying that “There is no racism in Singapore” is blatantly
false.
While digging the arsehole of society by talking about race
and the feelings of people who had the misfortune of being dark does put me at
risk of getting buried in the smelly stuff of society, I do believe that its
necessary to do so. Racism is shit and it exists in every society. The only way
to deal with it and perhaps reduce it is to acknowledge its there and have an
ongoing discourse about it. I may be shit stirring but at least I acknowledge
that the shit is on the arse and I need to take toilet paper to it. I would
rather do that than to pretend that the shit is not there and refuse to do
anything about it.
I have also been accused of being a Western lap dog who was
trying to please an English friend. Well, unfortunately, certain observations
are not less true because they’re made by people from elsewhere. Like it or
not, gathering a group of labourers in unsanitary conditions, then making them
work 12 hours a day for 27 days a month for half of what everyone else makes is
“slave labour,” even if the person making the said observation is from the West.
Funnily enough, I was also accused of being a racist bigot because
I didn’t acknowledge that people get beaten up for being a different colour in
the West but not in Singapore.
Well, yes, it’s true that you are pretty safe in Singapore,
whoever you are. In fairness to the Singapore government, there is no tolerance
for extremist groups like the Neo Nazis, KKK or Proud Boys (seriously, if you
have to do physical damage to people, these are the people you should damage
physically).
However, does that make the racism that does exist in
Singapore right? The answer should be no and however mild our racism may seem;
we should still call it out. Sure, nobody gets beaten up for being a different
colour here. However, advertising for jobs that require “Mandarin Speakers,”
when the job does not involve dealing with China or Taiwan, cannot be right
either and should be called out as such.
Singapore has done well in many ways but we also need to call
out certain things and make the effort to correct our mistakes to ensure all
Singaporeans have a better life.
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