'I just got used to that': Tharman shares race-related issues and racist experiences growing up

Singapore has the reputation of being a melting pot of races, but it took us very long to get to where we are today.

Having lived through 'different' times, former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his half-Japanese wife, Jane Yumiko Ittogi, shared their thoughts and visions on social issues and improving social mobility in Singapore during a youth-led conversation organised by non-profit Access Singapore on Saturday (Aug 19).

The event, which was held at YWCA Fort Canning, was attended by 300 youth from various social enterprises, advocacy groups and ground-up movements. 

One participant asked if Tharman and his wife, as an interracial couple, had ever experienced race-related issues and racism in their own personal spaces. 

The participant also asked what was the couple's take on Singapore's current progress in acknowledging racism and racial trauma. 

Tharman said that he and his wife grew up "very multi-racial", so it was never an issue for them or their families. 

However, the 66-year-old presidential hopeful admitted that he had, in the past, faced his own share of racism when he was younger. 

"Never think that growing up as a minority is the same as growing up as a majority in Singapore. It isn't, it isn't. It's different," he said. 

"And particularly for those who are in the lower rungs of society, it is especially different if you're a Malay or Indian." 

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He recounted how as a sportsman, he would frequently take public buses and some of his fellow commuters did not want to sit beside him. 

"And then when I got up from my seat, the next person who wants to take the seat first uses a newspaper or something to [hit] the seat a few times to dust it off," he recounted.

When he was the only person at the bus stop flagging a bus, it was also not uncommon for the bus to drive past him as if he wasn't there, and Tharman admitted that he "sort of knew why".

"It was no big deal, I just got used to that. It was like that, you were just viewed in a certain way. It was the norm." 

Tharman emphasised that this wasn't just an issue in our country.

"It's not just in Singapore, by the way. It is the norm in most countries. It used to be much worse than it is now." 

To cite examples of this being the norm internationally, Tharman recounted how he experienced racism when he was a student in the United Kingdom. 

While there, he witnessed multiple racial riots that cut across many cities and as a student activist, he would visit these areas "just to get a sense of what is going on".

In one particular incident, which happened after a major racial riot, Tharman had simply been walking past a school when a child threw a stone at him over the fence.

"It hit me on the head and I accepted it because I knew it was not him," Tharman said. 

Things are better, but we can 'go further' as a country 

Today, things are better. 

"[Singapore is] a peaceful society. It's remarkable that we are so peaceful and people accept each other despite being so multi-racial and multi-religious.

"But we have to go further, and it requires not looking down on people, putting yourself in someone else's shoes, and going that extra step to get to know and respect each other," Tharman emphasised. 

Though the situation has improved over the years, Tharman said it doesn't mean the issue is gone. 

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"I was used to it then. It's much better now, but it doesn't mean that race is absent now. We need to be much more sensitive to it in its nuances and microaggressions. And we will all be better off because of it." 

He also told minorities who have "succeeded within each minority group" to be "very sensitive" to the fact that they don't face as much racism as compared to those on the lower rungs of their own communities. 

"We're doing well by international standards. But in the next phase of development, let's have a lot more empathy, a lot deeper multiculturalism, and a lot more sensitivity," he urged.

Aside from race issues, the audience also spoke with the couple on various topics like climate change, mental health, and the LGBTQ+ community during the conversation.

ALSO READ: They know I have not been a fly-by-night, says Tharman

melisateo@asiaone.com