'Which food stall are you running?' Prominent Singaporeans highlight casual racism in video series

When author and entrepreneur Liyana Dhamirah was at a business networking event a few years back, a man she just met, even before accepting or looking at her business card, asked: "So which food stall are you running right now?"

This account from a video interview posted on March 3, together with similar interviews including former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Viswa Sadasivan and lawyer Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss, highlights casual racism at the newly launched online portal Singapore News Network.

Though racism is not new, people highlighting this uncomfortable experience online – with some posts turning viral – has become more common over the years.

Some examples include landlords who discriminate along racial lines and a father's teachings to his daughter about race after comments on her darker skin colour. 

That food stall comment surprised Liyana, who also ran for the 2020 general election with political party Red Dot United. In this video, she wondered what made the man think she was running a food business from just looking at her.

When she asked him why, the man replied that "he has seen a lot of makciks who cook very nice and whenever he go [sic], he sees a lot of other makciks who also run food businesses".

In the interview, she said: "How convenient of him to just group people like that."

She added his "face just totally changed" after she shared with him her occupation – having founded Virtual Assistants Singapore, a company that provides administrative support around the globe.

Though the remark had good intentions and was not malicious, Liyana felt uncomfortable and said: "Just because I am from this community and we almost look alike, you conveniently generalise us."

In the same series, ex-NMP Viswa Sadasivan pointed out that casual racism is all about racial stereotypes – and that it is not "necessarily intended to offend but it can offend when you are too sensitive".

The former news anchor turned consultant has spoken out about race in Singapore from time to time – even in Parliament.

In his maiden speech in 2009, in a motion to reaffirm the principles in the National Pledge when debating government policies, he asked if Singapore was ready to move beyond race and consider everyone as equals. In a rare intervention, the late Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew rebutted Sadasivan's arguments. Sadasivan was NMP from 2009 till 2011. 

In this video, he said: "Society is becoming so politically correct that we keep imputing value which is negative."

Giving the example of being called dark and how the term "doesn't carry any particular value", he added: "If I choose to get offended by the term 'dark', that's my problem."

Meanwhile Jeannette, who was formerly with the political party Singapore People's Party, said in the same interview series that when someone has felt hurt or offended, it was likely there has been a lack of understanding and being on the receiving end of such a statement or attitude.

She suggested people check themselves and ask, “How much respect are we showing to the person we are speaking to or do we have this feeling of unnecessary superiority?”

She said: “So long as you have the mutual-respect attitude, I don’t know how you can go wrong in the conversation.”

Other featured accounts of casual racism from this series include interviews with a visual artist as well as an entrepreneur. 

In a Jan 2021 conference, Education Minister Lawrence Wong acknowledged there is racism in Singapore but affirmed the Government's commitment to continuously work at improving the situation – and prevent identity politics from taking root.

zakaria@asiaone.com