Casual Racism in Singapore | ZULA ChickChats | EP 86
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- čas přidán 12. 12. 2019
- What is casual racism? In Singapore we proclaim we're a '"racially harmonious" nation, but does casual racism exist on our sunny shores? In this episode of ZULA ChickChats, we share how casual racism manifests in the everyday life of a Singaporean, with our cast sharing their first-hand experiences with it.
Here are the timestamps of the topics covered during the episode:
0:45 What is casual racism?
01:57 Experiences with casual racism
09:04 Do you call casual racism out?
11:50 Is there an end to casual racism?
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Featuring:
Chris Soh - / sohchris
Zhin - / zxynpot
Deesha - / trickymelon
Leah Shannon - / mizchiefmagik
Edited By:
Clara Hong - / clarahongg
Filmed By:
Lu Jielin - / adreamtolove17
Wong Xin Hui - / notxinhui
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How do you think we can get rid of casual racism? Let us know in the comments below!
Here are the timestamps of the topics covered during the episode:
0:45 What is casual racism?
01:57 Experiences with casual racism
09:04 Do you call casual racism out?
11:50 Is there an end to casual racism?
The biggest we can do is show how it affects us, no need to hide our emotions. People normally dish casual racism among friends, so when it is directed to you, DO NOT LAUGH ALONG because it gives them the thumbs up to continue doing it. If it hurt you, tell them what they said hurt you and that it was insensitive and just walk away. Not much needs to be said back. They eventually will rethink their actions and eventually get the message.
Another way is try not to act as a stereotype of your race. Be the best version of yourself, so you bring a good light to your race. That way when people have a stereotype of your race but when they meet you, they would be pleasantly surprise that you are not acting so and so and it breaks their misconceptions and you slowly break the mould.
Im giving a a very general example but I find these two to really work.
Nah it's not going to go away, sorry! It will stay as long as humanity thrives. We're never satisfied.
@@SSBMA1994 Why in the world would I want to conform to a race or to a racial stereotype? I will live life the way I want. Just because my race is being targetted for stereotypes, I have to be better? And if I do, don't you think people will start making statements such as ' Oh you are very nice for an Indian, oh you smell very good for an Indian, Oh you don't drink? You clearly are a different type of an Indian" It's ridiculous and it still instils discomfort amongst us.
Remember to just be yourself, call out racists regardless of who they are targeting, for only when we educate ourselves to shut the fuck up and eradicate racial stereotypes shall we abolish casual racism.
You can never...UNLESS very person on this earth change their mindset. not by force, not by society, but by thyself
Reacting to it.
"For as long as we look at each other through the lens of race, for as long as we have to put race on all official forms that we fill in, we will constantly be seeing each other through the lens of race" - could not have summarised it any better.
I think the fact that Leah actually spoke about herself doing something racist in the past, is something I think is so important and so hard to do. Because if people call out their own faults, it's so much easier to grow as a person, and it makes me want to be more transparent with myself. Thank you Zula 💞 these small instances I see in the ChickChats series always make me stop and think.
From my experience, Chinese people always make racist jokes and expect us to not be offended because they're "joking". And if we are offended they will blame us for being sensitive and make us feel like we're the wrong ones for being offended. Which eventually made me believe that I was probably the one being sensitive even though I was actually being reasonable.
There was one time in secondary school when I tried calling it out to someone for making an extremely racists joke about terrorism which was not okay. The next day I got picked on and bullied and people blamed me for wasting my time entertaining to those people and should have just ignored them. It's fucked up.
I agree with this so much, personally, I am mixed chinese and caucasian but i’ve lived in Singapore my whole life, and even just as a caucasian person in Singapore there are many offhand comments which can be quite offensive, but also just plain ‘jokes’ which are often taken to heart. After there was a bout of school shootings in America and the UK, I was once called a “school shooter”, presumably because i appear completely caucasian and often withdrew to myself. Plus, sometimes even my own relatives say things about my ‘other half’ without realising how offended i was.
White people do this all the times too and worst. Exactly what you wrote and much worse
@esther ! that is not chinese culture stop lying to try to appear woke 🙄🙄
I’m truly sorry to hear that this happened to you. I can’t speak for every Chinese but I have seen days when there are indeed Chinese kids who were either taught to view non-Chinese individuals as weird (possibly inferior as well) or just lack the sensitivity to understand how racist jokes can hurt people. But all I can say is to surround yourself with people who will learn to see as an equal. I’m sure there are many of such good people. Wishing you well!
Tell the to go back to CCP.
I had a science teacher came up to me once and asked if I radiate heat faster compared to the rest of my peers because I am Indian.
Now that's mean. A science teacher 😱
I've had this classmate that asked this in class. The teacher was shocked and didn't know what to say.
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?
It took me a while to get this.
The next time someone asks you this you can tell them that you’re an exothermic reaction, you spread your hotness everywhere 😊
I Dont get it
Thank you Deesha for your succinct sharing, especially your very last line.
Mavis Lok is succulent a typo?
@@mishellelim1564 I don't think so haha, correct me if I'm wrong though.
@@mayyvislok did you mean succinct? Succulent is more commonly used as a way to describe food than speech ^-^
@@edpastorini Ooooooo thanks for the correction
Thanks for bringing awareness to this issue which is pretty huge counting the fact that we live in a multi racial country🙏🏽 guys please think twice before making small jokes
It’s how our parents brought us up. Kids learn a lot from adults around them. I make sure I correct my child immediately if she shows any signs of racism, sexism or entitlement. Not teaching her to be a pushover though she knows when to say No and voice out her displeasure politely. So far, she’s doing well just a bit of sexism where I will educate her that men can do this so does a women and vice versa.
can zula do a video on what is the line between jokes and being actually offensive? Being a teen now, it's a really weird hazy topic and I just want to know what y'all think. Is it right to joke about everything? Comedians? So are you allowed to joke as long as it offends no one? Can we hook about mental illnesses / disabilities?
Never joke about mental illnesses and disabilities... I sometimes am guilty of using autistic as a joke but that is actually pretty offensive
a bit late but the most general rule is punch up, never down
also, im a malay with relatively dark skin. when i was younger some would comment “shes cute, just a bit dark” 😑 and that came from a malay!!!!
that's colorism and it usually happens within your own race/community
Find where they stay, go to their house at night and paint their face in dark while they sleep. Should be a good wake up call
The ironic thing is that Malays and Indians are more racist amongst themselves...
So if a fellow South East Asian faced that just think of what a Desi person would of got handed yeah.
I’m Indian. Have I encountered casual racism? Maybe? Here’s two stories:
1) there was this one rude Chinese girl in my class. She was the index number after me but in the seating order she sat in front of me. I barely spoke to her unless it was for a group project. But one day she looked at me up and down and said that since I have more hair on my arms and legs, she was certain that Chinese are the most evolved human beings and Indians are the least evolved. I was shook. Like say what now? I didn’t say anything but I was definitely losing brain cells over that statement. Like gorl you have hair all over too it’s just finer hair than mine. I wore jackets most of the time after because I was so uncomfortable.
2) Another Chinese classmate made a comment. It was about my nose. Ok lah most Indians tend to have a higher nose bridge compared to our Chinese peers. I i was raised to celebrate our diversity and unique beauty. But man.. not this girl. One fine day I laughed really loud in class and she straight up said I had a witch nose to match my laugh. Dude I got made fun of that for a loooong time. I got really insecure about my face especially my nose. It was worse cos I was usually kind of a loner in class haiz
On a side note, both of these things happened when I was 13/14 :/ I’m a young adult now and I’m Glad to say that I don’t feel bothered by those sort of comments. Maybe I’m immune to it? I’m not sure.. do you guys consider this as casual racism or was I being sensitive?
this is not casual racism, this is straight out mean-spirited racism
let me just say that she is just jealous of your nose. i have chinese friends who are jealous of my nose (because we have sharper/higher bridge noses which is more sought after) so be proud of your strong facial features!:-)
i’m surprised you didn’t call her out for her steamrolled nose and slit eyes 🤷🏻♀️
I’m not condoning this 👆🏼 but just giving an example. These mean people think they have it all, it just takes one person to burst their fragile bubble.
Just listen to what the west say about chinese people.
You could have said a lot of mean things to her in regards of her looks and stereotyped behaviour but you didn’t sink that low to her level.
Kudos to you 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
However i hope you realise that you are not the sensitive one at all, in any way and that person was mean-spirited.
If you face a similar situation in the future (which i hope you wouldn’t), i hope you’ll stand your ground and not give in to the words they said to you.
Show us ur nose
Always knew Chinese are the most racist....glad I cancelled my plans to study in Singapore ....made plans to study in Canada....Asia is very racist
The malay = ite grad thing really hit home. I'm mixed but I look more Malay like Zhin so people usually ask me which ite I went to. Like I don't care if I had gone to ite but to immediately assume I went to ite is just wrong and hurtful. I worked damn hard to go to poly but to downplay my achievements is just plain rude. But thinking back, the stereotyping happened waaaaaay back that I have always been pressured to be an overachiever just to shut them up and even the way I speak is so formal and rigid that when speaking to strangers because I was scared of being judged if I spoke in Singlish like I normally do with friends.
@@John_Smith_86 certain courses require you to score straight As in your Olevels. Dont downplay other people's hardworking and achievement to make yourself feel better
@@John_Smith_86 I take it you are one of those people who's stuck in the old mindset that you must graduate from a JC to be somebody "special". I'm sorry you are such a small-minded snob. No offense... BTW which sch did you attend anyway?
a) JC? ( What makes you think you are better?)
b) Poly? (I'm sorry you can't even love yourself enough to give yourself credit)
c) ITE? (Why are you being salty? Should've studied harder)
*Answer*: It doesn't matter anyway, because wherever you graduated from probably isn't worth my time since they produced a graduate that thinks the way you do.
Just FYI, many poly courses require you to have better grades than some JCs and even Millennia Institute. Just because you take A-levels or go to a JC doesn't make you better than a poly student. There will always be good students and under-performing ones in any school.
Do you know why more and more people choose to attend poly? I personally think it's more practical and most of us know what we want to do with our lives.
Universities are also more competitive now (at least for the bigger ones), especially with higher intakes of international students. Whether you have a poly diploma or A-levels cert, there's no guarantee if you'll be offered a spot in uni. And isn't it becoming a norm to want to start working as soon as possible? Don't be a freeloader. Why would you want to wait until you are in your late 20s (especially true for nsmen) to start paying your dues? Besides, there are people who choose not to get a degree since at the end of the day, since they think it's just another piece of expensive paper.
If you'd still want to get a degree, poly grads have an easier time applying for a part time degree while working full-time. I'm not sure if there are JC grads studying part-time in uni while working full-time (aside from regulars in spf, saf and scdf), so take everything I've mentioned with a grain of salt. The number is probably very small because it would be harder to start a career in many industries without the proper qualifications.
And finally to answer your stupid question... Why can't I celebrate graduating from a reputable school that many secondary school seniors hope to attend when they graduate? You probably celebrated completing your O-levels didn't you?
Didn't a poly grad get into an ivy league with full scholarship? Didn't a poly grad also got accepted into medical school? Are you saying they're average? In the words of Greta Thunberg, "HOW DARE YOU"...
John Smith aaahhhh now i see where the superiority complex comes from. So because you went to a uni you think you are above a poly grad. So what? At the end of the day you are still stuck in a rat race like everyone else. You’re a normie like the rest of us.
Not that it’s any of your business, I got into a local uni with my lowly poly diploma btw... and I worked for a year too before I started uni. So idc if you think having a diploma makes me “normal”. I’ve worked hard to get to where I am now. Be it graduating from a poly or studying for my bachelors.
Just a piece of advice from this lowly poly grad, don’t say anything along the lines of poly being mediocre irl because like you said, so many of us are poly grads/students. There’ll be that many of us waiting to send someone like you far far away or hold it against you for the rest of your life like some people😊 just keep your superiority complex anonymous and lowkey ya👍🏽
Also overacheiving to get the straight A1s and in CCAs for a poly course is something worth taking note of. Especially since I didn’t actually needed those grades to get in the course I wanted to begin with. My grades could’ve gotten me into a good JC but I chose to go into poly because like I mentioned before, I felt it was more practical and I knew what I wanted to do. And so what if I consider that ‘overachieving’? Isn’t that the meaning of the word to begin with?
Then again, I honestly could care less about your complex or small-mindedness or whatever your problem is since your opinion mean nothing to me😁 But to say that having a diploma is equivalent to being mediocre is just plain rude lah.
Don’t you think same could be said about a degree nowadays? More and more people are getting them (locally and overseas), it’s becoming “normal”. Just look at the conversations we have these days. People ask which uni you went to, immediately assuming you went to a uni because practically everyone is (be it govt or pte or overseas)...
@@quirklesshero7859 totally agree! At this point of time, success can come in many shape and form. Going to jc does guarantee success, going to ite doesnt mean you are a failure. Besides, success is subjective. For some , getting into a poly after completing their ite education is their definition of success
@@John_Smith_86 what's more funny is how your mind works , but hey to each their own
everything deesha said is everything ive come across before LOL
This is by far the best Zula video I've watched. Very insightful and informative. Hope all young people grow up like these young adults
Honestly i can relate to the malay guy that zhin was talking about that the guy changes his name to a different one, (no i didn't change my own name too lol) but honestly it's not that some Malay are not proud of being Malay BUT because of the community itself, you know despite Singapore being a country that let's its citizen to be free to have or to not have a religion (or are free to practice any religion or not) some Singaporean Malay are still stuck in the mindset that every Malay are gonna practice their religion, and this led to some Malay who are not religious to "rogue" out from their own community and i honestly can relate to that and it's also the reason why i have more friends who are not malay bcuz i know they won't judge me for who i am.
Same
I have a Malay friend who wants fair skin and to be a different race like Chinese or white :/
It’s good that y’all are having this conversation. The Bangladeshis ,Indians and Filipinos face a lot of racism in Singapore. Racism is not ok. Ppl also need to be educated when doing skits and comedies on platforms for instance the “black face” meaning painting someone’s face to a darker colour cuz the person they are acting as is dark. They also face a lot of racism in Schs and workplace. Regarding the Malays, making jokes on Someone’s IQ is not alright too. I also realise that a lot of the times the Chinese always used Indians and Malays as a punchline in their jokes cuz of their chiness privilege in Singapore they think it’s funny.
this is so informative. all are good speakers. thank you
So I recently went on my very first date with this one French guy who was of Arab heritage or some shit like that so he asked me to guess what race he was so I said "Indian?" & he got so offended like "I don't even look mixed?" so I said "no not really" but anyways he proceeded say "you're only attractive because you don't look Malay (mind you I'm fully Malay) & proceeded to insult Singaporeans as a whole despite literally wanting to LIVE HERE but still had the audacity to ask me out again... needless to say that fool is BLOCKED 👋 racist pigs please exit SG lol
Sounds like he was negging you to get in your pants.
Fuck that guy, I mean to fuck up him in a different way.
Lol, most people don't want to mistaken for A-rabs!!
I’m an Arab myself and a lot of Arabs are racist tbh it’s really sad. I’m sorry for what you had to go through
But Arabs are literally so closely related to Indians. Genetically they are almost the same lol
Loving the new intro btw!
Lol reminds me of a Senior who said "they're Indian, how do they like Kpop?"
And I'm like ??? Heh why not. Not like you need to be white or fair to like a certain music. I'm really dumbfounded by how dumb it sounds.
But really.. why do you like Kpop?
@@aaronjoseph6659 🤔 heh why not
@MATHA NOSHTO-MAN 🤣🤣🤣to each their own
Music doesn't a have a language barrier. Many despite not knowing lyrics of any language, will still bop there heads when the music starts. Yes indeed it was a dumb question... Or maybe ignorant question. Coz many people are ignorant despite carrying all knowledge in their pockets 24/7 they still choose to be ignorant. Ignorance is not always a bliss
K pop is so cringy lol
time to admit I was looking at Zhin while listening to what they are saying throughout this vid!
Leah’s story is so relatable! I am mixed too and chinese but since i am extremely tanned, i look like malay
Have you experienced racism/discrimination for looking Malay in SG?
@@4128190 Looking malay? Know your place ex-miner ccp! Get out from southeast asia and face hat e from all over the world. You should be in America and face all discri minat ion because you look chi ne se!!!!
@@4128190
She hot ass hell dude. What do u mean discrimination?
best post ever. please blow this up singapore.
I love tsl watch your vids every day love you guys
Malay boy is handsome
I'm a Eurasian and even though i haven't really received direct racist comments, I still realise how much racism is a problem in Singapore. Eg. In sec school, I had a friend ask me "you wear cross cos you dont want ppl to think you malay right" which I didnt even had much thought abt until then...
I'm malay Singaporean and one time I was at my brother's new condo for a stay over in JB and as expected i wore plain simple ugly clothes because I was comfortable in it. One Chinese man followed me into the lift area and then asked me, are you doing "works" in malay. What he meant was, are you going up to the property to do construction works. I was like, oh hell naw. I told him straight. I'm owner bitch. Even though I wasn't owner. I felt so humiliated but stunned. People need to mind their own business.
Looooool. You "told him straight" that you're the owner when you actually are not the owner? Hahahaha, so what's the point of this story?
@@cannon0414 the fact that you did not manage to catch the point of the story proves that racism still exist , thriving
@@syahsyah7477 You're telling me racism still exists in Malaysia? You are damn right it does. Not only does it exist, it is in the bloody constitution of that stupid country.
@@cannon0414 strange that. He's Malay and being discriminated by a Chinese in Malaysia. Let's ponder on this one
eye-opening discussion
It would be great if this channel could provide English subs .
I'm a chinese-eurasian female, and i get the same thing as Deesha many times since I was young "Are you Singaporean?" or "Are you Chinese" or sometimes "Are you Malay/mixed"? because i don't look and sound like majority of chinese singaporean girls. But..
I don't feel offended like Deesha does. And it's not because i don't get asked as often as she does cuz i'm 29 this year and I still get these questions at present all the way since pri sch! In fact I feel complimented that I look different because it gives me a sense of individuality..
So is the issue really these people holding me and Deesha to a certain standard based on race? Or just how we perceive these same comments/questions? Because in all honesty, it always seems to me these people are merely genuinely curious and plainly asking based on what they observe. And most times i even feel the complimentary tone when they ask as such so i highly doubt that this has anything to do with race inherently.
Generally when it comes to being offended, it seems that the reason we are taking offense is because of our own perception of ourselves OR assumption of others.
Eg. Someone comes up to me asks if i need help and i get offended. And underlying reason for me being offended is because i assumed that person is belittling me when that person was simply offering help out of goodwill. And reason why I assumed so is actually stemming from my own insecurities and helplessness so plot twist, it is actually me, who's belittling myself and projected this onto that person offering help.
So from what i have observed from myself and others, when someone offends us UNintentionally, they really do not mean it the way WE give meaning to it and take the offense. The reason we get offended is just a reflection of what we think of ourselves not what others think cuz we can never know what's in someone else's head. Hence, i really do not believe in micro-agressions and all those other fancy terms that atrribute responsibility of our own feelings to others. We are responsible for our own feelings ultimately so only ourselves can give power to an offense whether intentional or not.
Oh & btw, i've experienced racism from 'minority' races as well, esp at a workplace. Reason why i air-quoted 'minority' is cuz in some situations like some workplaces for example, they aren't the minority. So i really don't think we can get rid of racism if it can happen even to a majority group. So as long as we are not physically hurt by racism and is not overtly rampant in our society, we really just have to take it as a grain of salt and carry on with our lives with our chins up.
@@BettaFy could you share some examples
Did anyone notice the racist comment at 2:45? “If he was Chinese, he’d be perfect”
Was wondering why no one is talking about this
yeah, it kinda rubbed me the wrong way but i just assumed that maybe he didn’t phrase his sentence correctly...? but like being chinese doesn’t make him any more or less perfect lmao
omg whatever deesha said was true! I have been bullied and I couldn’t find any solution at the point of time I was bullied but what she addressed resonated with me as I was recovering the trauma I faced in my upper primary years mostly. Can I also say that she looks like Ra 😂?
please also touch on will one date only based on their race
'I think jokes are fine as long as it's done in a good spirit' - 100% agree with this. It all depends on whether the person is able to laugh it off and not take it seriously 💯
Singapore is a multiracial & multicultural country. But still some singaporeans from the majority groups show racist personality towards the minority groups.
Me & my mother have experience it for so many times inside the mrt train. When we sit or stand beside them, they will start to rub their nose, cover their nose & give us a not a happy look on their face. Sometimes they will talk in their own language & say ...... this indian beside me smelly leh, no shower, buay tahan. As a indian singaporean, i can understand a bit of mandarin language. Me & my mother just ignore them, carry on with our conversation.
We should have roadshow events about multiracial & multicultural to educate some singaporeans from the majority groups about racial harmony in Singapore.
Omg zhin is like the best person in the world oh and also I agree to anyone who comments that he is Super Super extremely handsome Lik if you think it is true
Have been wondering whether zhin is mixed
Racism declined because minority kids born around 80-90s started standing up and retaliating against racial slurs and insults. When I was younger I have seen on many occasions where the Chinese would frighten their kids by pointing out to my dad and telling the kids that the “Abuneneh” will catch you.. ask I grew up I had an older Chinese woman do that to me when I was out eating with my gf. I screwed her up and insulted her entire family.. it’s acts like this that has controlled racism.. things are better now.. but racism still exists but it’s not difficult to curb by just tell the person who offends you.. there is not need to raise your hands or voice nowadays.. but you can’t be too complacent as we have many Chinese people on the internet who still refer to Indians as “ABNN” “keileng”...
Honorable Chinese saying: Don't scratch painful part, scratch only itchy part.
That girl does not look Eurasian. I guess it's her Chinese genes - super strong!
she does not look chinese either
She looks Philippino
usually european genes are recessive like my mums white but I look more asian so yea heh
@@shanekiat2177 she barely has any european. Its like 8% from her genetic results. search up "dna results" on this channel. she's mostly chinese, burmese, indian with some european(8%). her burmese mom was very mixed with indian. its funny how this lady says she's eurasian lol.
@@yoloswag1357 right. weird
Not going to lie, quite disappointed with Chris’ statements.
why though?
That’s why
@@swizzblade9995 ???
YESSS!! i thought about that tooo!! i feel like he isn’t empathising with them much but from his pov it could be because he’s very privileged but yes! i agree!!
it’s quite a normal way of thinking from someone who’s privileged and of majority race but has not had much conversation or education about race issues, he was making some statements which seemed more like defending Chinese Singaporeans and was more hesitant on making bold statements against racism. not defending him but i’ve been there myself and have since learnt a lot more about race so i can see why you’re disappointed, i didn’t fully agree with a lot of his points too. hopefully he’s able to become more educated about race issues somehow and realise that the softer you are on racism, the stronger it can become.
Lmao the irony is that literally the MOST HANDSOME man in the world 2018 is Hrithik Roshan who is an Indian 😂
@the illegitimate TY SON 'greek' god refers to the ancient greek mythology and sculptures. not that he oesnt look indian. lol. most people can guess he's from south asia. just cause the tamil people you see in singapore/malaysia dont look like that, doesnt mean rest of indians are clones of each other. there are people that even look east/se asian in northeast india and parts of north india towards himachal, uttarakhand, ladakh.
yoooo my sch used this video to teach us abt casual racism :)
How did it goooo omg
Lol your teacher must be so desperate for content ..
actually i think they ask for ur race on official forms coz need to contribute cpf to cdac, merdeka, sinda etc. not so much to discriminate. but im chinese, so i may be wrong
It's so weird to hear a millennial like Chris saying that he did not know about racism in Singapore until recently. Being part of the majority gives you a lot of privilege for not having noticed or read it online before. I mean, how's that even possible?!! Have you lived in a bunker with no Internet all your life? Also Chris shows signs of majority fragility: don't-attack-me-if-it-happens-that-I'm-racist behaviour. No one is attacking you; people are righteously hurt for being mistreated daily and you can't just ask for free passes for hurting people. It's like when they say "boy will be boys". Men rape and harass women because it has been allowed by a patriarchal society for centuries. And many rapists walk free on the account that they are male and "can't control themselves" and we should, therefore, give me them free passes. What about the victims? Nowadays more and more boys are held responsible for their acts, and racists or casual racists must be held responsible for their actions as well. It's almost 2020, and we're in the age of information, and in a developed country like Singapore, being ignorant or unaware is a CHOICE.
When he said "jokes and comics have a space in society and them making fun of race should be allowed in society" i'm like - ??? This is why casual racism will still happen. Why do you have to wait for someone to be offended before you stop the "jokes"? If you know it's wrong, then don't do it. I agree with you that being ignorant and unaware is a wilful choice.
I came from a neighbourhood school and being a Chinese, I had the stereotypical features - small eyes, flat nose, pale yellow skin.
My classmates were very well diverse and constantly made fun of me for having small eyes. They’d lift their temples up to mimic my eyes. Some would speak in their mother tongue and ask me to go back to my home country, being China. Sorry, but I was born and raised here so I wouldn’t consider China my homeland.
I remembered being a total social outcast in class, girls made fun of me for having a “penis-shaped” nose. Up till now, I have not gotten over and am still considering expensive fillers to correct my “penis-nose”.
When I got to poly, my predominantly Malay classmates would tell me that I am way too pale and told me to get a tan or put on more bronzer. My skin colour is something that I can’t really change since I dislike contact with the sun and it makes me really sensitive.
So are all these not considered casual racism because I am of the majority race? Is it entirely impossible to be racist towards a Chinese? Or is it because I have hideous features that need to be surgically corrected?
I have a Chinese friend who doesn’t think much of racism in Singapore either, but I’ve not seen behaviour of her where she is outrightly racist. So I do think that to a certain degree, it could have been possible that his ignorance was genuine. People don’t usually think of others who experience less than them, be it race or anything else. It is due to the lack of empathy. So yes, educating people on such topics can definitely help us move forward as a society, but it will never solve the problem imo. There will always be people who are inherently racist, simply due to the fact of our differences between one another.
🌸 Did you ever experience this type of racism from Chinese themselves? Were the majority of your diverse classmates before poly not Chinese?
unfortunately the common generalisation in malaysia for female malays is no headscarf=liberal & modern, with headscarf=traditional religious. though as you guys mentioned there are some truth in the stereotypes- the connotation that comes with the latter is not exactly flattering but, the former can be equally condescending. erghh im just annoyed
You can see the relevancy to current settings, where chinese friends are facing racism in the west as a minority, and even locals. So its all down to being a minority in my opinion
This is the first time as a Malaysian Malay I've heard this thing called being Chinese is a privilege in Singapore. But I'm not surprised, even being a minority, Malaysian Chinese are still privileged because you guys have the economic power~ sad to see Malays being bullied in their own land these days, all thanks to the British.
But yeah I personally think the Malay stereotype is somewhat true, but not for negative reasons, rather a cultural one. Malays generally prefer a comfortable life, enjoying life than chasing the materialistic world/being financially independent (which is actually important). I'm not a "lazy Malay" tho mainly because I felt like I was more ambitious than the other kids, for some reasons. There were a couple of instances where I've encountered people for the first time (esp chinese) who didnt think I was smart JUST because I'm Malay, shocked upon finding out that I'm very educated/studied in one of top unis in the world. It's nice to prove them wrong sometimes~ Some companies even told me that I'm a good candidate because it's rare to find an intelligent Malay - which kinda offend me, but I guess it's true in some ways, based on my experiences living in both majority Malay and Chinese schools in Malaysia. The worst part of casual racism was when I had an interview in a bank and they asked me if I'm one of those Malays who attend religious events and get married early to have sex cos "that's what Malays are like", I'm far from it, but yea we do have negative cultures like that.
No hate to Singapore tho, I've actually been watching Zula and other Singaporean youtubers as well, there are some things that I really like about the country and you guys make great videos! Keep it up!
@Gluepops I personally don't think it's systematic racism. The only benefit that we get are access to education funds, entrepreneurial funds, and easy access to prayer rooms in public places (you dont get that in Singapore). Plenty of Malay people I personally know have benefited from these and escaped poverty. Just that there are shortcomings/weakness (easy to be corrupt) while implementing the policy. We have our own issues too here with the elite Malays (the rich Malays who won't bother to help the poor). While there are Chinese people in poverty, there aren't as many as compared to the Malays here since the Chinese came for business and trade, rather, Malays had to do administrative task/agriculture related work, under British's divide and rule. Since Chinese thrived in businesses, they had an advantage by giving privileges to "Mandarin speakers only" although the business don't require dealing with companies from China. There are quota for non-Malays to work in government but I think most don't want to because it doesn't pay a lot.
Malaysia's vision and Singapore's vision is completely different and I think both has its pros and cons. We are more relaxed and Singapore is more ambitious.
Gluepops if only everyone had the same logical mindset as you, honestly- the world will be a much better place. I’m a Malaysian Chinese & most of us share the same sentiment as you but we just decided not to make a huge deal out of it (lol or more like we gave up). Just work hard , earn the bucks & live a good life.
I'm a malay Malaysian working and living in Shanghai, I can confirm all this ' you need to learn mandarin because we are doing business with China' is total BS. The current Chinese generation in China right now can speak English very well.also the majority of the large expat population in China do not speak a word of mandarin despite having lived there for 9-10 years. Hence, the 'mandarin speakers only' requirement i see frequently on Malaysia's job market is also BS. Its a cover for a racism
Not all Chinese are rich
@Gluepops "lol, who wants to live in a country that favours one race." -- most countries aren't multiracial, and if they are, they rarely work - just have a look at Sweden - they want more diverse people esp immigrant but they must integrate to the Swedish values in order to be accepted, and then be united. We chose to have a country that still preserves the nusantara identity and at the same time able to speak English as a second/business language. Thing is some Malaysian Chinese don't really practice Malaysian culture/have identity or speak the national language and even disrespect it. What makes them any different from the mainland Chinese? Don't get me started with Singapore's lack of culture and the very ugly sounding Singlish. And Malaysia has been doing it very well w being an neither religious nor secular country but other races can practice their religion. They can openly criticise our religion but when we do it, we're racist? I don't think theres a lot of countries which are tolerant like us. We didn't treat the Chinese like a mexican (second class), but in Singapore, malays are treated like mexicans. We didn't assimilate the chinese like how the Indonesians do or how China forces the Uyghurs to assimilate. There's even a SJK school to ensure the original culture is preserved, unlike in Singapore, who are mostly bananas. Um so why should we learn mandarin when some Chinese can't even speak Chinese? Also because we're in Southeast Asia, not China... So yea, we are very much rich culturally and that's what makes it different than Singapore, which focuses prosperity/richness through monetary measures. At times I feel the 888 culture/obsessed about money culture isn't a really good thing. I heard stories about Chinese bosses having tons of money but became upset cos their father passed away, and regrets for working too hard and not spending enough time for their loved one, and also people being suicidal/depression problems - statistics shows that Chinese men in Malaysia makes up the majority of them. There's few other Chinese culture that I think is bad but I won't say it here.
Your argument about if both races are equally hardworking doesn't apply because Malay and Chinese both started from a different level, Chinese being in the trade industry and Malay in administration. People like to use the word "equality" when "equity" is more important as some people start at a more privileged position than others (I think some SG media covered this video). I'm equally as hardworking as this Chinese kid during primary school but she had a lot more resources and Chinese communities which prioritised education compared to the Malay communities. I do agree tho that the policy needs to be revised as it has been a while (60 years/2 generation) since the divide and rule by British. I second the Malay in Shanghai's comment, English is still widely used, unless you're hoping that China or communism is going to be the next superpower in the future. I've seen retail jobs which requires "Mandarin speaker" when they don't even deal with China. Also alot of part of the world is sinking and Singapore has to depend on Malaysia or other countries, one way or another eventually. You may earn a lot in Singapore but it's hard to retire comfortably in Singapore. Loads of people are already looking into places to settle in JB. There's no use being arrogant just because Singapore did better economically, since we are essentially siblings but differ in terms of values.
7:10 thnx for swearing my dad got mad at me :/
Frankly the only way to stand up for yourself is being slightly violent at least. The issue is most minorities, myself included, will just stand there and take whatever onslaught the majority race gives us. When I was in sec school I slapped and punched 3 guys for making offending remarks at me. Luckily I didn't get into trouble cos I was in a boys sch and ego was a thing. Now I'm in my 20s and have shouted at and told off numerous ignorant people in public and in my workplaces. They act big when they are making fun of you, but when they see you enraged, witness how fast their balls shrink. I wouldn't put my hand on anyone again cos that could land me in legal trouble. But I will continue to kick up a fuss and tell off racist people who come by my way. Don't be afraid to speak up.
Leah is Eurasian???
Bob Iger you couldn’t tell?
there is no such thing as race and being split up by races I believe in one race only which is the one and only human race
True but the majority doesn't understand
I love the video, but i don't think you should start by defining what casual racism is - it limits the scope too narrowly. It should be alright to have different and vastly contrasting opinion as to what casual racism is.
D They did define it what. @ 1:50
As a chinese female the racist remarks me and my friends usually get are small eyes, chinese girls are so flat, skinny bijes, yp, xmm. I feel like people who make all these remarks don’t see it as being racist because we usually don’t take it seriously but lowkey it’s very judgemental
Lisa Oppa that’s cause your the majority race, if feels different when your the minority race.
Its not wrong what they said though lol. Basically racial stereotypes arent wrong, regardless of the race. Its real facts
Well, chinese people who aren't presented with racisim, i give you the outdoor industry.
I've worked there for many years (no longer working there anymore), and coming from a 'non-minority race', i felt i was the minority for once. I've ran programs where i was the only female chinese around and the rest are other raced males. Along the way, i've picked up very casual malay language here and there and was able to understand what people are talking about. Many times, i've heard people bitching about me/my friends right in my face in a language where they thought i didn't understand.
Even then, after my stint in the outdoors, was working in a bar with a china chap who knows mandarin and very little english. My manager outright bitched about him in malay/tamil in front of him. Of course, i told to china chap coz he wants in.
Sometimes, i really don't understand why people say chinese people aren't minority.
U will reap what you sow period!
Lol so you finally know how it feels like. Congrats
Lol. No need to be sarcastic. Isn't the comments section supposed to be a place to share our experiences?
Good to hear this. Made my day.
Its not only singapore.. Malaysia has plenty of racists.
Singaporean racism towards Malay in Tudung is so stupid. I don’t understand why people make fun of someone that openly practice their religious duty :( I’m a doctor in Malaysia, but people treat me like garbage in my own country 😔
Ye ke pakai tufung kat malaysia pun kene kecam?
all along i thought leah was malay because she has a bit of malay features ?? but after i watched a tsl vid where she showed her dog , i realised she isnt ?? but still hesitant, & now i know why . sorry leah !! >
Zhin is so handsome and so my type! I’m Chinese. Heee.
I bet you should be ugly though 😂
@@sanmatrix2 fuck off dude.
@@sanmatrix2 you must be a virgin with that kinda attitude
Nice u like malay
If you’re in Malaysia it would be a bit different
no it's not.The racism and colorism is even more apparent over there, I know that because I grew up there before shifting over here and settling down in Sg. Well things could have change but some of my friends in Malaysia still acts that way.
@@huffpuff5588 well singapore amd malaysia was made from the same piece of cloth. Not that shocked.
@@daisuke910 NOPE malaysia’s racism is actually institutionalised SO
U
If I would do that to a Chinese man he would most likely called me racial slurs and get mad at me Cause I am an African Muslim woman. Yet they allow white people to be racist and themselves refer to people as ‘ Malay boy ‘ etc and are racist themselves.
At the restaurant in Europe some whitewashed Cantonese dude ( his parents are Chinese Malaysian) living in a racist white country and all the people he got with are racist whites. He’s racist too and he allows white people to be racist and let them disrespect Asian. Yet when he heard one of my African female friends talking about Chinese and Chinese men cause we all like Chinese. Hé misheard and misunderstood and thought we were referring at him. He’s white, I would never call him Chinese. He’s from a Racist white country. Also there were other Asian male friends with us and so we weren’t even talking about him at all And we were literally saying that we like Chinese men and that Chinese men are handsome so no idea what this mtf came at us for. Oh yeah cause he’s a racist and can’t stand African Muslim women sitting together with Asian men at the same table in a restaurant.
Foff
okay that guy is really cute....All jokes aside he's really cute...
As a malay male singaporean, I’ve experience casual racism many times especially from the chinese minority. I don’t know if this is their thing or bad habit but i don’t fucking understand why would they always look behind (many times) each time i walk behind them, either in shopping centre, public places or even walking to my blk house (from the bus stop/overhead bridge) like wtf as if i’m going to rob them or something.
There was one incident (on broad daylight) where i was walking behind this chinese uncle to my blk and he looked behind at me many many times. I was so fucking pissed, i shouted at him “Hoi, this is my blk i stay here no need to look behind Kanasai”. He look behind again which by then i’ve already entered the lift.
Also I experience each time me or other non chinese person sit on the bus, most of the chinese ladies don’t want to sit beside. They rather sit beside a female instead. That’s also includes inside the mrt. That is why whenever i takes the bus I blocked the seat and sit alone lol. To those ppl who thinks that singapore is not a racist country, i have to disagree. Singapore is still a racist country especially when u’re a chinese person
6:11 people don't say Chinese boy but then they shout china boy
@Karim Khan welcome back stalker, have been waiting for you
@Karim Khan I admire your unprecedented dedication to keep replying. Makes my day by entertaining me, thanks. I'm sure covid hit you hard but even if you're out of a job I didn't expect you to be an online entertainer
@Karim Khan must have been easy for you to think that I translated from Mandarin, and also reverse racism is racism too
@@weiwenwwe2066 well the FACT is that Loh Jin, Gary Alexander Tan, Yap Pow Foo, Leonard Tan Song Hui, Tan Soh Kwan, Neo Aik Chiao, Lee Yan Ru, Sun Yunjie, Dr Lim Yong Chin, the 4 guys who planned the dr*gging and r*pe of their wives on S@mmyboy etc are the best and brightest from your self-declared superior kind, so do be proud of your above brethren’s achievements as these are a mark of your greatness right? 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah u know words can hurt more than sticks and stone
So if we allow casual racism one day casual violence will be too allowed.
I'm Chinese American and this shit blew my mind, so Chinese in Singapore are like white people in America, and Indians are like black?
YES YES YES and it’s so bloody depressing, they call me black everyday
Yup kinda. But in recent times, I can understand this may be worse for your community in America. We are all the “minority” race anyways 🤪
Chinese singaporeans should stop looking behind and stare/look at the ppl that’s either standing behind them or even walking behind them especially on different race. That’s rude af
i’m singaporean chinese and i do this because i don’t like to block people walking and wanna see if i need to move out of the way though? and also if it’s along a narrow path i’d rather let the person ahead and walk at my own slow pace instead of having to walk faster just so the person behind can walk faster too. but i think some people are also just paranoid that someone maybe be following them, especially when you’re alone at night.
unless you mean they look behind, stop walking and then just stare. that’s a different story and i would agree that that’s very rude and weird.
I am a 50s plus Singaporean man, and am puzzled as why there are so much of all these racial talks nowadays, during my time as teens in the 80s we never ever feel there was any racial sensitivity at all, we just blend in with the rest and just live our life , even in the army. Life was much simpler then I guess.
times have changed, circumstances have changed, upbringings have changed, mindsets have changed. no doubt the older generation is more 'easy going' but we cant equate the 20 somethings of your time with the current 20 somethings. schooling systems, working culture, how society works in general etc is very different nowadays, its evolved so much, some things on the surface can seem easier now however there are also many challenges now that your generation didnt have to deal with. vice versa. basically its like comparing oil & water. you simply cant.
Life has neve been simpler; you've just lived a privileged life of not being targeted by racism and gender every single day of your life. This thing isn't new. People have been fight against racism and casual racism for the past 70 years. The fact that you didn't notice it before and think it's new shows how privileged your life was. The Baby Boomer era has caused so much problems, and we millennials and Gen Z have to solve the mess you have caused so far! Educate yourself since you are in your 50s and still ignorant! It's almost 2020, and it's embarrassing that you keep thinking that life was simpler ( not for everyone)!!
You must have been a cin$
Were u living in a cave? U don’t remember singapores history was tainted with racial riots?
@@harikrish6317 haha ya may be, but honestly while growing up, I was totally not aware of it, perhaps I was just simple minded.
Yup in terms of Asians yeah East Asians are usually seen at the top followed by West Asians, then South East Asians, then South Asians at the very bottom
in terms of what??
@@yoloswag1357 Racial And Ethnic Hierarchies
That is only in Singapore not in western countries
@@dhanyajoel3038 no he is partially right. But the asian man and the Indian man are both joint bottom in the list. Their females, especially asian females, are mostly submissive and really pleasing and good so they are top of the list of wanted girls. I like asian girls alot too.
@@dhanyajoel3038 it happens throughout much of Asia actually Desis are often darker then other Asians and often harrier too as well as doing the worst economically for those reasons they are the most looked down upon Asians yeah
Chinese privilege
All this talk about casual racism and at 12:48 Zhin uses “Ang Moh” in a totally casual way. Pot calling the kettle, huh? #isntitironic
@Tristo Smitty white predators invented that term
Perhaps u might also take this response as a hypocritical and, but : I mean yes in a sense that it's literal meaning is red haired dude, but then again this word is just used to describe Caucasians. Like there is no ill intent , and the ang mohs have not really talked abt being insulted - so we wouldn't know. If they told us to stop we would
@@Jx0592 I'm white. Stop using it
Were you wearing that lipstick colour at the museum though?
When they introduced themselves by ethnicity makeup, when it's the Indian girl turn, they all laugh loud...
This is casual racism - end of story
I'm a Indian Hindu who doesn't drink alcohol so please don't stereotype all Indians as drinkers.
Nothing wrong with drinking alcohol in moderation ... all races do that..
Chinese Singaporeans are very offensive.
They have no rights to be racist as Singapore is not originally a Chinese country.
Racism against white is more based on jalousie so I’m not worried, I tend not to care and being not being reactive and sometimes even laugh on purpose, just to make the person fed up.
Deesha can’t close her mouth
no time for that when im spitting hard facts
Lol Chinese but doesnt honor his Filipino heritage. Yes better do not call yourself Filipino u seem so rude for saying that. Proud Filipino. "If he is Chinese, he is more handsome, smart" what is that supposed to mean? My God, the mentality of these people very conceited and full of ego
It’s not “racism” per se ... we’re all Asians ... it’s discrimination
Chinese indian and Malay are different races, we are just situated in the same continent
Imagine if these Singaporean Chinese had Korean or Japanese "Northern Chinese" looks
Their arrogance would be through the roof!
That is unfortunatly so damn true!!!
@@haroonejaz22 Why? Is the korean/japaense look consider superior in Singapore?
@@Marko50000 According to some of the Chinese in Singapore they perceive them as "better" in terms of looks.
@@haroonejaz22 I think it's because of kpop. That's why the whole asia is worshipping the k-idol clean look.....
@@Marko50000 I didn't think about that, but that actually can be the case.
this is basically millennials of singapore
g rated n less fake worded in stories to make them more interesting...
Not as trashy
I'm not sorry at all...the majority deserve to get whats coming when travelling to other country
I think people should stop being offended when people generalise. You can usually generalise because for most of a race, or type of any sort (not specifically race), there are commonalities. I have a Filipino fiance who eats rice most of the time as do most of the Filipinos I know. So is it racist of me to say Filipinos eat rice? There is nothing wrong with generalising, but everyone is so sensitive these days they all feel like victims.
In Singapore I'm an Ang moh. I accept that I'm different to the locals. If people think I eat fish and chips every day I don't care. Lots of people do so I understand it.
People generalise because it's easy because it is often true. If you are different from the stereotype then so be it, but don't get offended
i mean you are you so if you dont get offended then sure okay y not but ofc you dont rly speak for the entire community so ofc there r bound to b ppl who get offended by stereotypes and generalization. like the "fish and chips" one isnt *that* offensive in comparison to the "eh you from which ite" just bc a person is malay like what they said in the video bc it implies that malays are dumb which is not necessarily tru so ppl can get offended if they want to.
batjon if you aren’t offended then good for you, so why the fuck are you generalising that everyone is gonna be offended ?
Stay in Britain white boi
@@sanmatrix2 good racism 👍🏻
But honestly some ppl are just over sensitive. I remember when I was in primary sch my teacher brought the class to the Tamil language classroom. When I said i don’t like the smell of the class, the teacher scolded me for being racist. Hello I just said I don’t like the smell cos I hate coconut and that becomes racist. I also had Malay friends who said that the red lions at the NDP are all Chinese and there are no Malays. Then criticised the government for choosing those Chinese who red lions. Just becos they are Chinese, they only looked at their race for being chosen, they didn’t thought about the hours and hard work they had to put in to be at that position. They didn’t thought about the sacrifice they had to go through to be there. People say just becos we chinese we don’t go through bad things....
It’s a bit of banter if anything. Honestly, grow up. If you find it offending then you yourself associate your own race with those negativities. Change your frame of mind and stop playing the victim card.
Well its easy for you to say
Yes it is, thanks
for noticing
@SatAnd 777 yeah that’s calm. Dont know what you’re trynna get at but good on ya, well spotted mate. Seems like you’ve been to specsavers
@SatAnd 777 hold up; did you get my reply deleted? Ahahaha what a wetwipe! Great to see the new youth handling the world well
@SatAnd 777 love how a wetwipe like you is trying to mug someone else off. I recommend that you leave your basement/attic and go out into the world and meet people. The world is not that scary; sticks and stones make break your bones but words will not. Just coz someone throws some playground insults/racism at you doesn’t mean you need to have a fit about it. Based on your responses I can tell that you find the concept of this video true and relatable. So I suggest your grow up or grow some thicker skin. Stop being a wetwipe: nobody likes one.