Recently, an article was published on VICE regarding privilege in Singapore — or more popularly known as ‘Chinese Privilege’.
We don’t have to point out again how the issue is such an entrenched phenomenon here, and how awareness of this privilege has taken on an exponential frequency of late. Basically, what Cher Tan of VICE wrote is basically her experience of waking up to see how she is part of the privileged in the sense of the Invisible Knapsack concept:
“Growing up, it was easy to take for granted the fact that people who looked like me were represented in popular culture. I never felt the need to question my identity as a Singaporean. In school, no one made fun of my name. When I was looking for work, my ethnicity was a bonus. Job interviews were a relatively uncomplicated process. It afforded me luxuries not so easily granted to non-Chinese Singaporeans who had to navigate a culture that treats them as an ‘other.'”
But that’s her perspective as a Chinese Singaporean. What we haven’t really heard about is how Chinese Privilege looks like to an outsider who’s experienced for himself how it feels like to be on the shorter end of society’s stick. An American-born Chinese (or ABCs as many would refer them as) took to Reddit’s /r/Singapore page to recount his experience jumping from an environment where he faces prejudice (though subtle) to one where he feels like the equivalent of a white man in America.
It’s an interesting perspective on how he views racial relations, coming from someone of Chinese heritage, but not exposed to holding privilege in Singapore. Read on about his experience here, and check out some highlights below:
About facing the total opposite of Chinese Privilege in the West
“As most people probably know, the media portrayal of Asians, especially Asian males are pretty piss poor. The stereotype is that we are not leadership material, Asian guys are not manly, we are nerdy, we are foreign … etc. This is mostly present in the dating and professional scene. This form of racism subconsciously effects how others perceive you.
For example, I read that there was a study in which the same paper was sent to 50 random law firm partners. The only difference was that one paper casually mentioned that the individual was an African American, the other didn’t. Even though both papers were essentially the same, the score of the AA paper (3.6 vs 4.3) was noticeably lower than the other paper. Applied in the workforce, if you and a white guy do the same exact thing at work, they are more likely to perceive you as being less manly or less of a leader.”
About Singaporeans’ nativist attitudes
“…I’ve heard some Singaporean Chinese (generally poorer) tell me nativist things straight out of a Trump pamphlet! I’ve heard things in private such as Singapore should have less immigrants, foreigners are taking all the good jobs, Singapore doens’t feel like “Singapore” anymore. When pointing out that the PRCs are Chinese as well just like Singaporean Chinese, they state that lour population has been vetted and been here for 3-5 generations.’
If you look at the non-hispanic white population of America it is remarkably similar to the Chinese population in Singapore. Also similar is the fact that the white population in America (and the Chinese population in Singapore) is decreasing. To be honest, talking to some of the average Singaporeans living in Singapore this summer has actually allowed me to understand American Trump supporters a lot better.”
About the ease of blending in with the Chinese majority
“While there definitely are cultural differences between Chinese Singaporeans and the Chinese Americans, it isn’t hard for Chinese Americans to fit in. Outside of maybe Hawaii, Singapore is the only place in which Chinese Americans can feel ‘mainstream'”.
