I once had a strange encounter with a Singaporean (Chinese ethnicity) taxi driver. After I had taken the taxi and told him where I wanted to go, he started talking to me (which a lot of taxi drivers usually do. Nothing particular there) Then we saw a truck loaded with Indian workers. He then asked me if I was from India. I told him I wasn’t. And he started telling me about how worried he was about the Indian workers in Singapore.
He said that they roam around in the streets and under HDBs at night and it was dangerous to let his children out. He also told me that they were dirty and smelly. And that they should learn to speak English because Singaporeans do not understand when they speak. I did not want to contradict him (since he was the one driving me home…) but I was horrified by the disgust he had of the workers.
Then when I got home and thought about it, I realized that it was not so much that he had disgust for them than a great incomprehension of their difference from him.
For the Indian workers, hanging out in the streets at night is something acceptable to do, and even a habit back in their country. They do not pose much threat. It is just fear of the unknown that drove the taxi driver to think that it is unsafe because of the Indian workers.
As for being dirty and smelly, it is a mere prejudice. The workers usually work very hard all day and in terrible conditions. I am sure that if anyone, of any race, worked as they do, they would look and smell the same.
And personally I think that Indian workers make as much effort to speak English as some of the Chinese Singaporeans.
Disclaimer: I do not mean that all Singaporeans think this way. I know some very good Singaporeans and I know it is only a small portion of the population. I also know that the prejudices that people have towards Indian workers are not all unjustified. But the troublemakers are also only a small portion of the Indian worker population.
I also found a video on youtube recently (click here to watch) which is quite relevant to intercultural behavior. It’s a situation in the MRT where a woman yells at some Indian workers. But I could not decipher what she was saying, so I did not comment on it.
Hi Yashfeer,
ReplyDeleteI think to some extent, most people are critical of people from different races. This could be due to misunderstanding (stereotype), or personal experience.
Perhaps it is a few black sheep that make us think badly of a certain race. For example, Islamic extremists suicide bombings are quite frequent in the news, but not all Muslims are terrorists. In fact, majority of them are not.
I guess, all of us have to make the effort to not be bounded by the stereotypes of each race, and judge each person by our personal interaction with them.
Hi Yashfeer,
ReplyDeleteIndeed - I know quite a number of Singaporeans who seem to have a very bad impression of Indian workers from India. However, yes - they are NOT representative of all Singaporeans. I agree - this discrimination probably stems from a lack of understanding and unfair stereotyping.
I actually find your encounter quite disturbing - imagine if the driver talks about his views with other people who've not come into contact with Indians? Would they believe him readily? Would they take his generalizations as the truth? And this unfair sterotyping may be propagated even further... (Which leads us to wonder how the driver came to his conclusions in the first place.)
I just watched the video - and... wow. That was pretty shocking. The comments seem to suggest that she doesn't only shout at Indian workers, but a lot of other people too. In this case - I think she WAS being pretty discriminating against the Indians - notice she was quite polite to the uncle who sat down near her? I pity those she shouted at - imagine getting yelled for nothing just when you want to travel in silence... I'm glad the Indians didn't do anything to retaliate though all that shouting was really unjustified - that probably would have made her more hysterical.
Hi Yashfeer =)
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed his criticism of the Indian workers is more likely due to his lack of understanding towards their way of life, which is their habit of staying up late at night. To deepen the prejudice, there have been newspaper reports about Indian foreign workers sexually assaulting the locals in Singapore, hence this could be one of the reasons the taxi driver fears them. About them being smelly and dirty, I think it is because as a Chinese, he is not used to smelling the spices that uniquely belong to Indians. I think on the whole, more effort has to be put in by Singaporeans to respect and understand the cultures of different ethnic groups. It is inevitable that stereotypes exist in a multicultural society like Singapore, so we should all have a more open mind and be more accepting so as to bring these prejudices to a minimum. I am glad that the Singapore government has also constantly stressed upon the importance of racial harmony, such as incorporating it in the national pledge, so that Singaporeans can be more sensitive towards one another. Thanks for sharing your experience! (=
Hi Yashfeer!
ReplyDeleteI just watched the video and my first reaction was 'WOW'. I think she was just crazy.
With regards to your post, I feel that the taxi driver was wrong to assume that the Indian workers do not try to learn to speak English. Being able to speak English would definitely benefit them as this would increase the chance of them getting better paid jobs. There are many reasons for why they do not learn English. But I believe that one main reason was that educating oneself requires money and many of these workers came from afar to earn what most Singaporeans would think as meagre pay. I have heard that many of them borrowed money from their country's loansharks or even sold their land just to come to Singapore. They also risk losing their money if their agent cheats them, which is quite common.
However, it is quite common that many people discriminate the workers as Singapore is considered as a well developed country and thus many people see themselves as of a higher class than the workers. Hence, this is when discrimination starts.
It is also important to remember that the houses we stay in were probably built by them!
Hey Yashfeer,
ReplyDeleteI've seen the links for the video on facebook, but didn't bother to watch it till now. Gosh. You don't wanna know know what she was scolding.
I stay near Little India (within walking distance of Mustafa), and I find it sad that so many Singaporeans are reluctant to explore the place due to the number of Indians in the area. I love Indian food and Indian servers are so charming compared to your average Singaporean server!
I am immensely thankful for the presence of these foreign labour for increasing Singapore's efficiency in so many areas, and I wish fellow Singaporeans wouldn't ostracize them.
As for what the taxi driver said - indian workers "should learn to speak English because Singaporeans do not understand when they speak". You know, I think Singaporeans speak such terrible English and Mandarin (not sure about our standard of Malay and Tamil) that I wonder how foreigners could even understand us.
I really enjoyed your post, Yashfeer! And it's so heartwarming to read the comments above too!