"There's a lot about privilege in Singapore, that's not said."

August 9, 2016 7:53 AM

What is your privilege? (Singapore edition) On the occasion of Singapore's 51st Independence this month, UNSAID -- a youth-led arts collective -- staged their country's own version of checking their privilege [original Buzzfeed video]

To My Dear Fellow Singapore Chinese: Shut Up When a Minority is Talking about Race

Chinese Privilege, Gender and Intersectionality in Singapore: A Conversation between Adeline Koh and Sangeetha Thanapal

On Chinese Privilege in Singapore: An Interview with Professor Derek Heng.

posted by cendawanita (8 comments total)

In a lot of ways, it's very much unsurprising that a population that is extremely plugged in into Western and English-language discourse like Singapore, can port over and apply, with sophistication, the concept of privilege (as conceptualised in American racial justice sphere) to their country. It's intriguing to see how they handle it, even if I think Singaporeans would also do well if they paid attention to discourses that's come out of other postcolonial societies with more similar legacy and trajectory.
posted by cendawanita at 7:57 AM on August 9, 2016

Meritocracy, btw, is an actual and legitimate guiding policy for and from the government.
posted by cendawanita at 8:01 AM on August 9, 2016

Thanks for posting, I just watched this video less than a minute ago. I do think awareness of privilege is really lacking in Singapore. Many many people subscribe to the official mythos of hardworking people from humble backgrounds always ending up leading good, prosperous lives.
posted by destrius at 8:06 AM on August 9, 2016

I agree. I see the same in Malaysia as well, complicated by the fact tht our socioeconomic policies are basically misused progressive policies which has discredited a lot of that philosophy in the eyes of many. But back to Singapore, that said, this whole effort of trying to articulate it in public is complicated by the notion they chose to express it in which , unlike white privilege, may exist as majoritarian privilege in the domestic arena, but gets very blunted or negated outright the moment they leave the society (though mitigated then by class privileges). It's why I welcome seeing the application of the American framework in this context just to see how it pans out but I remain very skeptical because it leaves too many gaps that becomes genuine arguments to discredit the whole exercise.
posted by cendawanita at 8:32 AM on August 9, 2016

Wouldn't actually checking your privilege be tantamount to sedition under Singaporean law?
posted by acb at 8:34 AM on August 9, 2016

not unless you're doing it in an effort to be more meritocratic, i guess.
posted by cendawanita at 8:37 AM on August 9, 2016

Meritocracy that just happens to send the children of the wealthy who get far better opportunities at education and jobs to the top? Yes, works really well.

Which children go to elite schools in Singapore. This starts in kindergarten with the educational gap just widening hugely. It's the cost of additional tuition, having to hold down an extra job if your family is poor, having a stay-at-home parent who can do the extra support, and living in a neighbourhood zoning system where people will buy multi-million dollar houses to get their kid into a slightly better school.

We stream the kids aggressively, starting in Primary (Grade) 4 for some subjects, and repeating a year is very rare here, so you basically get one-shot at age 11-12 to pass an exam that hugely determines your future academic and professional future.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 8:37 AM on August 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

I wonder how often more privileged Singaporeans get hanged and caned
posted by knoyers at 5:29 PM on August 9, 2016