Abstract
In 1992, in a parliamentary speech, MP Choo Wee Khiang remarked ‘one evening, I drove to Little India [an Indian shopping enclave and popular tourist destination in Singapore] and it was pitch dark but not because there was no light, but because there were too many Indians around’. Choo later apologised in Parliament, though his disparaging and racist remarks had earned him no censure there. There was no public outrage against Choo’s comments either. His ability to get away with the audacious witticism that pitch-darkness around Little India was due to the high number of (dark skinned) Indians in the area seems to suggest that there was tacit approval of his comments by other members of parliament.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alatas, S. (1977) The Myth of the Lazy Native (London: Frank Cass).
Ang, I. and Stratton, J. (1995) ‘The Singapore Way of Multiculturalism: Western Concepts/Asian Cultures’, Sojourn vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 65–89.
Amin, A. (2002) ‘Ethnicity and the Multicultural City: Living with Diversity, Environment and Planning A, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 959–80.
Benjamin, G. (1976) ‘The Cultural Logic of Singapore’s “Multiracialism”’, in iaz Hassan (ed.) Singapore: Society in Transition (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press).
Chan, H. C. (1975) ‘Politics in an Administrative State: Where Has the Politics Gone?’, in eah Chee Meow (ed.) Trends in Singapore (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies), pp. 51–68.
Chua, B. H. (1998) ‘Culture, Multiculturalism, and National Identity in Singapore’, in uan-Hsing Chen (ed.) Trajectories: Inter-Asia Cultural Studies (London: Routledge), pp. 166–83.
Chua, B. H. (2003) ‘Multiculturalism in Singapore: an Instrument of Social Control’, Race & Class, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 58–77.
Clammer, J. (1998) Race and State in Independent Singapore 1965–1990: The Cultural Politics of Pluralism in a Multiethnic Society (Brookfield: Ashgate).
Essed, P. (1991) Understanding Everyday Racism: An Interdisciplinary Theory (London: Sage).
Fanon, F. (1965) The Wretched of the Earth (New York: Grove Press).
Fanon, F. (1967) Black Skin, White Masks (New York: Grove Press).
Goldberg, D. (1993) Racist Culture: Philosophy and the Politics of Meaning (Oxford: Blackwell).
Gouldner, A. (1975) ‘Sociology and Everyday Life’, in L. Coser (ed.) The Idea of Social Structure (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich).
Heller, A. (1984) Everyday Life (London: Routledge).
Lai, A. E. (1995) Meaning of Multiethnicity: A Case-Study of Ethnicity and Ethnic Relations in Singapore (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press).
Lai, A. E. (1996) ‘Everyday Spaces, Ordinary People and Everyday Life Activities’, in ee Weng Choy (ed.) Space, Spaces and Spacing (Singapore: The Substation).
Lorde, A. (1984) Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (New York: Crossing Press).
Moore, R. (2000) ‘Multiracialism and Meritocracy: Singapore’s Approach to Race and Inequality’, Review of Social Economy, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 339–60.
Rahim, L. (1998) The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational Marginality of the Malay Community (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press).
Quah, J. (1990) ‘Government Policies and Nation-Building’, in J. Quah (ed.) In Search of Singapore’s National Values (Singapore: Times Academic Press).
Tamney, J. (1996) The Struggle Over Singapore’s Soul: Western Modernization and Asian Culture (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter).
Tremewan, C. (1994) The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore (New York: St Martin’s Press).
Trocki, C. A. (2006) Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control (London: Routledge).
Vasil, R. (2000) Governing Singapore: A History of National Development and Democracy (St Leonards: Allen & Unwin).
Velayutham, S. (2007) Responding to Globalisation: Nation, Culture and Identity in Singapore (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies).
Wise, A. (2005). ‘Hope and Belonging in a Multicultural Suburb’, Journal of Intercultural Studies vol. 26, no. 1–2, pp. 171–86.
Wise, A. (forthcoming) ‘Sensuous Multiculturalism: Emotional Landscapes of Interethnic Living in Australian Suburbia’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2009 Selvaraj Velayutham
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Velayutham, S. (2009). Everyday Racism in Singapore. In: Wise, A., Velayutham, S. (eds) Everyday Multiculturalism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230244474_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230244474_14
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-30297-0
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-24447-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)