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How are blacks treated in Singapore?
3 Answers
Collin Anthony Spears, Black American for 4 decades...in fact I get blacker every decade.
Answered Mar 25, 2018 · Author has 2.7k answers and 5.1m answer views
I am an African American and lived in Singapore from 2012-2013.
I have also written the following:
What is it like to be Black in China?
Collin Anthony Spears' answer to What is it like being black in Japan?
Further, I am a dark skinned African American, so in Asia, often I have been confused with someone directly from Africa. I am also an IT Project Manager, hired in Singapore, to work at a large multi-national American bank.
I can count the obvious number of racial incidents I had experienced in Singapore on three fingers.
So to wrap up - Singapore - I loved it. I was single for most of the time I was in Singapore, after breaking up with a Taiwanese girlfriend. I dated a few Singaporean women, mostly ethnic Chinese, one Indian - I did not feel any obvious racism (like in China, and even less than in Taiwan and Japan, which I judged as mild). It was clear that many of the SPG women who wanted to date a "foreigner" wanted an angmo (white foreigner), not a "olang" (black foreigner), but I do think that speaking some Mandarin, and also being American, and native English speaker helped quite a bit. On average, I would say in Asia, it is better to be African American than a black African, but the benefit really depends on how sophisticated or knowledgeable the local population is in telling the difference - more on that - What do African Americans think of African Africans who pretend to be African American in Asia?
Honestly, compared to living in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan, - I believe that Singapore is the best place as far as living condition, pace of life, and lack of xenophobia. It is the only place I lived where most people did not stare at me on a regular basis, besides Japan. Japanese do stare a little in rural areas, but have the good manners to try and hide it. I would say that having a native population of dark Southern Indian Tamils helps, dark skin color is just not that shocking to anyone. In fact some small Singaporean children would think I was Indian. Being able to speak to everyone, not having a language barrier, really helps break the ice and get to know locals. I picked up some Singlish too, which also helped.
There is no place on earth free of racism and discrimination. There is no utopia. Black expats will never get the positive bias that white expats get, due to history and a perceived difference in economic, social, and military power that majority white nations have had on the world for the last 300 years. That being said, on a daily basis I did not think or worry about race, maybe because the vast majority of people did not act in a way that made me feel as if I was different.
In general I do not think Singaporeans are much more racist than white Americans, they are probably just less politically correct about it. Also keep in mind many people in Singapore are not Singaporean. If people are staring at you or openly talking about you in public, they are often Indians FROM INDIA or PRC (Chinese FROM CHINA), the former is probably the worst you will deal with, many can be extremely arrogant and ignorant (but not all, I've met good ones too...it's an issue of degree, not kind).
3 Answers
Collin Anthony Spears, Black American for 4 decades...in fact I get blacker every decade.
Answered Mar 25, 2018 · Author has 2.7k answers and 5.1m answer views
I am an African American and lived in Singapore from 2012-2013.
I have also written the following:
What is it like to be Black in China?
Collin Anthony Spears' answer to What is it like being black in Japan?
Further, I am a dark skinned African American, so in Asia, often I have been confused with someone directly from Africa. I am also an IT Project Manager, hired in Singapore, to work at a large multi-national American bank.
I can count the obvious number of racial incidents I had experienced in Singapore on three fingers.
- A mild form: around this time Jeremy Lin was big, and throughout Asia, ethnic Chinese were talking as if he would be the next Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. I knew he was not, so I often got in arguments with people about this, and quickly found most of these people did not really follow basketball, and their arguments were based primarily on ethnic/racial pride. Once, while in a taxi, a Singapore "uncle" told me, unsolicited, that Jeremy Lin was great, because he uses "his brain", clearly implying black people did not. I took offense to this, and I said "I guess that is why you are taking me to X multinational bank, and you are my driver". I said this in Mandarin. He said he did not really speak Mandarin, so I said it in English. He said nothing else to me the entire trip.
- Less mild: I am a very frugal person, something I think I picked up from years of being around East Asians. I used to workout in an neighborhood fitness center near Bedok, because it was very cheap, compared to the private gyms, and had everything I needed. I worked out a few times a week, so this was important to me. Most of the people who worked there were very friendly, they were older ethnic Malay, Indian...Chinese. One day a middle aged ethnic Chinese guy came up to me and started to question me as to what I was doing in Singapore. He then suggested because I was an ex-pat I could work out at a private gym. His tone was clear, "you don't belong here". I said "all ex-pats are not rich lah..." and then walked away. He stared at me awhile, then stopped. I never saw him again, which was good.
- I was out with two other African Americans at a night club in Clarke Quay. We met an African in there, at first he was talking to some ethnic Indian girls, and tell everyone he was American. He obviously was not. I asked him where he was from, he said "New Jersey". I said 'where in New Jersey", he said "the city next to New York". LOL After a few drinks, he told me that he lies about being from the US, because Singaporeans don't treat him well if he says he is African. That being said, I met another African at a Hawker Center, who was there with his Singaporean wife and father-in-law, he had lived in Singapore 10 years, and he told me people were very nice to him, and he loved it there. He told me he ran a business with his in-laws, but to be honest I don't recall what type of business. He gave me a business card, but I never really looked at it or called.
- I went to a job interview at a Swiss Multinational, IT PM work, I was qualified, experienced, etc. I was even somewhat of a domain expert. Three people had to decide on hiring me. A French ex-pat (technical director), a Singaporean PM (whom I was replacing), and a PRC business manager (who really controlled the budget). I was not hired. I knew right away I was not going to be, when the PRC woman kept asking weird questions, challenging me on every answer, asking basic questions you would ask a fresh graduate, asking me questions totally irrelevant to the project, etc. I was told later by the Indian recruiter that he had never seen anything like it. The French guy wanted to hire me, the Singaporean guy wanted to hire me, the PRC woman said I was not a good fit for the corporate environment and she questioned my qualifications. WHAT!?!? I worked at bigger companies, and ended up working at a much bigger company than theirs. I ran into the French expat at a bar, by chance, about a month later. He apologized to me, and said he wanted to hire me but the "PRC bitch was disgusting, so racist..." He said she controlled the budget and usually she does not question his judgement but it was clear she did not want a black man working there, so she made it a point to overrule him, and her boss were very close, so he supported her. WOW. Later I was hired by a Hong Konger to work at a large American multinational bank - like 2 weeks later - so I was not butt hurt about it. Living in Asia I expect racism, especially from Mainland Chinese people (for more on that: What is it like to be Black in China? )
- I knew one black American woman (about my age, 30s). She never lived anywhere else in Asia, so her perspective was more limited. She was an IT PM at another bank. She felt people looked down on her for being dark and "fat", although in America she was not especially dark or fat. I've heard white expat women complain about the "fat thing", and I've heard ethnic Indians women complain about the "skin color thing", like women coming up to them at shopping malls offering them "skin whitening make-up", which most Westerns would find deeply offensive. I think also Asians tend to be more blunt (especially ethnic Chinese) about critiquing physical appearance, most especially when it comes to women...I'm used to that, she was obviously not. She got tired of Singapore and when I went to work in Shanghai, she went back to the U.S.
- The other black American male I knew, seemed to share my opinions about Singapore, he was also single, and his only real complaint is that he felt ethnic Chinese women were not attractive and he preferred Indian and Filipinas, because they were more "relaxed" and shapely...I think he is also mentioned "they can dance". LOL
So to wrap up - Singapore - I loved it. I was single for most of the time I was in Singapore, after breaking up with a Taiwanese girlfriend. I dated a few Singaporean women, mostly ethnic Chinese, one Indian - I did not feel any obvious racism (like in China, and even less than in Taiwan and Japan, which I judged as mild). It was clear that many of the SPG women who wanted to date a "foreigner" wanted an angmo (white foreigner), not a "olang" (black foreigner), but I do think that speaking some Mandarin, and also being American, and native English speaker helped quite a bit. On average, I would say in Asia, it is better to be African American than a black African, but the benefit really depends on how sophisticated or knowledgeable the local population is in telling the difference - more on that - What do African Americans think of African Africans who pretend to be African American in Asia?
Honestly, compared to living in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan, - I believe that Singapore is the best place as far as living condition, pace of life, and lack of xenophobia. It is the only place I lived where most people did not stare at me on a regular basis, besides Japan. Japanese do stare a little in rural areas, but have the good manners to try and hide it. I would say that having a native population of dark Southern Indian Tamils helps, dark skin color is just not that shocking to anyone. In fact some small Singaporean children would think I was Indian. Being able to speak to everyone, not having a language barrier, really helps break the ice and get to know locals. I picked up some Singlish too, which also helped.
There is no place on earth free of racism and discrimination. There is no utopia. Black expats will never get the positive bias that white expats get, due to history and a perceived difference in economic, social, and military power that majority white nations have had on the world for the last 300 years. That being said, on a daily basis I did not think or worry about race, maybe because the vast majority of people did not act in a way that made me feel as if I was different.
In general I do not think Singaporeans are much more racist than white Americans, they are probably just less politically correct about it. Also keep in mind many people in Singapore are not Singaporean. If people are staring at you or openly talking about you in public, they are often Indians FROM INDIA or PRC (Chinese FROM CHINA), the former is probably the worst you will deal with, many can be extremely arrogant and ignorant (but not all, I've met good ones too...it's an issue of degree, not kind).
