by Dilip Balakrishnan
Xenophobia has become very ubiquitous.
As major world powers such as the UK and US are dealing with the issue of immigration, the common sentiment that keeps surfacing is the disdain for immigrants. This should prompt us to examine the way immigration is treated and the way we are dealing with
it in our own backyard, Singapore. There is a substantial number of blue collar foreign workers in Singapore who toil hard for our nation. They tend to come from neighbouring countries in the region, and often take up jobs in construction or serve as foreign
domestic workers. Due to Singapore?s strong currency, they are able to earn a great amount of money which eases their financial struggles back home. However, are their lives truly better off in Singapore?
In Singapore, many of them often face discrimination and poor living conditions.
As foreign domestic workers are staying in their employers’ homes, employers have the liberty to be abusive and to get away with it being unseen. Construction workers are living in dormitories that are unsanitary and overcrowded. Some of these workers are not receiving enough food for them to be able to perform their labour-intensive duties. What’s worse is that Singaporeans are not treating them with basic dignity and respect. When construction workers step into trains or buses, Singaporeans tend to avoid them and also show their distaste by pinching their noses. As most Singaporeans sit in their cushy jobs, they fail to consider the plight of these workers who are going through such immense hardship to ensure that our society runs smoothly.
However, not all hope is lost in this seemingly dire situation. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as TWC2 and HOME are championing for the improved rights of these marginalised workers. In addition, government policies have also been changing to ensure that these workers are better protected. For instance, the government has mandated that employers are to provide their foreign domestic workers with leave days on Sunday. Unfortunately, we are still left to wonder if we are truly doing enough to improve the working and living conditions of these workers.
How do we do better for the marginalised workers? We can start by treating them with basic dignity and respect. It is so obvious that we should treat everyone around us with dignity and kindness, but many seem to forget that the workers are also human. Let’s do better.
References for further reading:
1. https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/gia/article/foreign-domestic-workers
2.https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/company-directors-fined-poor-living-conditions-foreign-workers-11470982
3.https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/rich-singapore-why-must-migrant-workers-go-hungry
4.https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/foreign-domestic-workers-singapore-seek-help-most-overwork-verbal-abuse-pay-related
5.https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-foreign-domestic-workers-vulnerable-135242316.html
The Watercooler 
Thanks for sharing, Dilip!
Foreign workers here have definitely faced large amounts of discrimination and prejudice by the Singaporean population. This is because the jobs that these foreign workers undertake are seen as highly undesirable and this, in turn, forms an assumption that these people must be second-class citizens. Xenophobia in Singapore is also a growing issue especially as the government has recently declared plans to sustain population growth through the influx of foreign talent (see the infamous ‘white paper’). The irony here is that while Singaporeans will not take these “lower class” jobs, they resent the fact that more foreigners are coming here to work and will somehow ‘steal’ their jobs and exacerbate the unemployment issue.
To promote better treatment of our foreign workers, I feel that the mindsets of Singaporeans will have to change and this can only be pushed forward with the government’s help. Initiatives such as campaigns and foreign worker-friendly practices could encourage positive perspectives and help citizens appreciate the contributions of foreign workers. However, political factors (currying favour with voters) may prevent them from taking concrete steps to ending prejudices against foreign workers.
Nonetheless, we should not discount the good work that non-profit organisations are doing to help foreign workers. As for ourselves, we should continue to keep an open mind about these things and take a step in other’s shoes.
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As a Singaporean, I find it ironic that Singapore takes pride in being a racially equal country even though her citizens discriminate against foreigners. With that said, I believe that it’s not just foreigners that Singaporeans are intolerant of, but difference. Majority of Singaporeans are still prejudiced against gays and the mentally ill. Such intolerance most likely stems from our education system that does not place sufficient emphasis on acceptance. Although civics and moral education classes teach racial equality, there’s little to no mention of accepting those of a different nationality. Morality is also often simplified as ‘just follow what the government tells you’ to nurture obedience in the populace. As such, Singaporeans are not used to thinking about those who are largely different from them, which in turn creates a culture of prejudice and discrimination.
On the bright side, the younger generation is a lot more tolerant of foreign workers than the older generation. Hence, it is imperative for the former to convince the latter to subscribe to equality for all nationalities. Singapore suffers from a severe lack of political discourse which youths must change.
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Dilip, thank you for the heartening call to action. As an exchange student, it is definitely interesting learning about the multicultural and multifaith makeup of Singapore (please correct me if any of my following observations about Singapore have been misled).
I think in your article you brought up two very important concerns; the first being the exploitative nature of a global and inequitable capital market, and the second being issues around nation-building and social cohesion. On the former, (in avoidance of being called a Marxist) all I will say is that it is definitely harrowing to live within societies that still commodify people, and where workers are merely expendable in the name of profits.
In regards to the latter, I understand that at times the effects of language are minuscule in comparison to the legitimacy of policy and other institutionalised systems (as you rightfully highlighted through NGO’s and Garbiel’s mention of government initiatives) but I strongly believe that language shouldn’t be dismissed. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve constantly heard that Singaporean’s aim to be “tolerant” towards different races and religions. I don’t mean to be hasty, but I think at times this can be problematic. On a semiological level, to “tolerate” insinuates an act of overlooking something/someone that we (the tolerator) characterise as ‘bad’ or that we ‘dislike’. That language carries a hierarchy in itself, and therefore, perpetuates division. I think this language has even subconsciously crept into the discourse surrounding positive social action. For instance, you posed an important question, “How do we do better for the marginalised workers?”. However, throughout your article you have (unintentionally) otherized marginalised workers as “them”, against “we” (Singaporeans) who have the power and ability to ‘help’. Some may call this useless nitpicking, but rather than belittling the agency of marginalized workers, is it not more efficient to ask; how can we become a more empathetic and equitable society?
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Thank you for sharing this topic. Xenophobia comes from people’s mind. Although we cannot change people’s mind in the blink of an eye, but we can do something to gradually alleviate this situation, and change people’s mind ultimately. Like you mention in the article, the government has to enact some regulations which can better protect their rights, including working environments, working hours, welfares, etc. Therefore, these foreign workers can fight for their rights from the employers. After amending the laws which can make the status of foreign workers not so inferior to Singaporean, Singaporean will gradually unconsciously eliminate their discriminating though to those foreign workers. Besides, were it not for those foreign workers, Singapore will not be so thriving and prosperous. All jobs are deserve to be respected.
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I agree that such public spaces in Singapore such as our MRT trains show the true nature of how (some) Singaporeans behave poorly around the foreign immigrants who came here the same way we did – as our ancestors were once immigrants themselves. I think generally Singaporeans’ poor understanding of the struggles these workers have to go through is something that not many are aware of, or worse still- willingly choose to be ignorant about. The same concept that happens in xenophobia, can also be applied in racial prejudice within many multicultural societies too.
It is very hard to determine where the root of xenophobia is coming from – could it be from racial pride where we assume someone of a certain race is inferior, less capable or could it be an ingrain mentality of the Asian hierarchy we all follow through; for instance that construction workers and domestic maids are not as literate as we “world-class” educated Singaporeans are, there fore it gives us the privelege to look down on them, because we are “above” them? I do think when we behave poorly around people of colour, or even those who are not of that kind – reflects that there is a certain hierarchy inside of us. And that needs to be reprogrammed as soon as we recognize that within ourselves.
I think it is crucial that Singaporeans (including myself), ask ourselves if we were to ever put ourselves in a position where we had the choice to discriminate, would we actually act it out? And if we do act it out, was it because you got away with it and manage to not get by the law enforcement? If so, then these people needs to do a lot of reprogramming of their brains because this attitude is unacceptable.
I think if we had the choice to make some changes to school system, we could start off by realizing that prejudice is wrong and it is important that we override that basic tendency to discriminate based on ethnicity, nationality or religious background or whatsoever.
I know, that as a minority Singaporean myself, that this doesn’t only affect immigrants, because from my experience, there are certain social dynamics between minority and majority raced people puts the former in a rather unpleasant situation. From workplace harrasment, to peer to peer discrimination and sexism – the list is endless. However, what makes a lot of difference is when we take more initiative to reflect on ourselves – and initiate more conversations addressing discrimination within our society first and foremost.
Thanks for sharing the post – it’s a very relevant topic. .
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I totally agree that people should treat foreign workers with more dignity and respect. It is obvious many Singaporeans are xenophobic and discriminate against foreign workers, to the extent some really displays their discomfort when foreign workers are around. I think it is very difficult to actually change how this group of population thinks about foreign workers and to persuade them to eliminate their discrimination. However, people discriminating foreign workers should at least hide their thoughts when they are near foreign workers. Showing their discrimination in public is very awkward for foreigners and this will cause them to feel how not welcomed they are.
Also, xenophobic Singaporeans should know that even if many foreign workers are working as domestic workers or blue collar workers, it does not mean their effort is not important to Singapore. Imagine if there was no foreign workers in Singapore to work on construction sites, there would not be enough Singaporeans to replace them and Singapore would not have been built in such a short time. Singaporeans always emphasise we have to treat elderly, parents, teachers etc with respect. What is lacking is that everyone, including foreign workers, deserves our respect.
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Thanks for bringing up this important issue, Dilip. This is certainly something that isn’t discussed enough in Singapore.
I agree that there are pervasive disparaging attitudes against foreign workers in Singapore that need to be addressed. It is incredibly hypocritical for us to call ourselves a beacon of racial harmony, whilst exhibiting xenophobia against a significant proportion of people staying here. Being a foreign worker has a plethora of difficulties (culture shock, homesickness, loneliness, etc), not to mention the difficulty of the jobs themselves. They certainly do not need to deal with animosity from the rest of the country.
What is especially troubling is how this xenophobia is only directed at certain classes of workers, such as domestic and construction workers, as opposed to executives and professionals.
I think as a society we need to hold honest discussions about these issues, and work towards eradicating them.
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