
Singapore PM wears turban during Gurudwara inauguration, greets people with Sat Sri Akaal.Credit to Hindustan Times
Today the hype is racism by the real racists. We are sooo sensitive. We are sooooo easily slighted. This is what the first sentence in thenewpaper said. 'Caught in a situation where you believe you have been racially slighted', not being stopped on the road by the white policemen in the USA because you are black, or beaten every where you go, even killed, .... in Singapore, just feeling slighted is big stuff in racism.
And the minorities are soooo sensitive. You cannot put on the dresses of another race in a commercial and make money from it, you cannot go to a costume party wearing another ethnic dress and paint your face black, a sales promoter cannot dress in various ethnic dresses to look like them in advertisement promotional material, with no intention of belittling or smearing the race. It is racism, we are so sensitive, be sensitive to our sensitivity.
How far should this go when every little thing is called racism? Every one, every race, has some form of prejudices, likes and dislikes. I don't like dogs, and when a person of another race is walking his dog, my body language showed my discomfort, so I am a racist? I am a taxi driver and I don't like dogs and I refused customers with dogs, so I am racist? I don't like people with strong body odour, so I don't pick them, racism? I don't like curry, my neighbour cooked curry everyday, so I am racist? I don't like loud noises, the cultural or religious procession is making too much noise, I complained, so I am racist?
Political leaders need to be sensitive but also to be wise to tell the difference between racism, xenophobia, personal prejudices etc etc. With so many foreigners being stuffed into the island, you think the citizens would not have negative feelings? No xenophobia? If every racist is to cry racism and the political leaders would to jump up and down and start on a witch hunt, 'it could stoke people into making police reports for any perceived racial slight, real or misunderstood, or deliberately exaggerated.' Said Shanmugam.
How many people have been misunderstood, attacked by the real racists pretending to be over sensitive and calling every slight or encounter a racist attack? If political leaders are unwise, did not check to verify what is real, over exaggeration, or actually a racial attack against the accused violator, then political leaders are encouraging and stoking racism, playing to the agenda of the racists.
Political leaders have a lot to learn from LKY in handling wild and malicious accusations by the real culprits pretending to be the victims. Lim Chee Onn was accused of corruption. If LKY buckled under the pressure of the snakes.... If LKY were to take the accusation at face value without checking the truth, Chee Onn would have been wrongly accused and probably charged and jailed for corruption. LKY did the due diligence and absolved Chee Onn, declared him an innocent and honourable men and called the bluff of the snakes and vicious people out to destroy him.
The current hooha on racism arising from a few queers do not justify the attention and uproar implicating that the whole Chinese majority are racists. Far from it. The Chinese majority are victims of racism and often being beaten up by the minorities instead. Racism in Singapore is for the minorities to accuse and attack the Chinese majority, often physically, not the Chinese majority bullying the minorities. The few cases quoted might seem to be bordering on racism, but could be xenophobia or the frustration caused by Covid19, when everyone was feeling the stress and trying their best to observe certain uncomfortable rules, and you have some violating them.
There is a need for political wisdom to call the bluff and take the real racists to task. Any racist trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill, wrongly accusing others of racism, making police reports and making the police running around like bull arse flies, should not be let off lightly. Wild and baseless accusation of racism is stoking racism and must be punished.
Learn from LKY's wisdom in handling such wild allegations and protect the innocents from being maligned and not be an unthinking party to a witch hunt.
Stop the silly inquisition. Where is the political wisdom and leadership? Buckled under pressure?