Are Singaporean Racists Ready for a non-chinese PM?

*first published at CivilReview

Let's face it, from the first, and late PM, Lee Kuan Yew, to Lee's Son, the current PM Lee Hsien Loong, they've always used the 'singaporeans are not ready for a non-chinese PM' story to keep the Indians and Malays out, perpetuate chinese chauvinism, and the rule of the PAP that is based on chinese chauvinism itself.

This was especially the case from the late 1980s when the PAP begin a zealous chinesification campaign in singapore to put an end to the multiculturalism that was bringing the different races together and increasing the collective intelligence and political vibrancy.

And now we have a Heng Swee Kiat, put forth as the next PM, saying that 'older singaporeans aren't ready for a non-chinese PM'.  That is like saying, "i'm sorry, but we Chinese PMs need to consider the views of the racists in our race more than the non-racists."

If what these 3 say is true, that is an admittance, or claim, that singaporean chinese are racists.  And if singaporean chinese let this matter rest, then they are either racists, or have no problem with racism.  In either case, it is a problem, and immediately turns singapore into a state that practices political and social apartheid.

And the logical fact of the matter is, if these racists truly aren't ready for a non-chinese PM, then they can't even be considered 'singaporeans', as to be singaporean is to be accepting of quality REGARDLESS of Race, Language, or Religion.

And if any leader, or aspiring leader, places the views of racists as more important than observing equality, that can only logically be if they are racists themselves.

Looks like Lee Kuan Yew, to his son, Lee Hsien Loong, are always more into catering to that sector amongst the chinese whom are racists, and hence, 'not ready for an Indian PM'. And in that, anyone would be led to wonder whether they are using them as a reason or as an excuse. After all, if these two were truly egalitarian, they would look for a reason to respect the principle of equality, NOT look for an excuse to not do so, and they certainly won't be taking the side of racists.

Of course, it could be a politically pragmatic move to cater to racists, even though ethically reprehensible, and even though one isn't a racist.  However, if they simultaneously make statements, effect policies, and remain silent in the face of chinese racism that caters to the dominant race, then, their pandering to the inbred views of racists is simply because they are racists as well.  In that, Singapore's PMs since Lee Kuan Yew are racists by definition.

It is a perspectival sleight-of-hand actually.  On the one hand, from LKY to LHL to HSK, they are constantly associating 'singapore' with 'chinese', and 'chinese' with quality.  So, in doing so, inversely, it demonises the Indians and Malays.  So, when they say, 'singaporeans aren't ready for a non-chinese PM', they are again implying that the Malays and Indians aren't good enough.

And this fits in well with overarching racism via media underrepresentation to misrepresenation; associating Indians with drunkeness - where if there is any problem with Indians, it is because they are drunk, i.e. from Devan Nair to the Little India riots; stating that singapore must always have a chinese majority; forbidding Malays in the past from holding high posts in the military as their loyalties might lie elsewhere;  the HDB housing quota system that separates and disperses the Malays and Indians within predominantly chinese communities 'for the sake of racial harmony' - which implies that when Indians and Malays are concentrated in large numbers, there is always trouble, which in turn implies that they are irrational and troublemakers; and the list goes on.  Nothing is said about WHY such things happen, or what role the chinese might have played in leading things to that juncture.

All of these have the effect of presenting the chinese as the 'preferred' race, to the Malays and Indians as problematic.  If there are any problems with the Malays and Indians, it is referred to as a Malay or Indian Problem.  But if there are any problems with the Chinese, they are referred to as 'Singaporean Problem, thus perpetuating the chinese as the race that can do no wrong.  Even in the late 1980s and 90s, there was an issue on why 'singaporeans' didn't have any opinions on things, when in actual fact, it was the 'chinese' who generally didn't have an opinion on things.

I have been very brief in the highlighting the factors that has constantly led to singapore's pro-chinese racism to go unchecked, but this is the background that has enabled singapore's PMs to proceed with impunity when it comes to their racist views and policies, where in countries like the UK, people like them would be pelted with eggs and at most would get a percent or two of the vote.


So, is it any surprise that even today, a chinese minister, a Heng Swee Kiat - and who is actually being put forth as the next, and yes, yet another chinese, to be the next PM - can still talk about singaporeans not being ready for a non-chinese PM, and that their bigotry should be pandered to?  Did the so-called 'Democratic' Party in the US have to ask the Klu Klux Klan if they were ready for a non-white President before supporting Obama for the Presidency? If they did, at the very least, they can only be perceived as catering to racists first, and hence are racists themselves. Same goes for the PAP and all those who support them.

This guy Heng also refers to the Indians and Malays as 'Minorities'. Well he better wake up and smell the prata and lontong.  The Indians and Malays aren't 'minorities', they are SINGAPOREANS.  That makes them a part of the majority defined by nationality, and this racist Heng, a minority in intelligence and egalitarian spirit in not realising, or wanting to realise, that point.  And he still has the bally cheek to take on the lead for the next PM?  If he wants 'same same' when it comes to race, then he ought to consider buggering off to China. And this guy is going to be the next PM? PM of those Chinese whom are racists knuckle-draggers perhaps, but not that of TRUE Singaporeans, and certainly not mine.

So the title of this article is most apt in revealing the underlying perspective of the likes of Singapore's PMs with regards to the Malays and Indians.  Sometimes, it is just a matter of phrasing things accurately in order to discern the true spirit of what is being said.  From LKY to LHL to HSK, they've basically said, 'well, we can't have Malay and Indian PMs because the racists won't like it.  And we're not interested in the views of non-racists, or bringing about a system that doesn't privilege our race over all others.'  That, unfortunately, reveals them to be what they are.


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