Racist Chinese man caught on video is not an isolated incident

It is probably safe to say that everyone has heard about the video that has gone viral depicting a Chinese man chastising a mixed-race couple for, among other things, dating outside their race and accusing the other man in the video, Mr Dave Parkash for “preying” on Chinese girls. This unnamed Chinese man has now been revealed to be a senior lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic who was awarded The Long Service Medal in 2019.

While the video has garnered mostly outrage, commentators can be broadly divided into three categories:

1. Those who believe this to be an isolated incident;
2. Those who believe this to be staged;
3. Those who condemn the incident outright

Digging into my own personal experiences, watching this video gave me no great surprise. My previous partners have not been Chinese and on more than one occasion, we have been stopped by members of the public who have asked me why I would choose to date a non-Chinese person. The only difference between this incident and my personal experiences is that at that time, there were no social media and my Nokia brick probably did not have a video function (either that or I had no idea how to use it at that time). So, to the ladies and gents who would like to think of this as an isolated incident, I would have to be the bearer of bad news — no it is not.

While I am not suggesting that this is an everyday occurrence, it is certainly not as uncommon as you may think. By dismissing this as the mere ravings of a lone ranger, we run the risk of burying the issues to fester at yet another time. You see, racism is not something that can be eradicated just because we push it under the rug. If it doesn’t get acknowledged, it simmers and comes out during times of stress and upheaval – such as the pandemic where the issues have been used either to conflate genuine concerns (such as border closures to combat the pandemic) or to victimise minority races. Everything has become confused because we (both the Government and us) refuse to acknowledge the giant elephant in the room – THAT Singapore can be a racist place.

All of us try to either avoid talking about race because it is uncomfortable or we pretend that we are colour blind. This is a missed opportunity because it highlights and represses difference instead of acknowledging the differences but still embracing our common national identity and humanity.

We are not race-blind and to use that as a goal is not realistic. Different races exist and we notice it — that’s FINE. What we should be doing is to acknowledge the differences and then to recognise the many things that we do have in common as human beings. But we are still stuck at the acknowledgement point and therefore we cannot move forward!

For those that think this is a Government wayang — I can only ask WHY? While I understand that trust might be at an all-time low, I can see no benefit for authorities to stage something like this. Yes, there have been times where people have questioned if the Government has used racial differences to their advantage — an example of this where people have wondered if the changes made in the elected presidency were really to protect minorities or to Tan Cheng BLOCK. But ultimately, wouldn’t this video bring more spotlight on the Government’s failed attempts at preventing racism despite laws like POFMA? And now that the perpetrator has been revealed to be an educator, wouldn’t this cause grave embarrassment to the establishment? Using logic, this cannot be a Government plant.

Yes. Minister for Law and Home Affairs, K Shanmugam did react fast. But is it that surprising that he may be just as shocked as some members of the public at this brazen racism caught on video? Lest we forget, he is a minority himself and a human being too!

For those that condemn the incident outright, thank you for acknowledging that racism exists without reservation. Now, let’s take the next step to see how we can collectively recognise that there is more that unites us than divides us.