This is what my daughter wrote to the writer and the senior editor pertaining to the attached article written by #158 press in the world....
Dear Ms Yeo and Ms Lee,
I am Nurin Nazurah. I am writing to you to raise a major concern regarding your recent article entitled “How home-based learning shows up inequality in Singapore - a look at three homes” posted on April 18 2020.
While the main premise of your article was supposedly about digital divide and the exacerbation of inequality brought about by the HBL and coronavirus situation, what profoundly stood out to me was the blatant racial stereotyping present at every juncture of your article. I feel like I need not outline to you what harms racial stereotyping brings to minority communities, but with this article being published in good faith, I gather that you have internalised such stereotypes and do not realize what messages you are sending out to your readers – who I assume, are majority Chinese.
Firstly, your article’s images depict 3 different households and how they are affected by the COVID-19 situation. This picture depicting the Malay family is captioned “Making do with devices on loan with patchy WiFi”. Along with it is a family in a run-down rental flat, cramped in one living space while the children are trying to do their schoolwork. In stark contrast, the Chinese family is depicted to be in a clean, well furnished house, with their photo captioned as “Taking the chance to impart life skills and values to their children”.
From the get-go, the stark contrast in your choice of photos and captions already perpetuate the narrative that the Malay race are of low income, live in rental flats, and struggle to provide a conducive learning environment for their children while the Chinese family, presumably of high income by the likes of their crisp and clean home, are wealthy, have resources and are able to provide a good educational environment for their children.
You are complicit in perpetuating and reinforcing long-held racial stereotypes in Singapore that Malays are usually poor and struggle to make ends meet while Chinese families are usually better off and more adept at providing good quality education and resources for their children. Malays, Indians, and Chinese have always been categorised into these labels and more often than not, it is always the Malays and Indians who are given such disparaging and degrading labels, making people think that they are inferior to the Chinese race.
Your article does exactly that, in a public newspaper no less, and I assert that while your article seems a harmless piece on inequality in Singapore, you have just reinforced disparaging and harmful stereotypes towards racial minorities who already suffer from discrimination due to these long held stereotypes that are not even true in the first place.
To make my point clearer, your choice of narrative also further betrays this stereotypical mindset. Ms Chu, who runs a consultancy company, is described to be a dedicated parent, going out of her way to draw ‘detailed schedules’ for her children to ensure they have a balance of play and study time. She is depicted to be in a productive partnership with her husband, a dentist, who also pulls his weight in helping his children with schoolwork, tasked with helping them in mathematics. In contrast, Mr Hashim is currently jobless, while his wife’s highest education level is N Levels, showing a stark difference in the educational qualifications and capabilities of the Chinese parents relative to the Malays.
Furthermore, Mr Hashim is being depicted as a lot less dedicated and devoted to spending time with his children. Quoting you: “Mr Hashim, who has been cooking more, is not used to being around his four children 24/7. He recently asked his wife how she could tahan (Malay for tolerate) being with the children all day long.”
This further reinforces the stereotype that Chinese parents, on top of juggling their prestigious full time jobs, are still able to be devoted parents and be involved in their children’s lives, while Malay parents, working menial, low wage jobs like Mr Hashim, are less devoted to their children and have less parental attachment towards them, to the point of not being to “tolerate” being with the children all day long.
On top of perpetuating the stereotypes regarding the types of jobs that each race category holds, you are also depicting Chinese parents to be superior to Malay parents with your choice of words and portrayal of these people, making it clear the internalised stereotypes you have regarding the familial interactions and parenting methods of each race, which is stated so blatantly in your article.
You could have chosen any family to portray the inequalities present in Singapore - Chinese families in rental flats, wealthy Malay or Indian families etc – but your choice of depiction reflects the racial segregation and stereotypes that have long hurt and caused discrimination towards racial minorities in Singapore.
These harmful stereotypes have in fact, perpetuated inequalities in both the treatment and job prospects of these minorities. According to an IPS Survey in 2018, 52% of Malay respondents and 47% of Indian respondents stated that they faced racial discrimination when applying for a job, highlighting a dire reality that both of you, being Chinese and of the privileged race, may not be able to comprehend.
Thus for lack of better words, your article regarding inequality (which I must say, is lacking a larger argument about inequality itself besides pointing out the existence of inequality) is complicit in perpetuating further racial inequality.
While this might not have been your intention, I find it imperative to point this out to you because this article is damaging and hurtful to racial minorities like myself, who do not fall into these categorisations and stereotypes, and do not appreciate being reduced into such a belittling and inaccurate labelling of our race.
Thank you for your attention and I hope that you will respond to this.
Regards,
Nurin
