‘Chinese privilege’ a borrowed label but important to discuss and set in Singapore’s context, experts say

Discussions about the privileges of the majority race might be a concept originating from the west, but they are useful as a baseline for Singaporeans to discuss their lived realities, said academics at the Forum on Race and Racism in Singapore, held on Friday (June 25) by the Institute of Policy Studies and the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. The discussion’s moderator Paulin Straughan, sociology professor at the Singapore Management University’s School of Social Sciences, noted that people in Singapore borrow plenty of labels from societies abroad— Black Lives Matter, #MeToo and white privilege—and asked what were the dangers of importing these ideas and changing the labels to suit Singapore’s needs, such as the concept of “Chinese privilege”.

Dr Laavanya Kathiravelu from NTU believes that the notion of privilege is relevant for Singapore. “It has resonated among young people here because people are struggling for a language to talk about their social reality,” she said. “So these ideas or these concepts are useful to express particular feelings.”

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