Top Quotes: “Brown Is Redacted” — Kristian-Marc James Paul & Mysara Alijaru
“Kristian points out that “authentic brownness” is the thing that is forbidden in cookie-cuter Singapore. “Because when the minority individual… steers away from conventional modes of success, it’s seen as being deviant.”
“”IS THAT THANAKA on your cheeks?”
As she signed to me, her motion was delicately woven together with a new gesture gleaned from her sign language toolkit — yet dear enough for me to comprehend for the two heartwood-coloured patches testing soundly on my skin. Fortunately, I had learned simple sign language on the job as well.
“Aunty! Yes it is, how did you know?”
“They’re beautiful. I’ve been meaning to ask since the day we started therapy, and now it’s already the last. I once tried it myself and really liked how cooling it is in the heat and warm in the cold, and how special it must be to you. Take care of yourself, and wear it proudly. You’ve been taking care of others for so long that it seems to wear off with the sweat sometimes; I hoped to nag at you a little more to remember about yourself.”
“It’s thanks to little moments like these, Aunty, my heart may be wounded but it’s healing well. You remind me of home.”
“I’s raining now but it’s a pity I can’t hear the raindrops coalescing into the puddles. You’ll weather through it all, dear. Thank you for helping me stand tall again, and for hearing me.”
And with that she left in silence, but I felt her warm embrace like the Thanaka pullover on my cheeks.”
“For the people of Myanmar, applying Inanaka, a natural paste made fresh from finely grinding together bark from a Thanaka tree and water, is more than just a simple skin-care routine.”
“I don’t sell tissues or hand-painted handicrafts. I haven’t scaled mountains with my walking aids. No monumental accolades under my belt.
The uncles remember what they have been taught: help the less fortunate. In their triumphant discomfort, they turn to me, “Don’t worry girl, I won’t charge you.” Protests from me are shushed. A cardamom pod, cautiously removed from dishes so as not to overpower.
Sometimes I feel engulfed in my brownness and my disability. Like an amateur chef frantically adding this spice and that, to make a dish shine but ending in an unrecognisable mess. “Ah well, I can see you’re qualified and worked in the UK but, we don’t know how to handle it. Sorry.” Recruiters I reach out to, and well-intentioned friends tell me, “You should apply to jobs you can get.”
I have tried to reason, provide examples and potential solutions. I make myself small and suggest trial, no-pay periods. I am no match for age-old stereotypes, stigma and misinformation.
When I am out with others and my daughter, I am the recipient of many uncomfortable silences, when I nod in response to, “Oh, you are the mother.” I hear their judgement. How irresponsible to become a mother. So many things she can’t do for her child. At times, their judgement and pity amplify my doubts. At times, I look at my daughter and remind myself that she is loved and is wise. At times I make myself big and respond dryly to comments about how my husband must be a very good man, to have married someone like me. At times, I struggle to fight away the tears.”
“As with Akshob, many Indian migrants speak of forming better friendships and social networks with non-Singaporean Indians who do not see them as competitors for the space of the ‘Indian’ within the state’s CMIO framework. Existing divisions within the Indian community are further complicated by the different waves of migrants to Singapore — with older migrants resenting newer waves of Indians, citing closed networks and segregated residential communities as examples of their refusal to integrate into the Singaporean core mainstream.”
“This employer-sponsored WP system is a fundamental stumbling block to the realisation of migrant workers’ rights. This is because attempts to assert rights can lead to immediate dismissal and repatriation of the workers, as well as retaliatory measures that may impinge on their ability to return to Singapore for work. This has a coercive effect on workers because it ensures that they comply with substandard working and living conditions. For instance, WP conditions for MDWs simply state that employers are to give the MDW “reasonable notice” of her repatriation. It is not clarified what is “reasonable”, and employers have been known to dismiss and repatriate a MDW with less than 24 hours’ notice.
Furthermore, a worker’s ability to successfully resist her repatriation depends on a range of factors. For example, a valid claim may be determined by several moving parts including opaque approval mechanisms by the MOM, the attitude of immigration officers and the MDW’s capacity to stand her ground against frontline officers who may, in certain instances, actively encourage her to return home. Conversely HOME is ao aware of situations where MDWs’ requests to retum home are rejected by their employers. In some cases, employers may even go online to extend the MDW’s WP without her consent. Al of these issues point to the multi-layered WP system that regulates the migrant worker populace according to certain disciplinary measures. These measures come with loopholes that are exploited by errant employers or agencies looking to gain extra profits at the expense of fair and equitable labour standards.”
“Another issue is the infrastructural immobilities migrant workers face in Singapore. Labour mobility constraints greatly hinder the ability of MDWs to switch employers or find better employment conditions. In Singapore, an MDW who wishes to switch employers requires the consent of her current employer. If her current employer refuses, the MDW really only has two choices: she can continue staying with her current employer or she can return home.
If the employer grants a transfer, they are able to determine which employment agency facilitates the MDW’s new placement. There have been many occasions where MDWs have had to return to employment agencies that treated them poorly. Employers do this because they may have signed contracts with agencies that allow them to get a free replacement within a stipulated period of time. Desperate to stay in Singapore to work, many MDWs have had to comply with these transfers as imposed by the employer. Poor treatment by agencies has manifested in various ways, including situations where the agents did not respond when assistance was required, verbally abused them, confiscated their identity papers and personal belongings and did not give them adequate decision-making power over employment placements.”
“The conditions of labour immobility reveal a form of structural coercion that impedes the ability to resist and contest highly exploitative working conditions and workplace abuse. For MDWs like Anna, the lack of labour mobility manifests in a case of human rights violations. Anna worked long hours, from 8am to midnight. During the day, she only had short breaks for meals. Anna complained of constant shouting and scolding from her employer, including name-calling. She was only allowed to use her mobile phone after work, which was past midnight. After some weeks, Anna asked for a transfer. As a result, her employer revoked her rest day for the coming Sunday and confiscated her belongings — her phone, laptop, WP and wallet. Alarmed at not being allowed out of the house and having her cash and communication devices confiscated, Anna, in desperation, escaped to the HOME shelter via the rubbish chute of a high-rise building. While Anna was hoping to transfer to a new employer, this request was denied by the authorities. Additionally, she was investigated by the police for “endangering her life” by escaping from the house via the rubbish chute.
The harshness of her treatment was not deemed adequate enough for the police to pursue any criminal charges against her employer. Indeed, the issues presented — excessive working hours, lack of rest days, verbal abuse, inadequate food, poor living conditions, constant surveillance, wrongful confinement, threats and retention of identity documents — are not offences that generally attract punishment by the MOM or the police.”
“This following case study from Rosa’s story reveals the dire living and working conditions for MDWs that result in desperate and injurious situations to escape. Rosa worked around 19 hours each day at her employer’s house (her working hours were 4am to 11pm). She was not allowed to rest (or even sit down) during the day, except when having her meals, and even then, she would be constantly rushed as she was eating. She had no rest days and was subject to 7 months of salary deductions to repay her recruitment fees. Her mobile phone was confiscated and her passport was withheld by her employer. Rosa said she was constantly scolded by her employer and other family members, who would find fault with everything she did.
When Rosa asked her employer for a transfer, her employer refused and said she had paid a lot of money to hire Rosa, and if she dared to leave, she would be reported to the police. After Rosa asked for a transfer, her employer kept the house key on her person and did not let Rosa out of the house — not even to take out the trash. Meanwhile, the grilles to the front door were locked. Feeling increasingly stressed, Rosa tried to escape from the bedroom window and fell from a height of several storeys. She ended up badly injured, with both legs fractured. The police then investigated Rosa for “attempted suicide” — which was then a crime in Singapore and has since been outlawed — even though Rosa insisted she was simply trying to escape. Rosa was eventually issued a “stern warning” from the police for “causing alarm or distress” to her employer by her action of jumping out the window.”
“WP holders are subject to certain conditions that restrict the kinds of lives they can lead. For example, WP conditions impose restrictions on marriage, prohibiting WP holders from marrying a Singaporean or Permanent Resident (PR) without the permission of the Controller of Work Passes.
Furthermore, female WP holders (which includes MDWs) are not allowed to become pregnant or deliver any child in Singapore, unless they are already married to a Singaporean or PR. MDWs who are found to be pregnant are to be repatriated; they may also be blacklisted. Meanwhile, MDWs have to undergo mandatory medical examinations regularly, which include a pregnancy test. WP conditions also state that the “foreign employee shall not be involved in any illegal, immoral or undesirable activities, including breaking up families in Singapore”. This broadly worded provision potentially criminalises MDWs who become involved in relationships with Singaporeans or PRs, and induces the moral policing of MDWs, by enforcing a code of morality onto sexuality and bodied relations of MDWs. The impact of such moral policing produces particular formations of migrant subjectivities that further restrict the freedoms of MDWs.
As employers are held liable to ensure that MDWs do not violate any of these terms of their WPs, these regulations incentivise employers to adopt draconian control measures to restrict and monitor their MDWs movements, activities and communication. This compulsion can be seen through the denial of rest days or the enforcement of strict curfews, and through the confiscation and witholding of MDWs mobile phones, passports and other key documents.”
“MY CLEAREST MEMORIES of negotiating my identity as a queer Sti Lankan Tamil was when I discovered the IRC chat rooms in the early 90s. As a secondary school student trying to understand a world that I felt I didn’t really belong to, IRC chat rooms like #gayteens@sg and tgboy offered me a channel to connect with the queer community. By day, I was accompanying my best friend to Serene Centre Mac’s to hang out with SCGS girls, but by night, in the privacy of my room, I was connected to a strange but familiar virtual world.
Very soon, I found out that my brown name would cockblock any potential meetups. Online, conversations would flow and the chemistry was palpable, until I came out as Tamil. The ghosting, the “Oh Sorry, I thot you were chn” or the abruptly closed chat windows hurt. Every single time. My response, as a 14-year-old seeking validation and acceptance from this community that I felt I belonged to, was to try as much as possible to suppress my Tamil identity. Prashant became Shane. Win them over with your wit and they would change their mind, I thought. But that mostly wasn’t the case. Successive rejections led to self-loathing. I hated being brown. I felt like I needed to choose between my queer or Tamil identity; that these were mutually exclusive spaces. But I could not wash away my brownness.”
“The importance placed on preserving multicultural harmony in Singapore, which, though well-intentioned, has resulted in the misframing of whistleblowing as disturbing the inter-racial peace.”
“In his 2017 speech that laid the foundations of what would eventually be announced as the government’s War on Diabetes, Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Long cited the statistic that the disease. also has a higher occurrence among ethnic minority groups. For those over 60 years old, 6 in 10 Indians and half of Malays are diabetic, as compared to 2.5 in 10 among the Chinese. This racialised framing in approaching what should rightfully be a national issue, allows for the creation of problematic discourses and simplistic interpretations. These reductive tendencies are then reproduced by the wider public, exemplified by a controversial article that places the blame for diabetes on the unhealthy dietary habits of Malay and Indian communities.
This article caused a firestorm of controversy-relying on dated stereotypes and simplistic quotations about poor health choices, it is rife with problematic assumptions about certain dietary habits and lifestyle choices of both communities. Written by two Chinese journalists and featuring interviewees who seemed like caricatures, I would be hard-pressed to name a more cringe-worthy exercise in how to alienate minority members of the Singaporean population from attempting to tackle a national problem. Rather than take the widespread criticism as a learning point to revise their approach, the HPB doubled down on this racialised framing through the release of targeted campaigns during the respective festive seasons. This could be seen during the launch of the “Kita Dah Cukup Manis, Kurangkan OK?” (“We are sweet enough, reduce it OK?”) campaign in the lead up to Ramadan and Hari Raya, and messages on reducing sugar during Deepavali.
While there were also campaigns featuring the Chinese community during Chinese festive seasons, the issue is one of proportionality and visibility. There seems to be a lot more focus on minority communities, in particular, the Malay community.”
“This widespread coverage, I would argue, allows for the repeated stereotyping of minority communities, leading to the perceptien that these communities are less healthy in comparison to the Chinese comany. In particular, there exists a hierarchy where some communities foods are ranked as “healthier” than others, despite the existence of healthy food practices within each community. This hierarchy also conveniently maps onto current racial hierarchies where Chinese individuals and culture are privileged.”
