We Need To Reject The Concept Of “Chinese Privilege”

Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands at night — Photo by Joshua Ang on Unsplash

“Chinese Privilege” is a concept that is filled with contradictions.

❶ Targeting an entire ethnic group with a collective crime regardless of the innocence or guilt of its constituent individuals is racist. The hwachong aunty who thinks that every Indian/Malay in Singapore targets her, the Ngee Ann Poly lecturer who is against mixed race relationships, these are no doubt racist individuals who blamed entire ethnic groups for collective crimes. Yet, blaming an entire ethnic group is also exactly what “Chinese Privilege” entails. Yes, you should be grateful for your privileges and work to deserve them. But suggesting that the whole ethnic group should be faulted is dangerous. As much as the proponents of “Chinese Privilege” hopes to fight against racism, what they are doing is racist itself.

❷ Drawing divisive lines between different races in Singapore, especially between the “majority” and “minority”, worsens racial harmony. “Chinese Privilege” is an attempt to divide Singapore by race. It further perpetuates the “me” vs “them” mentality, and reinforces racist stereotypes that already exist. Rather, individuals should be dealt with as individuals.

“Hwachong Aunty” Beow Tan (Left) and Ngee Ann Poly Lecturer Tan Boon Lee (Right)

❸ Making public apologies or confessions as a “woke” Chinese does not do anything to help the minorities. The “woke” Chinese, when they make public confessions or ask for forgiveness for their Chinese privileges, are in gist declaring themselves to be enlightened. As a virtue bonus, it also makes them a better person than other Chinese who don’t acknowledge their Chinese privilege.

❹ Telling anyone that they are disadvantaged would make them angry. “Chinese Privilege” is no different. It serves to make minorities feel worse about themselves, despite what they fight for. The key message to the minorities are, “after all these while, you’re still oppressed”. Which brings me to the next point.

Tweets by Sangeetha Thanapal, who once self-proclaimed that she coined the phrase “Chinese Privilege” — “Sometimes I can’t help but hate Chinese people just walking along the street, so clueless to my pain and suffering”(Top) and “Reverse racism isn’t real and calling your oppressor whatever you want is a-okay”(Bottom)

❺ Denying that “Minority Privilege” also exists, when you call out “Chinese Privilege”, is hypocritical. For those who complain that minorities are only able to sell their HDBs at a lower price because of the racial quota, think about how this also means that minorities can purchase flats at a cheaper price. When balloting for HDB flats, you also have a greater chance as you are competing with less individuals. When it comes to getting a job, if two people are equally qualified for a job, companies are compelled to give the job to the person of a minority race, for fear of being deemed as racist.

❻ Gaslighting others and ignoring their experiences to call them out for being privileged is an underhanded move. Yes, we are quick to call out landlords who want to restrict their tenants to a certain race for being racist. They should not be discrediting an entire race because of their limited experiences with one or two tenants’ unsavory behaviors. They could instead come up with solutions like having a more detailed rental contract and impose a more sizable deposit for all their tenants. However, by alluding this to Chinese privilege, what we are doing is exactly the same, genericizing the preferences of a few landlords to the whole ethnic group. From both ends, what we should do is to take time to acknowledge and recognize the lived experiences of one another, be it the experience of having unsavory tenants that leads landlords to hesitate when renting to a certain race, or the minorities’ encounters with microaggressions and racism in their lives from those of the majority race.

HDB flats in Singapore

This piece does not deny that racism exists. This piece also does not aim to deny that there are privileges in life (there’s the privilege of being straight, the privilege of having two parents, privilege of being born in Singapore, etc.). What it aims to do is to remind its readers that “Chinese privilege” is a counter productive concept. It does not remove racism, and in fact, it perpetuates it. What we should focus our energies on instead, is to come up with more productive solutions, such as by finding ways to uplift our minorities with equal opportunities.