Asian Racism

Racism in Mongolia

2011-02-02T19:20:00.002-03:00

Back from an extended break. Interesting article on how anti-Chinese racism is springing up on Mongolia. The original article can be found here. An extract is included below.

Chinese investment in Mongolia: An uneasy courtship between Goliath and David

February 2nd, 2011

Author: Justin Li, ICE

Sinophobia on the steppes

High dependence on China for trade and investment is causing an unprecedented wave of Sinophobia in Mongolia. This fear has been driven by geopolitical fear, historical legacy and sometimes open racism. Sandwiched between two former imperial masters, Mongolia’s landlocked geography can be described as nothing but a geopolitical nightmare for its leaders. Its national strategy is often a case of a depressing choice between the lesser of two evils. It is understandable that vast and sparsely populated Mongolia, at the doorstep of an emerging superpower, is anxious for anxiety’s sake itself.

The imperial legacy of China still lingers in the minds of some Mongolians and this landlocked country only gained independence from China as late as 1921. Ironically, Taiwan still officially recognises Mongolia as part of its official territory, and it is not uncommon to hear mainland Chinese refer to Mongolia as ‘outer Mongolia’, a dated name alluding to its status as a former imperial possession of China.

The influx of Chinese businessmen and labourers is also provoking racial tension in the country. Whether it be disapproval of Chinese migrant labourers’ behaviour as unhygienic, or Chinese businessmen’s behaviour as philandering, many Mongolians feel alienated by the arrival of large numbers of Chinese. Consequently, anti-China themes are rapidly capturing the airwaves and newspaper headlines, from unfounded allegations of rape and pillage to more justified concerns over Chinese disregard for industrial relations laws and regulations. Chinese construction workers are fast becoming random victims of Mongolian neo-Nazis, and some Mongolian politicians are more than happy to jump on the anti-Chinese bandwagon to attract popular votes.

Justin Li is principal of the Institute of Chinese Economics and an associate of EAF.

Racism in India: Pt2

2010-06-22T04:44:00.004-02:00

In the second part of a special series on racism in India, this article examines how the Indian media actively perpetrates racist perceptions of Africans, and how Indian society treats Africans that are present in India. The original article can be found here

Why Do Black African Racial Stereotypes Persist in India?
By Madhur Singh / New Delhi Friday, Jun. 18, 2010

African-Indian bonhomie was all the rage in India's media last week, amid celebratory coverage of homegrown telecom company Airtel's $10.7 billion acquisition of Kuwaiti company Zain's African operations and TV images of Indian visitors blowing vuvuzelas at soccer's World Cup in South Africa. Amid all the backslapping, however, an African student in India who runs a news and current-affairs website from the city of Bhopal accused companies like Coca-Cola of airing racist commercials on Indian TV that portrayed Africans as primitive savages.
"Indian marketers have a field day in putting 'blacks' where they've always 'belonged,' at least in the average Indian mind-sets," wrote S.K.Y. Banji, an Ugandan who has lived in India for more than four years and runs thereigntimes.com. His comments were endorsed by fellow Africans who posted on the site, sharing their own experiences of racism in India, and soon Banji's concerns were being aired in segments of the mainstream media. Yet there was hardly any public outcry, and none of the companies have issued apologies.

One of the commercials in question, for Coca-Cola's Sprite — which a Coca-Cola spokesperson says was received "very positively" by a test audience in India — shows two young Indian men captured by savages in an African jungle. While one of them tries to win over the captors by doing a silly jig, the other simply offers them Sprite. "There is nothing offensive in this ad," says Martha Wariithi, a Kenyan by birth who is the director of knowledge and insights for Coca-Cola's India and South West Asia unit. "It's lighthearted ... It fits very well for the positioning for Sprite in the market."

The Indian lemon drink LMN, produced by the Parle Agro corporation, has a blatantly racist subtext in its TV spot that shows two Africans digging in the sand for water. When they spot a tap nearby, they wrench it off and start using it as a shovel. Parle Agro would not comment to TIME on the commercial.
Another spot, for BP's Castrol engine oil, shows two young Indian men being magically transported from place to place: a beach, a lion-infested jungle — and a cauldron being carried by smiling African cannibals. BP has not responded to TIME's queries despite indicating it would do so.

The Castrol ad is for contests that can take winners to South Africa for the World Cup, and Coca-Cola is an official sponsor of the event, which aims to showcase Africa in a new light. It speaks to Indian society, long the subject of British Empire stereotyping, as it struggles to adapt to the cultural challenges of its status as an emerging power in a globalized world economy.

"It's amazing how two global companies, in an age of YouTube and Twitter, can think they can get away with such blatantly racist advertising," says Hari Krishnan, vice president at the Delhi office of ad agency JWT. "Perhaps it's just a matter of time before they hear from their global headquarters." But there hasn't been much of an outcry against the commercials in a country whose people have themselves been victims of racism. Indeed, many Indians do not see the advertisements as racist or offensive. Despite their experience with prejudice abroad even today, most Indians seem prone to accept easy generalizations about other peoples and cultures.
"These ads could never be aired in the U.S.," says Diepiriye Kuku, a Delhi-based Nigerian-American conflict-resolution consultant who blogs on his exposure to prejudice in India, a country he says is decades behind the U.S. in addressing racial issues.
Kuku wrote an article titled "India Is Racist and Happy About It" in a leading Indian newsmagazine last year. In a post on his blog, he recounts a visit to a zoo: while he was watching a giraffe, some 50-odd families stopped in their tracks to stare at him. "But," he points out, "Indians don't only stereotype foreigners. They stereotype other Indians too." Indeed, racism against northeastern Indians — whose features often have more in common with those of people in countries farther east and who are the subject of various myths about their sexuality — is widely documented. And the fact that skin-lightening creams are one of the fastest-growing product lines in India's cosmetics sector reflects an obsession with fair skin.

But globalization has opened the doors of the world to many Indians, allowing them to experience other cultures not simply through movies and TV portrayals but by traveling abroad and interacting with foreigners in work and academic environments. "I believe the next decade is going to belong to Africa," Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman of Airtel, said in an interview after sealing the Zain deal that made Airtel the world's fifth biggest telecom operator. In India, that may take some getting used to.

Racism in India

2010-03-20T20:03:00.003-03:00

Long time no publish, but that is due to change soon. Below is an article that will re-appear in the special section on racism in India. Fascinating look at racism and discrimination in bolywood, which of course begs the question: if actresses from India were treated the same way in the UK, what would be the outcome?

Original article can be found here

White British actresses told to leave Bollywood

British actresses who appear in Bollywood films are being targeted in a hate campaign by one of India's most feared political leaders.

By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Published: 5:55PM GMT 17 Mar 2010

Stars including Alice Patten, the daughter of Lord Patten of Barnes, and Hazel Crowney, a former model from Kent, have been accused of stealing jobs from local girls.

Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a Mumbai nationalist street gang and political party which inspires terror throughout the city, has called on foreign white actresses to go home.

His campaign for a ban on the estimated 1,000 British and other foreign actors who regularly appear in Bollywood films has been widely criticised but many foreign actors are too afraid to speak out.

Thackeray is especially feared in Bollywood, where he has the power to shut productions and close cinemas.The campaign for a ban comes as increasing numbers of European and South American actresses are finding roles in Bollywood movies.
In the last few years, Kylie Minogue and Denise Richards have appeared in major Indian films. Miss Patten starred in Rang De Basanti, one of the most popular Bollywood films of recent years, while Minogue appeared in a raunchy song and dance scene called Chiggy Wiggy in the film Blue with action hero Akshay Kumar.

It has also become increasingly common for Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone and Superman star Brandon Routh to take cameo roles in Bollywood productions to boost their appeal. This international approach could now be threatened because producers and directors fear Raj Thackeray will ruin their films if they do not comply.

The campaign to ban foreign actors was launched last week after the MNS raided a the set of Crooked, starring Amitabh Bachchan, India's most famous star, and demanded to see the work permits of 136 foreign actors and actresses. The MNS holds seats in the Mumbai region but its strength comes from its activists who are regarded by many as violent street thugs.

Its supporters have launched violent attacks on rickshaw drivers from other parts of India and threatened organisations which retain the name 'Bombay' instead of 'Mumbai.' Shalini Thackeray, an MNS leader, said: "Why can't our Indian actors dance with locals? We will insist that only local junior artists should be employed.

"We will check whether they have valid permits. Many times, foreigners come here on tourist visas, but take up work in Bollywood."

She was supported by one of Bollywood's top dancers, Rakhi Sawant, who said: "Because of these foreigners, our Indian girls remain jobless. These white girls are like lollipops that only last for two days." Vir Singhvi, one of India's leading commentators, said the party was using the issue to win over Mumbai's women voters who have so far shunned the MNS.

"The MNS says [these dance scenes] are against Indian traditions, vulgar and cheap. They do this to get women's votes because women object to half-naked dancers, but it's not enough of an issue for women to change their minds," he said.
Leading Indian film director Jag Mundra last night criticised the campaign and said it could push up costs and force film-makers to shoot more scenes overseas. To save money, directors usually hire attractive backpackers passing through Mumbai and shoot dance scenes in local clubs or film sets.

"The reason producers pick white girls is because a lot of them have better figures and are willing to expose them," he said.
"If you need a bikini shot, not many Indian girls are willing to turn up in a string bikini. But most white girls will not have an issue with that. Titillation has been an important part of Bollywood."

Update on Update

2008-11-10T19:32:00.003-03:00

There has been a delay in updating the site, sorry about that. For my regular readers, thankyou for your continued feedback and support. The three of us (myself plus the two new editors) have agreed on the following:

1. To have a special section devoted to racism in Australia, as it was agreed by all that Australia is part of Asia, at least by Geography.
2. A profile section of the three editors (myself plus AsianRacism2 and AsianRacism3) the other two editors are thinking about posting photo's, but may follow my lead and blank out our eyes for personal security reasons
3. Looking at setting up some form of 'subscriber' forum or posting system whereby regular contributors and emailers can post comments freely after a sign-up process, this would hopefully strike a balance between freedom of speech and also keeping a lid on some of the content we receive.
4. A new investigation section (more details soon)
5. A new section on Racism in India

So hang in there, loads of new stuff coming soon!

from "Aussie Pete"

2008-09-30T22:22:00.001-02:00

Taken from here: http://www.aussiepete.com/2008/05/ang-mo-in-singapore-and-lao-wai-or.html

13 May 2008
'Ang Mo' in Singapore and 'Lao Wai' or 'Gweilo' in China - Offensive to Westerners?

I promised I would write a blog on this one, so here it is. Although I will put forward my personal experiences, my intention is to try and remain impartial and with an open mind. I really invite comments from any others with personal experience or opinion on this topic.

Firstly, here is my take on the various terms. Although in my country of heritage, Australia, all three terms would be considered 'politically incorrect' and if used toward a foreigner whilst playing sport, would constitute a suspension from the game for a number of weeks and at the highest level of representative sports would ensure that the offending player would undertake mandatory counselling (under racial villification rules), as a foreigner living and working in Singapore and having spent much time in Shanghai, China, I am quite tolerant of the usage of these terms.

In my experience, I have been called all three of these names many times. If a friend or colleague refers to me in any of these ways, it is often with affection or without malice and therefore I take absolutely no offense. However, as with any 'name calling', any of these terms can be used in a derogetory manner - which I have also been exposed to. No country is without some level of racial divide or downright racism, but I have found these people to be the minority in this era of globalization. In this instance, I just feel sorry for the person offering the racial taunt, as it suggests an ignorance that may never be resolved, no matter how much education.

I also understand the cultural divide here - what is acceptable in one country, may not be in another. It is my choice to live and work in a foreign country, and must therefore learn to live with the differences and respect the cultures for what they are - I cannot personally try and change centuries of tradition and beliefs in another country, just because I was raised differently by my parents.

In summary, although I understand the 'passion' that both sides of this discussion adopt, I strongly believe that if we are to ask whether or not a term is offensive (as my topic suggests), the answer lies with the recipient. That is, no matter whether a term is used in a demeaning manner or if the intent is not to offend, this is of no consequence in the argument - if someone is offended by being called any particular name, then by definition, the term is offensive (to that person) and that person should be respected for their opinions and feelings. At the same time, if one is travelling to a foreign country, one must understand that cultures are different and should therefore be respectful themselves and more 'open minded' to various terms. It is however in my mind, never acceptable to 'talk down' to someone based upon difference of race, religion or any other factors - by working together we can make this world a better place.

Please feel free to comment candidly on this topic.

NB: I do not claim to be author of the following texts. All facts on terms below have been freely adopted under 'GNU free documentation licence' and by copyright cannot and have not been altered from the original state. The same free texts can be found on Wikipedia.

Some background facts on the usage of the term 'Ang Mo' in Singapore

Ang mo (simplified Chinese: 红毛; pinyin: hóng máo; POJ: âng-mo•) or sometimes Ang mo kow (red-haired monkeys), also spelled ang moh, is a racial epithet that originates from Hokkien (Min Nan) that is used to refer to white people in Malaysia and Singapore. Literally meaning 'red-haired', the term carries a strong stigma at present amongst a large proportion of the Caucasian minority. The term implies that the person referred to is a devil, a concept explicitly used in the Cantonese term gweilo ('foreign devil').

The term is widely regarded as a racist and derogatory by many Caucasians living in Singapore, but is widely used. It appears, for instance, in various Singaporean television programmes and films. The term was used in the film I Not Stupid, in which when several employees in the marketing department of their company resented a particular Caucasian individual because they perceived that preference had been shown to him because of his race.

Ang mo is believed to be the term originally used in the Singapore place-name Ang Mo Kio (now usually rendered thus: simplified Chinese: 宏茂桥; pinyin: hóng mào qiáo). The term may either refer to the rambutan, a fruit with a red skin covered with hairs; or to a bridge built by the British after which the nearby town was named.

Fort Santo Domingo in Tamshuei, Taiwan is known as the 'City of the Red-Haired' (Traditional Chinese: 紅毛城; pinyin: hóng máo chéng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Âng-mn̂g-siâ; ) in Chinese. It was built by the Spanish in the 17th century.

Some background facts on the usage of the term 'Laowai'

Laowai (Chinese: 老外; pinyin: lǎowài) is one of several Chinese words for foreigner. Laowai literally translates as "old" (lao 老) "foreigner" (wai 外). It is an informal word that appears in both spoken and written Chinese. While some people consider laowai a casual and neutral word, others view it as a pejorative term.

Laowai is a commonly used Chinese word. It is the informal version for foreigner, waiguoren 外国人, which literally means "outside country person." There is some dispute about the correct Chinese characters used to write the word. While "老外" is the more common form, some argue that the character "佬", with the addition of the ren (person) radical (人字旁) is more correct. However, this form is grammatically awkward ("佬" is a slightly derogatory noun for an adult male), and infrequently used.

Lao 老, or "old", is frequently used to express long-term friendship, as in laopengyou, which means "old friend"; or respect, as in laoshi 老师, which means "old teacher." However, there are also words with clear negative connotations containing the character lao, such as lao dongxi 老东西 ("silly old fool"), laohan 老憨 ("simpleton") and lao gudong 老古董 ("old fogey, fuddy-duddy"). Lao is also used as an empty prefix in words for some animals, such as laohu 老虎 ("tiger") and laoshu 老鼠 ("rat, mouse"). (There is some disagreement about this "neutral" use of "lao" in front of these animal characters. In all of the cases mentioned and other cases (including 老鹰 laoying ("eagle") and 老狐狸 "laohuli" ("fox") the "lao" indiciates fear or discomfort. All these animals are considered unlucky or evil.)

Laowai is thus not a completely positive, or even neutral term, and its usage can imply "making fun of" foreigners. The recently published edition of the Chinese-language dictionary 现代汉语规范化词典 (Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian) states that laowai carries a bantering connotation (谐谑; xiexue). Further indication of the negative connotations of laowai is the fact that it is sometimes used synonymously with waihang (外行; amateur, or lay person).

A pejorative term for foreigner, yangguizi 洋鬼子, which literally means foreign devil, was in frequent use early in the 20th century, but today is rarely used and is recognized by Chinese as inappropriate and racist.

Laowai, as well as waiguoren, are commonly used terms that in everyday spoken Chinese refer to Caucasian foreigners, but not Asian foreigners or foreigners of African origin. While a White Westerner may be referred to as a laowai, someone from Japan will be called ribenren 日本人, the Chinese word for Japanese. Someone who has dark skin color and appears to be African in origin will be called heiren 黑人, which means black person. Sometimes the term laohei 老黑 is used for people of African decent, a term which also has pejorative connotations. The most pejorative term is heiguizi 黑鬼子, which literally translates as black devil.

Laowai is one of the first Chinese words that foreigners learn when they come to China. It has now entered the lexicon of China's expat community, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands. It frequently appears in English language literature and advertisements in China as ‘‘laowai’‘ or ‘‘lao wai’‘. It is very common to see ‘‘laowai’‘ used in blogs and websites administered by foreigners living in China. A Google search will come up with 10,000s of entries for ‘‘laowai’‘, including an English language Web portal Laowai.com that caters to expats in Shanghai. There is even a Beijing based drum'n'bass band named "Lao-Why?" that is composed of foreign and Chinese members.

In recent years the word ‘‘laowai’‘ has begun to stir up controversy within the expatriate community in China. In this way ‘‘laowai’‘ is similar to how Americans view the Spanish word gringo and Westerners view the Japanese word gaijin or the Thai word farang. This is because many foreigners in China believe that ‘‘laowai’‘ is a derogatory term. This is due to the fact that some Chinese frequently shout out "Laowai"! to foreigners passing by, which may then be followed up with laughter and taunting.

The official Chinese press has expressed concern about the inappropriate use of ‘‘laowai’‘ and foreign sensitivities surrounding the word. Editorials, written by foreigners and Chinese, have appeared in English and Chinese language newspapers about the subject. In response, local governments have launched campaigns aimed at educating the Chinese public about the appropriate usage of ‘‘laowai’‘.

Some background facts on the usage of the term 'Gweilo'

Gweilo (鬼佬; Jyutping: gwai2 lou2; Cantonese pronounced [kwɐ̌ɪ lə̌ʊ]; sometimes also spelt Gwailo) is a Cantonese term for people of the caucasian race (generally men), and has a long racially deprecatory history of use. It literally means "dead corpse that has come back to life", ghost" or "ghost man", and arose to describe the pale complexion, the sometimes "red hair and green/blue eyes" (traditional Chinese: 紅鬚綠眼; Cantonese Yale: hung4 sou1 luk6 ngaan5) of caucasians. When the term is translated into English, it is often translated as foreign devil. The term arose in the 19th century and is associated with the demonization of Europeans during the occupation of China by foreign powers .

The translation, foreign devil is appropriate when seen from the standpoint of the history of deprecatory use of the term and the common use of the living dead (鬼) inhabiting various levels of hell in Chinese Buddhism.In this sense, the translation foreign devil also has strong merit. The Chinese meaning of gwei (鬼) can mean "ghost" or "devil" in Chinese, because although Chinese religions such as Buddhism do not include beliefs parallel to the the Christian ideas of "God" there are indeed hells where devils reside. Furthermore, some Chinese do believe in ghosts, spirits, and reincarnation. The reason for calling caucasians as "hateful living dead" was probably because during the 1800s, when the Chinese first saw the caucasians with a comparatively much paler complexion, they thought that the Europeans were actually dead corpses that had come back to life. It also could also have expressed hatred, as when the same term gwei (鬼) was historically applied to express hatred of the the Japanese military which massacred many Chinese.

Nowadays, this term demonstrates that Hong Kong residents often refer to caucasians and other races by their race. This is in sharp contrast to the remainder of the People Republic of China where foreigners are most commonly referred to as "foreign friends" (waiguo pengyou 外国朋友) of "good old foreigner" (lao wai 老外). The character "lao" (老) is the same character use in "good old friend" (老友). This sharp contrast reflects the ill will that Hong Kong residents have had towards caucasian occupiers during the past several hundred years. Particularly Hong Kong residents use "Gweilo" as a racist term which betrays a racist and isolationism mentality among many towards caucasians.

One must keep in mind however that gwei (鬼) in gweilo (鬼佬) is indeed used to express the highest degree of hate and deprecation. A case in point is when many Chinese families watched as their mothers were killed and daughter taken into forced prostitution by the Japanese during World War II. At that time the term they chose to express their greatest hatred towards the Japanese was (鬼), the same gwei that is used for gweilo. "Guizi Bing" (鬼子兵) does not refer to a cute Casper-type ghost, but is closer in connotation to devil or Satan. Considering this, "foreign devil" does have merit as a translation to capture the full nuance of the term.

The pejorative sense is further intensified when the term is prefaced by the Chinese word sei (死, jyutping: sei2, meaning: death, damnation) as in sei gweilo (死鬼佬), literally meaning "dead ghost man", using the translation "dead" for "sei" (死) because it is only correct to be used as an adjective. However, the word "sei gweilo" is not really a term, but an adjective added to the term in order to describe the person or people referred to by the term as bad. When the word "sei" (死) is used as such to describe a living person, it means "bad". "Sei" (死) is commonly added to other terms in order to describe the person or people being referred to as "bad", such as "sei lo" (死佬), meaning literally "dead man" or "bad guy" and "sei chai lo" (死差佬), literally "dead policeman" or "bad policeman". Chinese people also can call each other "Sei gwei" (死鬼), literally meaning "dead ghost", but refers to a bad man also. Even without the word sei (死) the character (鬼) itself can express intense loathing as when it was attached to the Japanese military in the term "Guizi Bing" (鬼子兵) during their massacre of what some have estimated to be upwards to 30 millian Chinese during World War II.

Gweilo is the most generic term, but variations include:
- To refer specifically to European women: gweipor (鬼婆; jyutping: gwai2 po4, literally: "ghost woman") which is also often spelt "gwai-poh"
- To refer specifically to European boys: gweijai (鬼仔; jyutping: gwai2 zai2, literally: "ghost boy")
- To refer specifically to European girls: gweimui (鬼妹; jyutping: gwai2 mui1, literally: "ghost younger-sister")

Due to its widespread use, the term gwei, which means devil, demon, or ghost, has taken on the general meaning of "foreigner" or "westerner" and usually refers to the European races since Indians, Filipinos, Indonesians, African and other races have their own separate racial terms that are used for them instead of gweilo. Few people for example would refer to their Philippine maid as a gweilo. The following variant of the term is considered racist because they are specific to a group of people based on their racial characteristic:

To refer to a white foreigner: bakgwei (白鬼; jyutping: baak6 gwai2, literally: "white ghost")
To refer to a black foreigner: hakgwei (黑鬼; jyutping: haak1 gwai2, literally: "black ghost")
In 1999, CFMT-TV in Toronto had a cooking show named Gwai Lo Cooking. It featured a Cantonese-speaking European chef as the host, who was also the show's producer and the person who named the show. In response to some complaints, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled that
... While historically, "gwai lo" may have been used by Chinese people as a racist remark concerning foreigners, particularly European Westerners, the persons consulted by the Council indicate that it has since lost much of its racist overtone. The Council finds that the expression has also lost most of its religious meaning, so that "foreign devil" no longer carries the theological significance it once did. Based on its research, the Council understands that the expression has gone from being considered offensive to, at worst, merely "impolite".

According to CFMT-TV, "Gwei Lo" was used as "a self-deprecating term of endearment". Others, however, particularly foreigners living in Hong Kong, find the term demeaning and/or racist. However, it is also used by some non-Chinese (sometimes jocularly) to address themselves.

While "gwailo" is commonly used by some Cantonese speakers in informal speech, the more polite alternative sai yan (西人; jyutping: sai1 jan4, literally: "western person") is now used.
The term is often considered racist by non-Cantonese people. Many Cantonese speakers, however, frequently use the term to refer to white people and westerners in general and they consider the term non-racist, a controversial notion. The term was commonly prefaced by sei (死; jyutping: sei2, meaning: death, damned) as in sei gweilo, meaning "damned ghost man", and used pejoratively with sei as the pejorative suffix.

Interesting blog from Malaysia

2008-08-13T03:42:00.001-02:00

This one was sent in from AsianRacism2. Check it out here

Non-Malay exodus

With all the vitrolic spewing out of UMNO, it is not surprising that there is an exodus to migrate. Over the past few weeks I have spoken to at least half a dozen professionals, mainly in their late-20s and early-30s who have applied for migration. Many are highly skilled accountants and IT personnel.

The main reasons given are;

1. Limited educational and job opportunities for their children in the future, as many feel that there is a strong possibility that Malaysia will be economically marginalised and that we are in a downward spiral towards economic doom, once the petroleum reserves are depleted.

2. Deep anger at the UMNO's racist policies and open discrimination practised by the UMNO based government.

3. Lack of confidence in the Badawi administration in curtailing the extremist Islamic and Malay agenda.

4. Gradual drift of the country towards an Islamic administration, with the eventual implementation of syariah laws for all.

5. Better financial remuneration outside Malaysia, as salaries appear to have relatively stagnated here.

6.Anger that most of the taxes paid by the non Malays are used to support the UMNOputeras and very little is left behind for others. Unlike in Australia, Canada & New Zealand where taxes are used to provide educational,social and health subsidies for all, irrespective of religion, race or creed.

Many of these potential migrants possess skills that the country desperately needs.
This brain drain is further going to jeopardise our competitiveness vis a vis our neighbours.

This (emigration) news will add salt to already wounded Malaysia. Malaysia had already suffered from fallen FDI (foreign direct investment) and with this news, it will send two very strong signals to foreign investors.

1) Malaysians have no confidence in the country's lomg term prospect, foreign investor will think twice before committing long term investment.

2) Brain drain has becoming more serious in Malaysia. Those migrating are highly mobile professional which are welcome by many developed countries like, Hong Kong, Singapore, US, Canada and etc.

Malaysia is not only losing out in attracting FDI, foreign talents, yet become net export of talent to foreign countries. If this trend is not stopped, foreign investors will find difficulty getting talented employees in this area. Thus they will have to move to countries with abundant talented professionals.

Looking at the situation, the migrating trend will not change unless the government is changed. Is there any hope for Malaysia? The months to come will be very crucial. If UMNO-putera continue to rule the country, Malaysia sure doom in 2020.

malaysian chinese
via email

More on Singapore

2008-08-13T03:39:00.002-02:00

This gem was sent by AsianRacism3 (as they will be called very shortly). Highlights some problems in that country.

Original can be found here

I walked out of the house this morning and feared I had become a racist.

I passed by a newsstand and a magazine tells me about 50% of the world's most beautiful people are from the West, 10% from Singapore, 35% from Hong Kong and Taiwan and 5% from India and Malaysia. A JC Decaux billboard says that a lot of people read their ads and they have faces to prove it: Chinese people of various ages and occupations and genders. There are some which show non-Chinese people but they don't have the dignity of individual names, and they are put under the heading 'The Changing Face of Singapore'. This can mean that perhaps the media is using more non-Chinese people in their ads (which I don't see) or that Singapore's demographic makeup is being altered by the arrival of other races (which I am not aware of, historically). I take a bus and TV Mobile is screening a Taiwanese variety programme. A Singaporean beauty contestant wears a cheongsam as her national costume and asks for an interpreter to translate her replies from Mandarin. The Speak Mandarin campaign informs me of what assets are missing from my life.

Tanya Chua's music video comes on and I unconsciously tally the number of Malay people that appear; I have been doing this for some time now, when I was in JC there was a 'My Singapore' music video which showed images of corporate-looking Chinese women walking through the CBD and Malay women in factory uniforms walking through a bus interchange. Tanya Chua's 'Where I Belong' shows three instances of Malay people populating the landcsape: a husband and wife riding a scooter; a father and son on a bicycle, the son carrying a box one presumes is filled with curry puffs or goreng pisang, and a group of Malay youths playing soccer in a housing estate ghetto so run down, it looks like an opposition ward being denied of upgrading, or one of those satellite towns built when Jurong swamps were still being filled.

But perhaps this is an improvement over other images: the satay man, the songbird owner, the mee rebus Makcik, the Malay bride and groom getting married in gold-embroidered finery (and situated on a dais, we Malays like to call them 'royalty for a day', playing the illusion of being king and queen in a country where the royal bloodline has been evicted from their home and told that the ruins of their palace will be converted into a museum). I think about what Sang Nila Utama really did when he threw his crown into the sea to calm the raging storm; whether the gales spoke to his inner ear: 'if you want to live on the island you must surrender all memory of having once been a prince'. At the Sentosa Merlion there are signs that say that Sang Nila himself saw the Merlion rising from the waters, a fact that the Sejarah Melayu, the Malay Annals, failed to mention. Evidently there is someone called 'Sang Nila' somewhere in the executive committee of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board.

At the foot of the Raffles statue in Boat Quay there is an inscription that says the man's genius transformed a 'sleepy fishing village' into the modern metropolis it is today, this at the foot of a man who recorded in his journals how he saw the tombs of the Malay kings, and inscriptions on a fortress wall, when he first landed: evidence of an empire, of civilisation. In an interview a doyenne of Singapore theatre laments that all Singaporeans are 'cultural orphans', including the Malays, because they migrated from Malaysia and Indonesia, and that makes them immigrants too, no matter that one can take a sampan from Johor to Singapore.

I walk through a park in Tampines and see Chinese boys playing basketball at the court and Malay boys playing soccer on the field; I am comforted that my complete uselessness at ball games has prevented me from taking either side, has by default made me a conscientious objector to such disturbing polarities. In the army a sergeant major never called be by my name; I was called 'Melayu', which I suppose was better than 'Ah-Neh', used to address the Indians in the platoon. I remember a fellow Malay platoon mate who told me to give it my all when I was fasting, this was to prevent anyone from saying that we could use religion as an excuse for our weakness. He was eventually posted to the infantry (not logistics or engineers, much less the Navy or Airforce) and I used to imagine him burning up his pre-fasting morning meal to be the first to charge up the hill, yelling the pain of hunger and the pain of being different. The Malay staff sergeant in Officer Cadet School gave me a lot of shit just to overcompensate, to show everyone that he was not into any form of racial favouritism. I became a victim of the sidelong glances he made as he watched me doing my pushups, those eyes constantly seeking approval from the eyes of the majority.

I see a schoolgirl from a madrasah wearing a tudung on the MRT and she is filling in the pictures in her colouring book. There are many choices among her colour pencils which she can use for skin, but she will use orange, and colour lightly, not brown or black. I have seen her schoolmates before, eyeing branded scoolbags at pasar malams, wearing branded sports shoes, like every other kid. I want to go up to her and hug her, and tell her how her tudung is not just a symbol of modesty, but a symbol of inscrutability. That layer of cloth makes her suspicious to others, it can be used to smuggle in a grenade or an agenda, so she will never get a frontline desk job, she will be expected to hang around with other tudung-wearing women in the university. I think about the fathers who sent their daughters to schools in tudung and reflect on how the media has framed them as shit-stirrers rather than citizens who practised their right to civil disobedience, the same way Gandhi fasted, or Rosa Parks refused to sit at her negroes-only seat on the segregated bus. If I can tell the girl one thing, it is 'integration is not assimilation', or 'tolerance is a failure in understanding' even though it is something she will take time to understand.

I think also of the men who filmed different locations in Singapore with the heinous intent of planting bombs. Did they not consider the various innocent Singaporean lives that could have been claimed by what they were about to do? And I wonder if they had already chosen another country to live in; a country in which they do not have to face a creeping sense of alienation, of redundancy. And I am not talking about an Islamic country, not Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else, but an afterlife paradise, where everyone is equal in the eyes of God, where wearing a sarong or having a beard does not immediately make you a proto-terrorist. Or perhaps a country that exists in their minds, nurtured by a growing sense of insularity and isolation, where they walk the streets and everyone else is just a ghost, in whose dead eyes they cannot find any light of empathy or understanding.

Once someone told me: 'But the government is bending over backwards to accommodate you Malays.' I smiled and wanted to ask him if it wasn't the other way round, that the Malays are made to bend forward to be fucked senseless. Another time a journalist asked if the statistical evidence of 'progress' shows that Malays are being given the same opportunities as everyone else. I told her that statistics don't do shit for me, as someone who has to live day by day as a Malay person in this country. I told her one Malay Air Force pilot poster boy, and a few bar charts and graphs, don't make me feel more at home. The only thing they do is to convince non-Malays that the country they live in is truly multiracial, that there are no tensions beneath the veneer of newsprint and newscasts and the rosy speeches of Malay MP's.

I have always believed in multi-racialism. I can say with utmost confidence that I have more friends who are non-Malay than those who are. And I mean real friends, who I confide in, who I've shared many things with, who I do love dearly. And yet, of late, I have the feeling that a lot of the things I'm saying, a lot of this talk about alienation and marginalisation, only feeds subconsciously into their sense of how fortunate they are to be born into the status quo. I have written a poem before where I say, 'But more than that we prayed for ourselves,/treading the rosary of our blessings,/for what is pity without thanks for/the opportunity for such pity?' And sometimes I feel as if the more my voice is raised on the fast-eclipsing fate of the minority, the more it feeds into the majority's smugness and arrogance about their assured place in the sun. And this only makes me feel more powerless than if I had kept silent.

So I say now, forgive me if you think my desire to work with my own people marks me out as a racist. Forgive me if you think that my preferences are actually prejudices. Forgive me for retreating into something one can so easily call 'cultural chauvinism'. And I will forgive you for thinking that this person writing this isn't the Alfian that you know, that he has always been moderate and liberal, and I will forgive you if you look at me differently the next time I meet you. For some time already I have felt that as a Malay writer writing in English I have had to carry the burden of articulating so many unvoiced concerns. And the responsibilities associated with this are frightening. I just think it is time I pass on whatever skills I have to other Malay people, so we may tell our stories to those who want to hear them, even though they are stories of loss and loneliness and accidents of birth.

I have been upset since. I don't think i am ever coming back home to work. Not if my race is going to be portrayed that way and especially not when i am respected first by my intelligence and merit here before my race comes into play. I sat in the Bell Canada Board room with my Executive Director for 8 hours on Saturday. My EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. a man who made 7 billion dollars for his company in one year and he sat there actually paying attention to my ideas. I thought to myself that no one at home would have ever paid attention to what a 21 year old Indian girl would have had to say, but here they did. WHY THE FUCK THEN WOULD I WANNA COME HOME AND WASTE MY TALENTS?

Discrimination, Singapore-style

2008-08-13T03:31:00.002-02:00

Hi all;

Sorry for the long update. Some news: AsianRacism is going collaborative! Two new authors are joining the site, one i met at a conference recently and another is a long-timer contributor (via the comments function) on the site, who has provided a number of great articles in the past. So the site will be updated with some profiles of the three of us, and we should be seeing more content very soon.

In the interim, a nice little snippet of discrimination in the Singaporean workplace as reported in the freely-distributed and government owned Today newspaper. Despite calls from the opposition and other community groups, Singapore still has no legislation in place to deal with discrimination on the basis of race. Enjoy and see you soon!

Link the the article can be found here

Discrimination, Singapore-style

Sadly, racial discrimination in the workplace appears to be a worldwide problem, despite all the efforts to curb it. Things are no different in Singapore, as a Today Online article reports.

The job market can tough in Singapore if you're not Mandarin speaking – in other words, if you're Malaysian or Indian. According to a recent study, the problem goes beyond the workplace and is even apparent in schools.

The government response is to "take action" once discrimination occurs. Yet this response is reactionary and opens the government up to criticism of superficially "treating the wound" instead of addressing the real issue.

Another solution put forth by Singapore authorities is a web site that explains cultural differences in the primary ethnicities in Singapore. While noble, I can't imagine how many people – especially those who engage in discriminatory practices – will actually read this web site. Perhaps seminars and surprise adherence checks might be a better way of stopping potential offenders from making the jump to actual offender.

Ultimately, it will come down to companies to police their own personnel and root out any discriminatory practices – something which will require considerable management buy-in. Unfortunately, while I don't see this problem ever truly being eradicated, it's good to see some movement in the right direction

Double standards in Japan

2008-05-19T21:25:00.002-02:00

Japan in recent years, has kicked up a fair amount of diplomatic noise over the rapes of women and some school children by American military personnel stationed in Japan. To their credit they have pursued such cases strongly and held the accused to account. However, when the same situation arises involving a foreign woman (an Australian in this instance) the police seem to have dragged their feet. Whilst the action taken in an attempt to correct the problem is admirable, one cannot help but think: if the victim had been Japanese, would the same thing have happened?

Japan pays Australian rape victim $30,000 as US sailor walks free

May 20, 2008

JAPAN will pay compensation of three million yen ($30,000) to an Australian woman who was raped in 2002 by a US sailor who never faced prosecution.

But the victim, who uses the pseudonym of Jane, says it means little because the rapist is still free.

The woman was raped in 2002 by a then sailor of the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in the naval port city of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. Japanese prosecutors dropped the case without pressing a charge against the sailor.

The victim filed a civil case with the Tokyo District Court, which recognised the rape and gave her the right to seek compensation of 3 million yen from her attacker.

However, by the time of the ruling, the sailor had discreetly left the country without even telling his lawyer and he never paid the money. Now Japan will pay her the compensation.

"Of course, I'm deeply grateful for the Japanese Government for using the taxpayers' money," the woman, said. "But it doesn't change very much to me because this person who raped me is still walking around."

Under the Status of US Forces Agreement in Japan, compensation owed by US military personnel to crime and accident victims should be paid by the US Government if service members cannot afford to pay, but with a two-year statute of limitation.

When the court gave the ruling, the two years had already passed. Now the Japanese Defence Ministry has decided to shoulder the payment.

"No one has ever, ever tried to help [me] from the US military," Jane said.

The payment follows a series of criminal cases linked to the US military that has caused public uproar and prompted tighter restrictions on troops when off bases. In the southern island of Okinawa - home to more than half of the 40,000 US troops in Japan - a US military court on Friday sentenced a US Marine to four years in jail for sexually abusing a 14-year-old Japanese schoolgirl.

Earlier this month, a Marine was given a two-year prison term for sexual misconduct with a Japanese woman, but cleared of the charge of gang-rape.

Jane said her compensation would not change the fact that rape cases "keep on repeating over and over again".

Agence France-Presse

Chinese Racism (pt5)

2008-04-27T21:47:00.005-02:00

This picture was sent by my son. I think it sums up the hypocrisy of the Chinese protesters nicely.

Death to racism, the world over!

A useful link on Tibet

2008-04-24T23:02:00.000-02:00

Take a look here:

http://www.tibetoffice.com.au/

Lots of useful information.

Chinese Racism in Canberra (pt4)

2008-04-24T23:00:00.001-02:00

China calls for a people's army to march on Canberra to defend torch

John Garnaut and Maya Li in Beijing
April 16, 2008

THOUSANDS of Chinese Australians are being asked to rally and defend the Olympic torch from Tibetan "splittists", "scum" and "running dogs" when it arrives in Canberra next week.

The mass campaign is being organised by community leaders in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, while the Chinese embassy is also said to be actively supporting a peaceful show of strength.

One Canberra-based student organiser, Zhang Rongan, said he expected more than 10,000 patriotic Chinese to go to the capital when the torch arrives on April 24. He was arranging "strong men" to protect other torch defenders against violent attacks from pro-Tibet or Falun Gong forces, he said, adding there would be one nurse or doctor on site for every 100 protesters.

Chinese nationals and many ethnic Chinese worldwide have been angered by television news footage of pro-Tibetan protesters in London and Paris "attacking" the Olympic torch, which they see as the ultimate symbol of China's re-emergence in the world.

As the torch has travelled the world, cities along its route have cut its run through their streets and strengthened security to avoid further clashes. Pakistan, which will host the first leg of its Asia relay today, has changed the venue for the torch run, holding it in a stadium closed to the public. India has trimmed the route by two-thirds and Japan has cancelled a public celebration linked to the relay later this month in the city of Nagano because of security concerns.

Perceptions that the West is pro-Tibet and anti-China have generated a furious outpouring of ethnic Chinese patriotism, fuelled by private bloggers and the state propaganda machine.

But the Canberra campaign is unlikely to improve Western views of China because many protest leaders are borrowing the militaristic anti-Tibet and anti-Western rhetoric that is bubbling out of the mainland.

One letter widely circulated among Chinese Australians said "the China forces" in Canberra are weak and need reinforcement because the city is a "separatist base" for Falun Gong, pro-Tibet, pro-Uighur (an ethnic minority group in China's north-west) and other "splittists". It said that no Chinese can tolerate being humiliated by "scum of the Chinese nation" and "running dogs".

"Whether you carry a Chinese passport or are an Australian citizen, I believe that each and every one of you, the sons and daughters of China, are as one with us in loyalty and love for the motherland!" the letter said, adding registration details for free bus rides from Sydney and Melbourne.

This and other calls to protest are being promoted through Chinese-Australian websites such as www.aobo.com.au.

Zhang Zhuning, chairman of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Canberra, said Australian police were underestimating the "piles of monks" and Vietnamese "paid" thugs from Sydney who would create trouble.

But he was not afraid of local Falun Gong groups because Chinese triad gangs had "quietened them down".

The language about Tibet and the Olympic torch is more extreme inside China.

Individuals who have called for moderation or dialogue, such as Chang Ping, an editor at the Southern Metropolis Daily, have been subjected to vicious, personal denunciations on blog sites and in state-controlled newspapers.

Zhang Rongan, the Canberra-based student organiser, said the Chinese embassy in Canberra "is organising buses, food and places to stay" for protesters.

Chinese security official in Beijing has also told the Herald that the embassy was organising volunteers to provide a human wall to protect the torch, although the embassy did not return calls late yesterday.

Student organisers say they are arranging express courier deliveries of giant Chinese national flags from the mainland because shops in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne have sold out.

Chinese Racism in Canberra (pt3)

2008-04-24T22:56:00.001-02:00

25 April 2008 - 8:46AM
City's shining example eclipses ugly side
By Megan Doherty City Reporter

Canberra had "shown the world" how to stage a successful leg of the Beijing Olympics torch relay despite seven arrests and ugly scenes among some moments of real beauty and pride yesterday.

A massive contingent of Chinese inundated Canberra for the day, most bussed in from interstate, leading to speculation it was only an orchestrated display of nationalism designed to swamp pro-Tibet sentiment.

Some violent scuffles erupted within the crowds but most stoushes were verbal not physical.

Police estimated 7500 Chinese were present in Canberra, compared with 2000 pro-Tibet supporters.

But the Chinese Students and Scholars Association said the figure was more than 20,000, creating unprecedented scenes in Canberra as the five-starred red flag took over the national capital.

The Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China which supports one China claimed 10,000 Chinese came just from Sydney.

"We are not here for protests, we are here for the Olympics because this is the dream we've been dreaming for 100 years," vice-president Dr Ven Tan said.

ACT Chief Police Officer Michael Phelan said the 550 local and interstate police had done their job well. He had received no complaints or reports of injuries.

"There were certainly enough police to look after, not only the protection of the torch, the runners, but also the public at large," he said.

ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope declared the day an "outstanding success".

While he was dismayed by the aggression shown by some Chinese, he believed the vast majority were displaying "proud nationalism" equivalent to Australians at the 2006 soccer World Cup in Germany.

Mr Stanhope said the Canberra leg of the Beijing Olympics torch relay had been better than any of the previous 14 sections and "it didn't go to custard" like the London, Paris or San Francisco routes.

"I had one priority today a successful relay displaying Australia through its national capital to the world and we exceeded beyond my wildest expectations in doing that," he said

The police and a steel fence ensured the Olympic flame travelled the entire 16km route and even across Lake Burley Griffin by a women's rowing eight without being accosted by protesters or taken inside a vehicle or building for protection.

Olympic gold medallist swimmer Libby Trickett (nee Lenton) was beaming after completing her section down Commonwealth Avenue, in what was her first torch relay run.

"That was fantastic, so much fun and the crowd was amazing I'm still buzzing," she said.

There was jostling between an AFP officer and a torch attendant at the beginning of the relay. Mr Phelan said it was a minor miscommunication about how close the attendant could be to the flame.

"Once it was articulated, it was not a problem," he said.

ACT Olympic Torch Relay Organising Committee chairman Ted Quinlan was surprised by the numbers of Chinese who did turn out for the day but maintained organisers had not been overwhelmed.

"Australia has shown the world again that we can organise an event better than anyone," he said.

Veteran Olympian Ron Clarke, who was the second-last of the 80 torch-bearers, said the Canberra leg of the relay had been "a big success", as the Olympic flame left last night for Japan for its the next section.

"I think it's set the pattern for the rest of the world," Mr Clarke said.

"It just shows you what can be done when it's properly organised, frankly. It's a pity that other people like San Francisco didn't have the same sort of planning and forethought."

Mr Phelan said the seven people arrested had been charged with offences under the Major Events Security Act. The five pro-Chinese and two pro-Tibet supporters faced fines if found guilty.

One of the seven arrested was a man who sat on Commonwealth Avenue ahead of Rob de Castella as the Olympian ran with the flame towards Parliament House. Mr Phelan defended the manner in which the police removed the man from the road. "I thought it was appropriate," he said.

At Reconciliation Place and Parliament House, there were tense stand-offs and violent scuffles between pro-Chinese and pro-Tibet or pro-East Turkistan groups, with police either forming a barricade between the opposing sides or dragging protesters out of the crowd to be detained on police buses.

One small section of the Chinese were aggressive, screaming abuse at Tibetan supporters and sticking their fingers up at monks. There were complaints of Tibetan supporters being roughed up and their flags being smothered.

Some Tibetan demonstrators, too, seemed to want to provoke a response, repeatedly walked past the aggressive section of the Chinese crowd, ignoring the majority who were standing peacefully watching the unfolding ceremony.

Pro-Tibet supporter Loretta Rosa said she had taken shelter near a media tent at Reconciliation Place because she did not feel safe walking through the crowds displaying a Tibet flag.

"As an Australian, I should be able to come here and feel safe to carry my point of view as well as the thousands and thousands of Chinese flags I've seen around Canberra," she said.

Gungahlin student Yongjie Qi, 22, who came to Australia from China seven years ago, said he wanted no trouble yesterday.

"We are peaceful, we are happy to be here and we wish to have a really, really good Olympics this year," he said.

There was tit-for-tat protest action throughout the day: Greens senator Bob Brown commissioned a sky-writer to emblazon the sky above Parliament House with "Free Tibet"; it was quickly followed by a light plane dragging a "Go Go Beijing Olympics" sign.

Before the relay start, Mr Stanhope had called for respect for the torch-bearers, "some of whom have done more to advance the cause of human rights on this planet than most of us will ever dream of doing".

The total cost of running the relay would double to about $2 million mainly due to a "significant" police overtime bill. Mr Stanhope did not yet have a firm commitment from the Commonwealth to pay half.

"I would have spent 10 times the $2 million we spent to achieve what I've achieved in the national capital today," he said.

The ACT Government estimated there were 20,000 people at Reconciliation Place, 15,000 at Parliament House, 3000 at the Australian War Memorial and 40,000 at Commonwealth Park, but said some people would have moved from location to location.

Chinese Racism in Canberra (pt2)

2008-04-24T22:54:00.002-02:00

25 April 2008 - 8:49AM
Street war victory to the red army
By Noel Towel, Canberra

Canberra was given a taste of red power yesterday as up to 10,000 pro-Chinese demonstrators descended on the capital for the Olympic torch relay.

Armed with red flags and loud voices, the activists, mostly students bused in from Sydney and Melbourne, outnumbered Tibetan protesters and their allies by at least five-to-one.

While the Tibetan side was outnumbered, it enjoyed some star power, with Canadian singer k.d. lang lending her voice to the push for a "free Tibet".

All up, seven people were arrested.

The style and mood of the protests changed throughout the relay route, with hot spots breaking out along the way. One man who tried to block the path of torch-bearer Robert de Castella was quickly whisked away by police.

A few hundred metres from the Australian War Memorial on the so-called "peace mile" brothers John and Nick Price, of North Canberra, claimed they incurred the wrath of an angry pro-China mob.

Nick Price said the trouble started when he and John walked down the middle of Anzac Parade carrying a large "Free Tibet" banner.

"Everyone [was] running with their flags and probably a mob of 100 Chinese surrounded us, pushing us, trying to steal the banner, throwing sticks at us, a lot of abuse," he said. John Price added, "They hit us with sticks on the head and threw rocks at us."

There were more disturbing scenes near the parliamentary triangle with claims the great wall of China supporters was intimidating anyone supporting the Tibetan cause.

Tibetans were not the only ones who turned out to air their grievances against China; Vietnamese, East Turkistanis, Mongolians and Falun Gong devotees were also in voice.

Tibet supporters claimed the Chinese were "rent-a-crowd", university students who had been bussed in from Sydney and Melbourne for the benefit of Chinese TV.

But the Chinese denied it, claiming they came to show their support for their country, and to spread the Olympic spirit.

According to the men and women in red, the human-rights protesters were "liars" who were being paid by foreigners to destroy China's reputation and it was a patriotic duty to defend their nation from the "slurs" of the Tibetans.

The Chinese were well organised with larger groups marshalled by stewards dressed in white and carrying two-way radios, who issued strict orders for the students not to discuss politics with the media.

Canberra-based Chinese Students and Scholars Association representative Zhang Rongan was thinking big yesterday, putting the numbers of Chinese nationals in the capital as high as 20,000 police estimated there were 7500 to 10,000 and denied widespread speculation that the crowds were organised by the Chinese Government.

"We were thinking initially at the most 5000, but it turns out more than 20,000 came," he said.

Mr Zhang said the students paid their own travel costs to Canberra and were not funded by the students' association.

"They just rented the buses to get down the cost," he said.

"They paid their own way. Nobody could afford to pay for so many people."

David Sun and Yoyo, who work for the Chinese state company CATIC in Sydney, said the pro-human rights activists were not telling the truth.

"These people are employed by someone who pays them money to be here," Mr Sun said.

"Many of them are not Tibetans at all. I do not know where they are from. I don't think they should tell lies."

Temay Rigzin, from Canberra's Tibetan community, said the movement in Australia was disappointed by the day's events.

The Tibetans who mustered a crowd of about 2000 believed their message had been drowned out by the behaviour of the Chinese.

Mr Rigzin said he and his fellow protesters had been "mobbed" by pro-Beijing activists.

"A fair few people were pushed around and subjected to mob intimidation but no one was seriously hurt," he said.

"A lot of the time the police were watching the torch and this was going on between stages of the torch relay.

"We felt from the start to have our message heard, but then we felt we got intimidated and overwhelmed and stifled by the Chinese supporters.

"So in that respect, we didn't get the chance to talk about our message as much as we'd like to."

ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said he was proud of the efforts of the 550 police officers on duty yesterday to control the situation and praised his police chief.

"Today was a remarkable success," he said.

"There were some incidents and some very strong expressions of nationalism from the Chinese groups in Australia."

But the Chief Minister said there was none of the violence or disruption which marred the torch relay in London or Paris, and which Canberra had feared.

"It ran its full course, it was peaceful," he said.

"I'm absolutely chuffed."

with AAP

Chinese Racism in Canberra (pt 1)

2008-04-24T22:49:00.003-02:00

25 April 2008 - 8:50AM
A coup for the cadres of the embassy
Jack Waterford, Canberra

The emergence, and, in their terms, effectiveness of the red Chinese army in Canberra yesterday was a stunning success for a Chinese embassy intelligence operation which has long maintained close surveillance on most of the nearly 100,000 Chinese students in Australia, and which controls most of the Chinese student associations.

Most of the expenses, and virtually all of the organisation, down to transport, accommodation, strategies, tactics, marshals, face markings and issues of Chinese flags, was arranged by the embassy, which has good reason to think that what occurred overwhelmed protests about Chinese actions in Tibet, other ethnic regions, treatment of the Falung Gung, or actions in Iran, Darfur or Zimbabwe.

By comparison with the value of international and Chinese headlines reporting basic calm, a few arrests, local shock and official distaste in Canberra for the ruthless efficiency of the operation is of little moment.

But to read from that either that the Chinese manipulated a group of brain-washed automatons, or that they blackmailed student participation by threatening repercussions at home, is probably to fundamentally misunderstand what occurred.

It was not threats, real or implicit, that mobilised the students, even if a good many of them understand perfectly well that negative reports could make life unpleasant back home, including for members of families. Nor, by and large, were the numbers gathered in the way of a traditional "spontaneous demonstration" of the sort familiar to those who watch the antics of Arab dictators such as the late Saddam Hussein or political militias in Indonesia.

It was by appealing to a sense of pride, a sense of siege from "unfair" criticism, and a strong belief by many ordinary Chinese students that the upsurge of affected interest in Tibet, or criticism of China, is itself a staged intelligence operation by China's enemies.

A read of the internet discussions focuses particularly on CNN as a supposed senior conspiricist in this propaganda.

The students were invited to rally to defend their country, to show their pride in it, and to express their pleasure and satisfaction at what China has achieved, particularly in recent times.

It was accompanied, of course, by invocations of the wicked motivations, and manipulations, of the enemies of China and the Chinese. These enemies were provoking "splittism" wanting to weaken China by encouraging separatist movements, whether of Tibetans, Uighurs or Muslims.

Canberra has a substantial population of Chinese students, but, even if all mobilised, these were bound to be overwhelmed by splittists, "scum of the Chinese nation" such as Falun Gong supporters, and others wanting to humiliate China in front of the world because Canberra was a "separatist base", full also of monks and "paid Vietnamese thugs".

The Chinese embassy circulated a letter to students hooked into Chinese Students Association networks asking for a voluntary organised and spontaneous peaceful patriotic activity ... to prevent the disruptive actions of Free Tibet campaigners and anti-Chinese elements from interfering with the Olympic torch relay.

The letter an English translation was published by Crikey.com.au told students:

"Discipline: obey orders, act collectively. Prevent all actions that can be detrimental to the image of China, including words, comments and provocative behaviour, or any use of force. When confronting provocation, you must be aware that the media will exaggerate even your most minor actions ... Maintain a smiling face to onlookers, the media and other peaceful demonstrators. Demonstrate the good behaviour of the Chinese.

"The organisers will pay costs in advance. However if any participants wish to pay for themselves, they will be most welcome."

Chinese students in Australia are great internet users, and, like students elsewhere, enthusiastic users of mobiles and other communications devices.

Pride, common purpose, and often, local language difficulties, loneliness and some alienation from Australians as well as a stronger sense of purpose, means most not only socialise with each other, but keep in touch with bulletin boards, representative groups and home.

Chinese Racism In Australia

2008-04-24T22:30:00.001-02:00

Further to my last article, we have another example of Chinese Racism and Nationalism being used to drown dissent.

Right to speak extinguished
Christian Kerr | April 25, 2008

AT times it looked like Lygon Street or Leichhardt on the night of a big game: young blokes driving up and down; flags sticking out of the windows.

But the context was wrong. This wasn't Melbourne or Sydney's inner city. It was the wide, formal avenues of the nation's capital.

The mood was different, too. It felt like one of those soccer games where 500 years of Balkan history is played out on the pitch.

The Olympic Torch Relay run through Canberra was supposed to be a celebration. Instead, it became a clash of cultures. Australia's lost. Yesterday, Beijing suppressed freedom of expression in the heart of our democracy.

Up to 10,000 Chinese students descended on Canberra in a show of national pride, but much of that pride was chauvinism. The T-shirts made this clear. Some simply said "Beijing 2008". Others read "One China". Some were explicit: "Tibet, Taiwan, Diaoyu Islands were, are and always will be part of China."

Banners bore a message, too. "Media: truth shall set you free," one warned. Before the torch had started running, pro-Tibetan protesters had been penned in by a ring of Chinese on Federation Mall, outside Parliament House.

It was a pattern repeated through the day and reflected in arrests. Five of the seven arrested, police media said, were Chinese.

Chinese flags were draped in front of signs and used to block off cameras. Tibet supporters were struck with flagpoles. There were racial taunts. The students looked well funded and well co-ordinated. "The way the world is ... we need events like this more than ever before," Robert de Castella said. "It's really important to continue to promote the ideals of events like the Olympic Games and the Olympic spirit."

But if anything ruled the day, it was a spirit of intimidation. Tiffany Mahon, from the Canberra suburb of Calwell, said she'd come to see the relay with her husband and mother because "we love the Olympics and we wanted to see Ian Thorpe".

But as she passed dozens of young Chinese people, encircling and shouting down a protester in Commonwealth Park, she said she was shaken by the aggression and lack of respect shown to people's right to free speech.

Ms Mahon said she had seen China supporters grab and throw away a flag from a Free Tibet protester and others surround and shout at a small band from Amnesty International, who were eventually extricated by police.

"It's pretty insulting that Australians in their own country need riot police to protect them from foreign nationals," one of the Amnesty group said.

Lars Hahn, from Canberra, attracted debate and abuse by wearing a "Free China" T-shirt and calling for Chinese people to be given a vote. "I like China but it would be a much better country as a democracy, not a dictatorship," he said.

Chinese Racism Abroad

2008-04-24T22:23:00.002-02:00

My son is studying for his PhD in Canberra. One interesting little tidbit he relayed to me is that it is widely known in amongst the national security services of the various organs of the Australian government that the various Chinese Student Associations (CSA's) are controlled by the Chinese equivalent of the Secret Police or Secret Service to actively monitor the activities of their citizens studying abroad.

In this case it seems to have gone a little further with the CSA's organizing huge rallies (20,000 Chinese student bused into Canberra, the capital of Australia, pop 300,000) to effectively drown out Tibetan protesters and also to monitor Tibetans (for what purposes one can only imagine).

Whilst I firmly support free speech and the right to protest, one cannot help but think that this crosses the line between the right to protest and agitation by a foreign government in another country. That said, I'm fairly certain that many of the Chinese students attending the rally would have been there out of legitimate nationalistic feelings that Han Chinese seem to associate with them own 'race'.

Death to racism and intimidation in all it's forms!

Chinese students bully torch crowds
Paul Maley | April 25, 2008

GANGS of Chinese students have marred the Australian leg of the Olympic torch relay, assaulting, intimidating and harassing vastly outnumbered pro-Tibetan activists as the torch was carried through Canberra's streets.

Last night, the ACT Government proclaimed the event an "outstanding success" after managing to avoid the violence that has marked the flame's passage through Europe and the US.

"This is the 14th stop of the Beijing Olympic torch relay ... and it's the first successful relay that's been run," ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said.

While the majority of the crowd was peaceful, there was sporadic violence during yesterday's 16km run. Seven people were arrested - five pro-China supporters and two pro-Tibetans. Early in the relay, one man jumped a barrier and sat cross-legged in the torch's path, only to be quickly bundled away by police.

And in what was described as an example of poor communication between Australian authorities and paramilitary flame attendants, members of the police security detail were forced to push aside Chinese security guards early in the run after they attempted to run inside the phalanx of Australian Federal Police officers surrounding the flame.

While the torch carriers were allowed to travel unmolested through the streets, dozens of Tibetan activists were assaulted or intimidated by highly organised groups of Chinese students who flocked from around the country to support the relay.

In one incident witnessed by The Australian, brothers John and Nick Price were forced to jump a barricade to escape a gang of young Chinese men who attacked them after they attempted to walk down Anzac Parade with a Free Tibet banner.

"We were being pushed and spat on, abused. We were kicked in the back and punched. We were hit with flagpoles. They pushed me to the ground," John Price said.

The Chinese members of the crowds became angry when a plane skywriting the words "free Tibet", bankrolled by Greens senator Bob Brown, crossed the sky.

The relay began at 8.50am when 2007 Young Australian of the Year Tania Major carried the flame to a rowing scull that took it across Lake Burley Griffin.

It was greeted by thousands of Chinese supporters waving flags, chanting slogans and singing the Chinese national anthem. It then proceeded back past Parliament House and the War Memorial, before travelling down Canberra's main thoroughfare where there were numerous skirmishes.

The Chinese contingent, estimated by police to be between 7500 and 10,000, appeared well organised, arriving before dawn in a convoy of buses mostly from Sydney and Melbourne.

Chinese marshals mustered the students via two-way radio. By contrast, pro-Tibetan groups numbered about 2000, police said. At least 550 police were called on to control the crowd of 20,000.

Referring to reports the Chinese embassy had been involved in organising the students, Mr Stanhope said he was aware of "contact" between the embassy and some of the Chinese groups.

While the torch's journey was unmolested, the flame was twice extinguished. The torch went out briefly when it arrived on the northern side of Lake Burley Griffin and then most spectacularly at the end of the relay the Olympic cauldron went out, having been lit by swimming great Ian Thorpe only moments earlier. Last night, the Olympic flame left Canberra for the next leg of its journey in Nagano, Japan.

Censorship in Singapore

2008-04-24T22:13:00.001-02:00

A great little snippet on censorship in the name of 'family values' in

Singapore censor fines TV station for showing gay family

April 25, 2008 - 6:29AM

A Singapore television station has been fined for airing a show that featured a gay couple and their baby in a way that "promotes a gay lifestyle," the city-state's media regulator said.

The Media Development Authority fined MediaCorp TV Channel 5 some 15,000 Singapore dollars ($A11,600), it said in a statement on its website.

The station aired an episode of a home and decor series called Find and Design that featured a gay couple wanting to transform their game room into a new nursery for their adopted baby.

The authority said the episode contained scenes of the gay couple with their baby and the presenter's congratulations and acknowledgment of them as a family unit "in a way which normalises their gay lifestyle and unconventional family setup".

The episode was in breach of rules on free-to-air television programming, which disallows content that promotes, justifies or glamourises gay lifestyles, the statement said.

Earlier this month, the authority fined a Singapore cable television operator, StarHub Cable Vision $S10,000 for airing a commercial that showed two lesbians kissing.

Under Singapore law, gay sex is deemed "an act of gross indecency" punishable by a maximum of two years in jail.

Despite the official ban on gay sex, there have been few prosecutions. But authorities have banned gay festivals and censored gay films, saying homosexuality should not be advocated as a lifestyle choice.

AP

Chinese Racism in Sport

2008-04-11T07:36:00.005-02:00

Found a wonderful article on how China is perpetuating racist policies in sport. Even Zimbabwe, with all of it's racist problems still allows a white woman to represent them in swimming, but, according to this report, if you are living in Hong Kong and want to compete at the Olympic level: only Chinese need apply.

When read in conjunction with the previous report on people who speak out on racism being labelled as promoting "splitism" by the Chinese Communist party, you can begin to see just how far China has to travel in relation to other countries in terms of confronting racism, both in society and, as this and the previous article demonstrate, at a governmental level.

One wonders when the world will take actions similar to those taken against South Africa.

Hong Kong’s Olympic Racism

17 October 2007
Original can be found here
Only Chinese need apply for the territory’s Olympic team

Until recently, qualification to represent Hong Kong at the Olympics was determined by length of residence, in keeping with the territory’s dependent status and the multi-ethnic origins of a significant part of its population. But now the Hong Kong government, perhaps abetted by Beijing, is changing the rules in a move that borders on outright racism.

Although qualification by length of residence remains the case with other dependent territories, such as Bermuda, it is being made a condition of joining a Hong Kong Olympic team that individuals have a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport, which requires that the person be of Chinese nationality. This is contrary to practice across the whole Olympic movement.

1. The Olympic movement bases nationality qualification not on passports but on “sports nationality.” Thus a British passport holder who has lived in Australia for several years would be eligible to represent Australia. In the same way a Canadian permanent resident of Hong Kong should be able to represent the territory.

2. The implementation of a Chinese nationality qualification for Hong Kong (and also Macao) in effect gives China three representations while depriving non-Chinese national residents any chance to compete for the territory. It also enables mainlanders to qualify very quickly to represent Hong Kong rather than China.

3. China’s definition of a Chinese national includes an ethnic element. Thus a Malaysian Chinese resident in Hong Kong for a short time may readily be accepted as a national while a person of Indian descent will have great difficulty even if resident for many years and willing to abandon Indian national status.

Hong Kong has only once won a gold medal – wind-surfer Lee Lai-shan in 1996 so its presence is largely irrelevant in the wider scheme of things. But it is not irrelevant to persons such as equestrian hopeful Jennifer Lee Ming-hua, who was born in the US and has a US passport but has lived in Hong Kong for 14 years and has a locally born husband and children. To compete she would have to become a Chinese national and acquire an SAR passport.

The International Olympic Committee is allowing Chinese chauvinism to trump its own rules and ideals. It is time either to make Hong Kong change its qualifications or take it out of the IOC, together with Timothy Fok, the territory’s representative on the IOC, who got there not through sporting achievements but as the son and heir of billionaire property developer and Beijing friend, the late Henry Fok.

Chinese Racism in Tibet (and other places)

2008-03-26T01:36:00.003-03:00

Few interesting links about Chinese racism can be found here, here, here and here.

I've copied one of the below:

Racism: China's Secret Scourge

ICT Report Refutes Beijing's Denial of Racism in China

Washington, D. C. - International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) will release a report at the UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) documenting the origin and nature of racism against Tibetans and how the Chinese government perpetuates racist attitudes and policies.

The 60- page report, entitled "Jampa: The Story of Racism in Tibet," describes how racist language and concepts permeate China's constitution, laws and policy and how this has contributed to the racism and discrimination Tibetans face today. It is the first comprehensive analysis of this phenomenon, a subject that has not been widely addressed by scholars, human rights groups and others who generally focus on more conventional human rights violations in Tibet.

"While highlighting racism in the west, China has effectively suppressed racism as a domestic issue. This is their shameful secret," said Tsering Jampa, Director of International Campaign for Tibet- Europe.

In the months leading up to the World Conference on Racism, China has portrayed racism as a Western phenomenon that does not exist in China. In a February 2001 submission to the UN, China stated that "all ethnic groups are living in harmony" in China.

"The Chinese government's denial that racism is a significant problem in China is a policy which prevents Tibetans and others from addressing racism in meaningful, constructive ways," said John Ackerly, President of ICT.

The title of the report, "Jampa," refers to the protagonist of a ubiquitous 1963 Communist Party propaganda film depicting Tibetans as a backward people who can only be uplifted by the civilizing force of the Chinese.

"All Tibetans live under the shadow of this film," said Tsering Jampa. "The Chinese government has used it to denigrate Tibetan culture and justify its occupation of Tibet."

At the conference ICT will urge the government of China to acknowledge the extent of the problem and to remove derogatory, chauvinist or paternalistic language from laws and policy statements. ICT is also urging Chinese non- governmental organizations based in the west to work with Tibetan groups on educational programs and initiatives to help combat this long-standing problem.

Although China tried to block the accreditation of Tibetan human rights groups to the World Conference against Racism a vote by UN member counties approved accreditation for ICT and one other Tibetan organization.

ICT has invited also Xiao Qiang, Director of Human Rights in China, whose organization was not accredited, to join its delegation to the conference.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

August 2001

International Campaign for Tibet:
Jampa: The Story of Racism in Tibet

On the eve of the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is releasing a comprehensive report entitled Jampa: The Story of Racism in Tibet.

The 110-page report exposes widespread racism and discrimination against Tibetans and highlights how the China's laws, regulations and policy statements contribute to racism in Tibet.

PRC Government Policy

The report addresses the myth propagated by the People's Republic of China that racism is mainly a Western phenomenon. Officials in Lhasa and Beijing publicly express that racism has not existed in China since the inception of Communist power. In February 2001, China's Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya declared during the Asia Regional Preparatory Meeting for the WCAR, " . . .at present the Chinese people of all ethnic groups are living in harmony."

However, as stated in the report's foreword, "Racism should be spelled out in order to be dispelled" (Chinese intellectual, Yang Liensheng). Although the government of the PRC adopted a constitution that stipulates racial and ethnic equality for all 56 peoples or "nationalities" in the PRC, enforcement mechanisms are extremely weak and politicized. Peoples who do not physically and culturally resemble the Han are not considered truly Chinese and are ranked lower in the racial hierarchy.

Constitutional and legislative provisions dealing with equality and discrimination are designed and implemented more to maintain a united and integrated Chinese state than to prohibit inequities of racism and discrimination.

Advocacy against racism in China is sometimes interpreted as inciting 'splittism.' The Chinese government's suppression of free discussion concerning race and ethnicity in the PRC is of grave concern and presents a major obstacle to be overcome in eliminating racial discrimination in China and Tibet.

Background

The portrayal of Jampa, an uneducated, dirty Tibetan in the 1963 Chinese propaganda film The Serf, exemplifies the longstanding ethnocentric Chinese perception of Tibetans as backward and in need of Chinese assistance. The government enforces these racial perceptions in supporting the contradictory claim that Tibetans are part of a common "Chinese" ancestry while simultaneously propagating and implementing China's "civilizing mission" in Tibet.

Today's policies and practice of racism and racial discrimination in Tibet are heavily influenced by the historical development of Chinese perceptions of Tibetans. Chinese leaders, including Sun Yatsen and Chiang Kaishek, promoted racial myths to redefine territorial borders and unify the Chinese nation- state.

Chinese nationalism, embedded in a historiography of Chinese greatness and superiority over all other "barbarian" peoples, provides a backdrop to the current Chinese policy on the control and administration of Tibet. In July 2001, Hu Jintao credited China for ushering in "a new era in which Tibet would turn from darkness to light, from backwardness to progress, from poverty to affluence, and from seclusion to openness."

Liberation, enlightenment and modernization have been the ideological banners for subjugating national minorities and, far from promoting respect and equitable treatment, fuel pre- existing biases of backwardness, barbarism and primitiveness.

Tibetan Experience of Discrimination

The Tibetan experience of racism is particularly painful because it exists in the context of colonialist repression, where the government seeks to suppress the distinct Tibetan cultural identity in its efforts to create "Chinese unity."

The denigration and persecution of Tibetan religion and culture is a direct result of central government policy aimed at combating Tibetan resistance to the occupation of their country. The policy decisions resulting from the Chinese government's 3rd Forum on Work in Tibet, held in 1994, have led to the undermining of Tibetans' distinct national and cultural consciousness and religious faith and the assimilation of Tibetans into the framework of Chinese culture.

Tibetans are faced with the choice of assimilating and relinquishing their Tibetan identity, religion and culture or facing the perpetual potential of discrimination.

Tibetans lack access to healthcare, partly due to the concentration of medical facilities in urban areas rather than rural areas where the proportion of Tibetans is greater than Chinese. In the area of education, Tibetan children face many obstacles compared to their Chinese counterparts including expensive school fees, poorly trained teachers, struggling to retain Tibetan language skills through primary school, difficult transitions to Chinese- medium secondary and tertiary schools, and being subjected to the degrading messages of prejudiced curricula. Tibetans also face discrimination in employment and have less access to training and special business permits. Additionally, they must compete with Chinese settlers who frequently have the connections needed to expedite the ability to attain permits, government- provided housing or job opportunities.

Enforcement of laws and regulations that do exist to prohibit acts of discrimination are lax and are subject to an ever- changing political agenda and climate.

Although China's occupation of Tibet has brought a certain level of development to the region, the benefits of this development disproportionately favor Chinese settlers, especially as an influx of Chinese settlers is encouraged to dilute the population.

Among the most consistent human rights violations by the Chinese authorities in Tibet is the suppression of religious and cultural freedom. Approximately half of Tibetan political prisoners are Buddhist monks and nuns. Moreover, the attitude in China toward religion in Tibetan culture constitutes a type of discrimination that has been recognized by the UN Committee to Eliminate Racial Discrimination.

Conclusions and Recommendations

China has a demonstrably good record in opposing racism in some of its international forms and for opposing apartheid in South Africa long before many other governments, including the government of the United States. But domestically, China lags far behind much of the world in acknowledging and addressing racism. Rather than allowing open debate about racism, China rigorously suppresses such discourse, setting back progress in the fight against racism.

The PRC should acknowledge and expressly recognize the existence and harmful effects of racism in the PRC. The government must initiate a public discussion and education campaign on the issue, for which it should mobilize substantial resources.
The PRC government should create a commission to undertake a thorough review of the Constitution and laws of the PRC and repeal any language that is chauvinistic, paternalistic or could otherwise contribute to discrimination against minority groups such as Tibetans. The commission should consist of members of all ethnic groups in the PRC who have a good understanding of the perceptions and feelings of their respective peoples.
The PRC government- should commission a revision of all school and university textbooks to remove and revise any portions and references that contain racist elements or that could contribute to the perpetration of racist perceptions and attitudes.
The PRC should invite the U N Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia to visit Tibet and examine Chinese policies and practices with respect to Tibetans and make specific recommendations on ways to combat any manifestations of racism and racial discrimination he/ she may find there.
Acts of racism and racial discrimination should be prevented and prosecuted by law; victims should have legal redress and perpetrators should face punishment.

White Guilt

2008-03-21T02:08:00.002-03:00

Especially for Mr Anonymous:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qFlHIqyLyi4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ss9vXqsnBHg&feature=related

Enjoy!

AsianRacism

Interesting Assumptions

2008-03-21T00:50:00.006-03:00

Well, I've had a regular anonymous commenter making remarks about 'white guilt' and 'white privilege', amongst a host of other interesting but rather silly observations.

First off, it's clear that this person has assumed I am 'white' or Caucasian, and sorry to say it my anonymous friend, you are wrong. I am not Caucasian. Further to that, my race is not an issue, despite you trying to make it one.

Now, this concept of 'white privledge' got me a little intrigued, as did the concept of 'white guilt' being pushed as reasons why Asian racism is not as bad / non-existent, should not be discussed (the old "you are racist to so don't preach" argument) . I think the concepts are both piles of steaming junk.

First of all there is the false assumption that 'white' concepts of racial superiority were unique to western schools of thought. This is not true, a number of other societies have had related concepts of racial divides and levels etc independently of any western influence and often pre-dating western contact. So the concept of racial hierarchies is not a western construct.

The second false assumption is that only 'white' nations engaged in colonialism to enrich themselves. Again, wrong. Indeed four of the biggest colonial powers, the Mongolians, the Han Chinese, the Japanese and the Indonesians are not 'white' and, in the case of the Chinese and Indonesians, are still today engaged in colonialism.

The third false assumption is that somehow the combination of a belief in racial superiority combined with colonialism and economic domination and control has led to some form of privilege that only white people enjoy.

What a joke, and a funny one at that! The fact of the matter is that for whatever reason, western societies went from a level of civilization below that of most of the rest of the world to basically running the world in around 300 years. That's a big turn around. WHY this happened is still open to debate. Was it technology? was it the underlying social systems that developed? the economic ones? the intense competition between European nation states? whatever the reason, the concept that somehow 'white' people should be guilty for their successes is laughable.

What is NOT laughable is that they should apologize for their colonial actions and repressions. Likewise we have right now in the world, a number of Asian countries that are still playing the colonial game. China is one, Indonesia another and Japan has never truly confronted it's imperialistic past the way, say, the Germans have. So if the 'white' people need to apologize for colonial actions, then a large part of the Asian world also needs to do so, and even worse, desist in current colonial actions.

So how does this relate to Mr anonymous? Well he appears to be trying to say that in Asian soceties no such thing as 'white privledge' exists. I have to disagree and respectully suggest to Mr anonymous that they read a plethora of information on this blog and elsewhere to see that this is simply not true.

Mr anonymous also asserts that as a 'white' (as false presumption) I can never know what it feels like to be the subject of white racism AND that any racism a 'white' faces in Asian CANNOT (repeat, CANNOT) be as bad as what non-whites face at the hands of whites.

Now, i'm sure most of my educated readers won't need to see the strawmans arguments in those assertions. But for the fun of it...

1. How do you measure how bad racism is? therefore, how do you tell if a person of Asian origin, experiencing a racist act at the hands of a 'white person' feels worse than a 'white' person experiencing the same racist act at the hands of an Asian person?

2. Why is racism perpetuated by one group (in this case, accoring to Mr anonymous, 'whites') worse than racism perpetuated by another? What makes it worse? why is it worse? How do you measure it?

3. What is so unique about 'white' racism that makes it so different to other forms? (remember, the historical, social and economic aspects that supposedly make 'white' racism unique are bunk arguments as other ethnic groups that engage in racist behavior have the same historical, economic and social advantages over others groups, hence the circumstances that many writes suggest make 'white' racism unique, are indeed not unique)

As such, I don't think 'white privilege' really stands up to scrutiny in the 21st century. Likewise, I see no reason why 'white guilt' over success (not over colonial acts, the two are not totally connected) should exist. Even if you take both concepts to be true, then there should be Chinese-Singaporean privilege and associated guilt, Malay privilege and associated guilt and so on and so forth.

Mr anonymous then suggested that I should make a blog against ALL forms of racism in the world. With all due respect Mr anonymous, thanks for the tip but NO.

I started this blog for a number of reasons. First of all 'white' racism is well documented and there are a large number of links of WWW to support groups and so on and so forth. There is even one on this very blog. Likewise blogs against he caste system in India and the discrimination between inter-arab groups and inter-african groups also exists.

Secondly, I believe, given my experiences in Asia over the last 20 years (coming onto 21 soon) that I am in a better position to write about Asian racism against other Asians and non-Asians that I could write about the experience of say, Turkish migrants to Germany, Serbian shopkeepers is Kosovo, African Americans in Texas, Lebanese migrants to Australia, Japanese migrants to Brazil or Maori experiences in New Zealand.

So i could write about the time I was detained for nearly 48 hours by airport police, in an Asian country, being interrogated without legal representation, over a bottle of talcum powder in my carry on bags for my new-born baby, repeatedly being told that as I was a (insert name of my ethnic background) they were POSITIVE that it has heroin, that I was a drug smuggler, that my people were all thieves and crooks etc etc etc.

I look back (now) and laugh at the situation because that particular nation is now one of the worlds leading drug suppliers and people from that nation have been responsible for establishing criminal drug distribution networks in a large number of non-asian countries.

So YES Mr anonymous i have experience racial profiling and discrimination first hand, and that is not the only incident in my time in Asia where my race has been used as the basis for refusal of service, physical intimidation and assault, rejections from educational institutions based on racial quota's, extortion, detention (then release, obviously!) and overt hostility.

Racism in Asia is a problem, like racism anywhere. This blog aims to highlight it, to bring news clippings, academic articles etc into one place for reference purposes. This is not in anyway denying the equally destructive other forms of racism.

The differences between Asian Racism and other forms is this:

1. Gernerally speaking, Asian Racism is not discussed in Asian media, and indeed in some countries (it appears Mr anonymous is in Singapore) it is even 'off limits' by government control on media. As a result people are not always challenged to acknowledge, discuss and confront the problem.

2. Generally speaking, Asian Racism is not even seen as a social problem by the dominant ethnic majority and likewise, minorities perspectives are discredited (ala Ainu in Japan, Indians in Singapore, Tibetans in China etc)

3. Unlike most western countries, most Asian countries donot have strong anti-racism systems in place at the governmental or community level. As such there is often little recourse for those who have been discriminated against or little done to educate people in ways that reduce racial tensions or little done to sooth community relations when issues do arise.

4. As shown by Mr anonymous, the common response when talking about Asian racism by those that seek to defend it or deny it's existence is that the author should not comment as they either (a) come from a racist country (b) are not Asian (c) are not citizens of the country of residence (d) a racist themselves or that (e) other forms of racism are somehow worse or more deserving of attention.

Finally, Mr anonymous challenged me on another two issues:

1. My own anonymity and lack of ability to contact me directly.
2. Freedom of speech

Ok, on the first issue let me make my reasons who having a moderated blog and not having my email anywhere on this blog for a number of reasons. First of all, given the country I live in it would be unwise to have an unmoderated blog as case law has show that site owners and editors (and blog owners are considered editors) WILL be held responsible for any racist comments that appear on thier blog regardless of weather they are personally responsible for the content or not. Given the number of "*uck you you stupid *ucking angmoh/gaijin/white/honkey/redneck *****hole" type comments i get, followed by diatribes against Caucasians, Indians, hell, i've even had some crackpot white supremest post a number of 1000+ word articles on the evilness of a specific ethnic group. Damn scary stuff. So given all that, a non-moderated blog is not an options.

Secondly, I donot have my email as contactable for similar reasons as above, plus spam reasons AND given that various countries have anti 'sedition' laws in the books and given my previous run-ins with one government in particular whilst working for Amnesty international in the late 80's and the Red Cross in the late 90's, no thanks, I'll keep myself off the radar a little.

Finally, freedom of speech. I love it. I support it. But I also support censorship in certain circumstances (i.e pornography, hate speech etc) and in my opinion Mr anonymous, your last posts were paint all 'whites' and most western countries in a very specific and negative way, and so as a result, I saw little value in what they can add to the debate as this is not a debate about western colonialism or racism, but Asian colonialism and racism.

Mr anonymous, you can deny it exists, but to do so is like walking with your eyes closed. It's out there and this blog is designed to highlight it. This doesnot mean I don't acknowledge other forms of racism, merely that this blog doesnot deal with them.

For more on 'white' guilt etc take a look here and here.

Cheers

AsianRacism.

Tibet and Han Chinese Colonialism

2008-03-21T00:31:00.002-03:00

This last week or so has been very hard to stomach. The Tibetan people, victims of colonialism in it's most brutal form at the hands of the Chinese has tried to protest their position to no avail. As a result they have been brutally repressed.

I've covered Chinese racism on this blog extensively before, and I have also touched on the subject of Chinese colonialism, as China is one of the worlds largest and most successful colonial powers the world has ever seen. It is right up there with the Mongols, the Indonesians, the Russians (in the guise of the USSR) and to a lesser extent, the Japanese.

I think it's a crying shame that so much inter-ethnic violence happens inside China (again, covered before) and is not reported, examined or discussed to develop more effective solutions other than violence and the suppression of language, culture and peoples based on difference.

Just like Malaysia has religious 're-education' camps for people who wish to convert from Islam to another religion, China needs to 'deepen' it's 'nationalistic education' . In other words, we need to BRAINWASH our non-Chinese population more.

Media tell of Chinese police threats over Tibet

Chinese police have threatened or blocked foreign journalists from reporting on unrest in Tibet on 30 occasions since deadly riots erupted there last week, reporters said today.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China said journalists had experienced interference in the cities of Beijing, Chengdu and Xining, as well as in Lhasa.

"You don't want to know what will happen if you don't show us the footage,'' the club quoted police telling Finnish reporter Katri Makkonen, who was detained yesterday in Gansu province, where Tibetan monks held protests against Chinese rule.

In several other locations, police barred reporters from carrying out their work and escorted them out of areas where forces were reportedly quelling unrest.

Tibetan regions erupted last week in the most serious anti-China riots in nearly 20 years. The exiled government of the Dalai Lama in the India town of Dharamshala has said hundreds of Tibetan protesters were killed in the crackdown on unrest.

Hundreds have also been detained in the regional capital of Lhasa, according to activists.

The interference comes after the club this week demanded that the government respect new regulations issued for the period up to and during the Beijing Olympics, allowing greater press freedoms for foreign journalists.

On Monday, the US State Department spokesman Tom Casey decried China's expulsion of foreign journalists from Tibet, calling it "disturbing and disappointing''.

Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders strongly condemned yesterday what it called steps taken by Beijing to prevent media coverage of demonstrations and an ongoing crackdown in Tibet.

China warns of 'life and death' struggle

China warned of a "life and death'' struggle with the Dalai Lama today, as it sought to end a wave of protests in its Tibetan regions with arrests and tightened political control.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has accused the Tibetan spiritual leader of masterminding the protests - which culminated in a riot on Friday in Tibet's capital, Lhasa - from his base in the Indian town of Dharamsala, where he lives in exile.

"We are in the midst of a fierce struggle involving blood and fire, a life and death struggle with the Dalai clique,'' Tibet's Communist Party secretary, Zhang Qingli, told a teleconference of the region's government and Party leaders.

"Leaders of the whole country must deeply understand the arduousness, complexity and long-term nature of the struggle,'' he said in remarks carried online by the China Tibet News.

Zhang also suggested greater political control in the region.

"We must continue to deepen our nationalist education and practically strengthen the building of political power at the grassroots,'' he said.

'Rioters' surrender, says China

Chinese authorities say 105 "rioters" involved in protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa had surrendered, the official Xinhua news agency reported today.

The 105 people gave themselves up to authorities by 11pm yesterday, (0200 AEDT Wednesday) - 23 hours after a deadline set by the government for those involved in last week's unrest to surrender, Xinhua said.

Chinese authorities said rioters killed 13 "innocent civilians" in Friday's unrest, when a week of protests by Tibetans against China's rule of their homeland erupted into violence in Lhasa.

Authorities have insisted that they did not use any lethal force to quell the protests, however Tibetan exiled leaders have said possibly hundreds of people were killed in the ensuing Chinese crackdown.

Tibetan government vice chairman Baema Chilain said the people who gave themselves in to police had been directly involved in "the beating, smashing, looting and arson" on Friday, according to Xinhua.

"Some have turned in the money they looted," Xinhua quoted Baema as saying.

Lhasa has been sealed off to foreign journalists, making it impossible to determine the real situation.

Xinhua's report quoted one Tibetan who surrendered, Doje Cering, 25, as saying he was drunk at home when he heard the unrest and decided to join in.

Xinhua said it had spoken to the protester after he surrendered.

AFP

Japanese Racism

2008-02-07T20:25:00.000-03:00

OK, i was sent these through a friend who is in Japan - take a look and have a laugh at the following 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Most of these seem to be triggered by the recent whaling by the Japanese in Australian waters. That will be an interesting test case before the world courts and I think that the disputed island of Pedra Branca / Pulau Batu Puteh case will provide a great precedence for any legal action taken by the Australians.

Australia has maintained a presence on Antarctica for many, many years, has tried people for criminal actions committed there - all solid proof of sovereignty. So it will be interesting to see what happens when Australia does take the case to the international courts and wins (if it does). What then? will Japan cease whaling in Australian waters? If they don't will Australia use it's military to enforce the whale sanctuary? We live in interesting times.

This all started (the videos) from a lovely 10min+ video produced by a Japanese youtube user (the video has since been removed) but a copy can be found HERE. Basically the author of the video compares whaling to the slaughter of Dingoes (a native species of wolf in Australia i think) and accused Australia of being racist against the Japanese. One of several good responses to the original video is posted HERE.

This is just more proof of the most frustrating part of dealing with racism in Japan (and elsewhere in Asia): the typical response to lampoon the country the person commenting on it comes from. Whilst it is true that no country is perfect, this doesnot preclude other countries from providing criticism of other countries on racism issues.

A good example of this can be found here. For more background information on racism in Japan you can also go here. You can also find an article on racism in Japan against visiting academics here. Another good video on Japan is here and another good article can be found here.

Finally, i have cut one of the articles above to post here in case the URL disappears, so sit back, have read (it's a long one, but worth it) and think about the issues raised. Thanks for reading and being part of the on-going struggle against racism around the world, no matter who it is perpetuated by.

Peace out
AsianRacism

ABC Radio National - Background Briefing: 11 July 1999 - Are Asians Racist?

[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s36894.htm]

Program Transcript

Kirsten Garrett: The question posed on Background Briefing today is provocative: Are Asians Racist? The program is based on a forum set up in the Mitchell Library by the Asia-Australia Institute last month, in a packed hall on a very rainy night in Sydney.

I'm Kirsten Garrett. Hello, and today you'll hear some of that forum. The Human Rights Commissioner, Chris Sidoti, opened the evening.

APPLAUSE

Chris Sidoti: The question, Are Asians Racist? is perhaps a challenge to us to address in response to those who seek to excuse racism in Australia by saying 'What's the Problem? Asians are racist, indeed even more racist than we are'.

Now of course, that kind of response is of itself a nonsense. Is it any excuse for racism in Australia to say that somebody else is racist? It's a bit like adultery: when the adulterer comes home to explain to the betrayed spouse that there was really no problem because after all, everybody else is doing it, I don't think it really provides very much comfort to the innocent victim. And it's a bit like war crimes: there is no excuse before The Hague Tribunal for the person who gets up and says, 'Well really yes, it was a war crime, but after all, everybody is doing it, even the President of Yugoslavs.'

But arguing on the basis of logic, and indeed arguing on the basis of moral righteousness, as correct as it may be, fails to address the fundamental issue that we are confronted with, by those who seek to excuse our racism by levelling accusations at others. And I think it's typical of the Asia-Australia Institute that tonight it's asking us to go beyond logic, to go beyond moral righteousness in replying by seeking to address the fundamental issue that is put up to us as a challenge to our own commitment to anti-racist policies.

We have tonight Cavan Hogue. Cavan is a retired Australian diplomat who has served in Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. His current positions are as senior adviser to the ASEAN Focus Group, adjunct professor and Deputy Chair for the Advisory Board of the International Studies Institute at the University of Technology, Sydney, Director of the National Thai Study Centre at the ANU, and consulting, lecturing and writing on a variety of international business and cross-cultural topics. He is a graduate of the University of Sydney, he's been a Fellow at the Centre for International Affairs at Harvard, and has just completed an MA in Applied Linguistics at Macquarie University.

He joined the Department of External Affairs, later the Department of Foreign Affairs, and later still, Foreign Affairs and Trade, in 1960, and he's served in Rome, Seoul, Mexico, Santiago de Chile. From 1973-75 he was Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission in Manilla, later Minister and Deputy Head of Mission in Jakarta, later Ambassador to Mexico and Central American Republics. In '85-'86 Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, during the period when Australia was on the Security Council. From 1987-90, High Commissioner to Malaysia and from 1991-94, Ambassador first to the USSR if you remember what that was, later to the Russian Republic and subsequently to the twelve new States of the former USSR in Europe and Central Asia.

Cavan, we invite you to speak and lead the discussion this evening.

APPLAUSE

Cavan Hogue: Thank you very much. I should say at the outset that I guess my philosophical approach is the same as Chris'. When I was a small boy, my mother used to always say when I said 'But other people are doing that', she said, 'Well yes, if someone put his head under a railway train, would you feel obliged to go and put your head on the track too?' And since my mother is still alive, I show proper filial respect.

Racism and race are a lexicographer's nightmare, because they have that Alice in Wonderland ability to mean whatever the speaker wants them to mean. Also what exactly constitutes Asia is a very moveable feast. It originally of course was part of the Roman Empire. But while I'm not quite sure what race means, and I'm not quite sure what countries are part of Asia, I am quite sure there's nothing unique or special about racism in Asia. And that of course is the kind of opening you would all expect from someone of Irish descent, even if opinions differ on whether or not the Irish are a race.

So let's start with some formal definitions and see if we get any clues from that. The Macquarie Dictionary defines racism as: 1. the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule or dominate others; 2. offensive, aggressive behaviour to members of another race stemming from such a belief; and 3. a policy or system of government based on it.

So then of course, what is race? Well, that is 1. a group of persons connected by common descent, blood or heredity; 2. a population so connected; 3. the ethnological definition of a sub-division of a stock, characterised by physical traits were transmitted in descent and then 4. a group of tribes or peoples forming ethnic stock. So you can see that there is something called race and racism which is not exactly the same as a whole lot of other communitarian differences, and this is a theme I want to develop.

For the sake of simplicity here I'll define Asia as the Indian subcontinent eastward to the Philippines, north to China and south to Indonesia. This is a totally arbitrary definition which leaves out all the countries that originally made up Asia and includes countries that were never part of the original Asia, but it's probably what most Australians have in mind when they speak of it.

To dispose of race and racism so easily is just not possible. Whatever you think should be left in or out, race is clearly a sub-set of a wider grouping of ethnic or communal groupings, and some people that argue we should completely forget about race and just talk about groups. Groups can be based on physical characteristics, which is race in the narrow definition, religion, language, dress, culture, geography, history, nationality or anything which the members perceive themselves to have in common, that sets themselves off from other people who don't have that in common.

Now sometimes you can move from one group to another and sometimes not. For example, I met a man in Guatemala some years ago, who when asked whether he was an Indio, which is a native, or a Ladino, a Latin, said well he used to be an Indio but now he was a Ladino. Now what he meant was that he was born into a traditional Maya speaking culture but he'd subsequently learned Spanish, gone to live in a city and now wore western clothes. And this was a perfectly sensible statement in this context, and on that basis he was accepted by others as having become a Ladino, which is what he wanted, and they accepted. However, it would not I imagine, have been possible for a Jew to tell the SS that he'd decided to become an Aryan or for a black to tell the Ku Klux Klan 'Well lay off fellows, I've really decided I'm going to become a white.' So some things are rooted in sort of physical characteristics that you can't change, and others you can change. And an important factor here too, is what people accept.

Much effort has been put into defining, classifying race. A hundred years ago scientists took their callipers around the world measuring skulls and waxing eloquent about dolichocephalic and brachycephalic skulls and races. Today of course, DNA and Y-chromosomes are much more fashionable, we've come a long way. Just what all these classifications really mean, if anything, is not entirely clear. And as I suggested, rather than measuring the size of heads and noses, maybe racial groups are those which are perceived to be racial groups. But the problem with this is that it excludes a whole host of groups who don't have different physical characteristics.

Now in the second half of the last century a philosophical underpinning to racism appeared in Europe, which went beyond the universal 'them and us' approach that you get everywhere. A number of European philosophers developed an intellectual framework which showed scientifically that the white race was superior to the lesser breeds without the law, and learned professors wrote learned tomes proving this beyond any possible doubt, and all rational people believed it. This was of course combined with social, or based very often on social Darwinism, buttressed by economic and military power. It was the mainstream view in Europe and its offshoots, North America or the Americas, and Australasia. It was used to justify conquests, colonialism, slavery and racially exclusive immigration policies like the White Australia Policy.

The more extreme manifestations of this philosophy were found in the Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and the South African Apartheid architects. While slightly less violent versions were to be found in the European colonial regimes. While the Third Reich and the British Empire had different solutions and very different methods, both accepted the same underlying philosophy, the same racial hierarchy. The British of course were pragmatic and thought it much more practical to exploit their subjects for the economic benefit of the British, rather than exterminating them as impure. Other colonists, like the French, the Dutch, Americans, Australians, tended to follow the British pattern in their colonies.

But whatever view you take on this detail, there can be no doubt there was this specific European philosophy of racism in its narrowest sense, which was more than just communal prejudice. It was more than just 'My mob's better than your mob because I like my mob and I don't care for your mob.' There was an intellectual framework.

So finally we get to Asia. Can we find similar theoretical approaches in Asia, or is it more accurate really to speak of communal differences? I think we can identify cases which might reasonably be called racism, cases of communal discrimination which are not really racist, and others where there's an element of doubt. The clearest cases of racist attitudes are probably going to be found in Northern Asia: China, Japan, Korea, which incidentally tend to be rather homogenous societies. The Japanese in some ways go closest to the Europeans because they do have foundation myths about the superiority of the Japanese race. Their behaviour towards foreigners has often been racist, their treatment of their colonies and conquered peoples show the same kind of arrogance as their European models. The Japanese have a well established sense of hierarchy, which they apply to races. You can see this in the treatment of minorities within Japan.

Having said that, I do suspect things are changing, and that younger people, younger Japanese are gradually shaking off these attitudes, particularly the ones who travel abroad as indeed has happened in Europe. Interestingly, the Japanese are a bit ambivalent about identifying themselves as Asian or as a world power, and they've sometimes been criticised by other Asians for this, although perhaps in that case, it's the critics who are being racist, not the Japanese. And this ambivalence goes back a long way and has been shared by Europeans. Rudyard Kipling admitted that the Japanese created something of a problem. While they were clearly not really natives, they weren't quite Sahibs either.

For centuries the Chinese have considered themselves to be a race apart and to be superior to the Barbarians around them. Chinese students going abroad were warned not to come back married to a red haired devil, a Chinese expression of course, conveying the implication that these creatures were not really 100% human. Those of you who have daughters will of course realise that very often they bring home hairy devils which are not quite human anyway, whatever their race!

But some of this could well have been cultural, and it is true that the Chinese did absorb Mongol and Manchu invaders and that there are minorities in China and it's maybe not quite as simple and open as some people would believe. But I suspect that traditionally anyway, the Chinese believed that it was very hard for the Barbarians to become like them. But again I notice changes taking place, particularly amongst overseas Chinese. Intermarriage in places like Hong Kong and South East Asia is very much on the increase, and Chinese immigrants in Australia tend to marry out more than many other immigrant groups. So again, we're seeing this same kind of evolution.

The Koreans also retain a strong sense of racial identity and have perhaps absorbed some of these Japanese ideas. It may be extreme xenophobia but it's instructive to note that the Koreans topped the poll in a recent survey by The Far Eastern Economic Review in which people were asked whether their child could marry a foreigner with their blessing. Only 30% of Koreans agreed, compared with 95% of Australians and 84% of Filipinos. As in Japan, mixed-race children were looked down on, and foreigners who married Koreans were given a pretty rough time. And Koreans don't like enclaves, and the Chinese minority in Korea has been treated every bit as badly as the Korean minority in Japan, and each of course waxes eloquent about the other.

Now I could quote many other examples from North Asia but the above does seem to me the closest you're going to find in Asia to the kind of racism which was characteristic of the European colonialists. I don't think it was exactly the same, but it's the closest. It's based on the belief they're racially unique with some suggestion they're also superior and it is waning amongst the young, as it is in Europe. But older Japanese parliamentarians remind us at regular intervals that it's far from dead. I see one character recently said the reason the United States was falling apart was because they had too many blacks and Hispanics who were diluting the purity of the race. I mean these kind of comments would not be out of place in Europe 50 years ago.

In South East Asia I think things are more complicated. While communal strife and ethnic prejudice are common, it's not based on the same kind of philosophical framework. There is a general prejudice against local minorities like the hill tribes in Thailand, the orang asli in Malaysia, the Papuans in Indonesia, the Mountain people in the Philippines, and the paternalistic attitudes there are very reminiscent of the now-unfashionable Australian view that the Aborigines should be assimilated and made 'just like us'. The difference of course is that most of these groups are physically similar to the mainstream groups. So it's a moot point how much of this is really racial in the narrow sense of the term, and how much is social or cultural. It might be relevant here to observe that Asians are not at all interested in the fate of Australian Aborigines whom they basically see as our hill tribes. They get worked up about racial prejudice which is directed against themselves, but not others. In that, they're very human.

This was brought home to me when I was in Bangkok when the Pauline Hanson racism frenzy was at its height. There was much concern about whether Australians were turning their collective back on Asia and going back to their racist groups, i.e. the White Australia Policy, but Aboriginal issues were mentioned only in passing, if at all.

Racist attitudes towards Chinese immigrants certainly exist, but they're not the same as the northern attitudes. For a start, the Chinese are often seen to be superior, and Dr Mahatir's book 'The Malay Dilemma' makes it very clear that Malays need special treatment to enable them to catch up to the immigrants. The special claims of the Bhumiputera, the Malay, are based on prior occupancy rather than on racial characteristics. There may nevertheless be some racist element here. Many poor Malays console themselves with the thought that the infidel rich Chinese will burn in hell and the Chinese are not really encouraged to convert to Islam. This is quite contrary to the letter and the spirit of Islam, which advocates conversion and a very good record on opposing racism.

In contrast to the generally good record of Islam on racial tolerance, we could perhaps compare the Malay attitude with that of the colonial British, whose Christian religion also preached a racial tolerance which they seldom practised. There's the famous story of the wife of a colonial Bishop in Africa whose younger sister proposed to marry an African Christian. When the elder sister was reminded the man might be black, but he was Christian, she replied, 'He may be our brother in Christ, but he shall not be our brother-in-law.'

Now all this assumes that Malays and Chinese are to be seen as separate races, which is the expression used in Malaysia, and not just separate communities. And I recall on arriving in Sabah once having to fill in a Malaysian immigration form which could be filled in either in English or Malay. In English, it required the incoming passengers to state their race, but in Malay, they were to state their suku which really means a sort of ethnic group or tribal group. I think the Malay version was a much more accurate indication of the information the authorities were seeking, that is, were you a Chinese, a Malay, Kadazan, Kelabit or whatever. Malaysians talk about their communities as racist but the term's not being used in our dictionary sense. They talk, for example of Indians as a race, which includes Tamils and Sikhs, who are totally different races. Malays and Chinese are described as different races, even though physically they're a lot closer than the Indians.

So in Malaysia, the communities are divided not just by physical characteristics, but by religion, language, length of occupation, native versus immigrant, wealth (a very important factor), time of arrival in Malaysia, a whole host of factors. And intermarriage however, is minimal and there can be no doubt that the communities there don't show much sign of becoming one. Comparisons with Ireland or Yugoslavia may perhaps be more accurate in the case of Malaysia.

It may not be possible to drop your chewing gum in Singapore, but it does have a pretty good record on racial harmony. I hate chewing gum anyway. Their underlying tensions and intermarriage is far from random, but such separation as there is tends to be more communal than strictly racial, and I think by world standards it's pretty good.

Thailand and the Philippines are also good, but by no means perfect. A friend of mine whose father was a Tamil told me how tough it was growing up in Bangkok school playgrounds. It was because there was a prejudice against people of Indian origin. It did no good to point out that the Lord Buddha was a kheek, an Indian. Any more I suppose than it profited European Jews to point out that Jesus Christ was a Jew.

There used to be prejudice against immigrant Chinese in the '20s and '30s, quite strong. They had their equivalent of 'reffo mugs' and all those epithets. There are few restrictions on foreigners, but Thailand I think by world standards, has to be counted as a very tolerant country. The Philippines? Chinese have been massacred at regular intervals through the centuries and some prejudice based on their economic success still exists. There's prejudice against the Moros in the south, which is based purely on religion or again religion and sort of social historical factors, because they're the same race. And there's also prejudice in favour of looking white. My first encounter with Asia was as a student at Sydney University in 1955 when the early Colombo Plan students began to arrive. I could never work out why my Filipino friends thought that one girl in the group was prettier than all the others. To me, she wasn't that hot. After a while of course, the penny dropped: she was fair and she had a straight nose, and to this day I don't think the Filipinos have ever quite worked out why I didn't court the fair one but ended up marrying one of the group who was darker and had a flat nose. A decision, my love, which I have never regretted, let me hasten to add!

I suppose this can really be compared with all those advertisements in Indian newspapers seeking fair skinned spouses. In the Philippines it clearly has its origins in colonial racism, but I think these days it's more of a fashion statement than a racial one. That said, of course, you have a much better chance of getting a job as a model or film star if you have that mestizo look.

Contemporary events in Indonesia also seem to me to reflect communal tensions rather than strictly racial ones. The Western press tends to report ethnic conflicts as between Moslems and Christians, but it makes more sense to talk about different ethnic groups like Bulgars, Javanese and Ambonese, or even natives and immigrants. The people of Aceh are no different racially from other Indonesians, but they have a strong separatist movement. We may compare these reports with those in the Balkans where people are described in racial or national terms as Serbs, Albanians and so on, whereas religion is much more of a factor in the Balkans than it is in Indonesia. The basing of the groups is not race but religion: Orthodox Christian Serbs fought the invading Moslem Turks, and the Western Christian Croats fought everybody; the Albanians were converted to Islam, while the Bulgars became Christians. But racially they're all the same.

Dr Mahatir, in his inimitable manner, recently observed that the Western media doesn't play up the religious factor there because it's the Moslems who are the good guys, and the Christians are the bad guys. Had the religions been the other way round, we would have been inundated by screaming headlines about Moslem fundamentalists massacring poor innocent Christians. He probably has a point actually, I don't often agree with him but on this one I think I do. In neither case is race the real factor. Even the Indonesian massacres of Chinese are communal rather than strictly racist. The Chinese are seen as the rich immigrants, everybody hates successful people. The cliche about the overseas Chinese as the Jews of Asia does in fact have some validity, hackneyed as it may be.

If there's one universal prejudice throughout Asia, it's against black Africans and probably by extension, black Americans. I have neither the time nor indeed the knowledge to trace the origin of this prejudice. I suspect it probably came in via the Europeans. While it tends to be rather gentler in South East Asia, it does exist. It's now possible for example, in many cases for young people to bring home a hairy white librarian as a husband and get away with it. But try bringing home a black man and see how far you get.

The perception in Asia that Australia is a racist country goes back to the White Australia Policy. In those days Australia was a racist country in every sense of the term. Those of us who used to administer the White Australia Policy were left in no doubt about what it was designed to do and what it did. Today I think Australia has changed quite fundamentally. Although I'd not be so naive as to suggest racism is dead in Australia, I believe Australia is one of the more tolerant countries of this world. Perhaps we just make a lot more noise about it and debate openly things which many other people keep quiet about. Maybe they're right, and we should shut up a bit more, but racist attitudes which used to be mainstream views in Australia, and this is an important point, in the 1950s what is now fringe views, you know, and in many cases things which are illegal and certainly not very popular views, they were mainstream views in the 1950s.

And so I see in Asia racism in the narrow sense as being on the decline, as indeed in Australia, but I do feel that communal or ethnic prejudices, often dressed up in racial terms, is still far too prevalent in Asia as in other parts of the world. So I distinguish racism in the narrow sense from communalism, because racism tends to be something to be dealt with by psychiatrists, while communalism has to be dealt with by politicians. There's usually some kind of rational basis to communalism, even though it may sometimes be buried in the past and no longer rational. No doubt in the 1300s at the Battle of Kosovo, it really mattered and a couple of hundred years ago in Ireland it really mattered. But today? To eliminate it, you've got to attack the causes on a group basis and so while racism often has much in common with what I'm calling communalism, it's perhaps closer to mental illness and may need a different approach.

Finally, I note that groups are an essential part of human society. We're all members of some group, even if it's only the Boy Scouts, or a pub group. What matters is probably how you approach that membership, rather than what it is. It can be argued indeed that the Nation State is simply one form of ethnic or communal group, and that patriotism is just a form of group solidarity. Patriotism can be a quiet pride in the achievements of your nation, or it can be screaming xenophobic jingoism. Religion can be a quiet and sustaining faith, of the self-sacrifice of Mother Theresa and the Lord Buddha, but it can also be a mindless mob burning heretics, or the ethnic cleansing of people of another faith.

With a few exceptions, I think religion in Asia has not played the destructive role that it has in Europe, but communal differences certainly do exist. The greater diversity of South East Asia may explain why it tends to be more multicultural and perhaps less racist in the narrow definition of the term. But plagued by communal problems. These are questions to be considered.

Well in the time available, I've only touched the surface, but I guess I would end where Chris Sidoti began, which is that for every example of racist or communal prejudice in Asia you can find a parallel in other parts of the world. Human behaviour is human behaviour. We're dealing with the behaviour of the human race, and on the whole Asians are no better and no worse than other members of that race.

Thank you.

APPLAUSE

Kirsten Garrett: That was diplomat and academic Cavan Hogue. Among many other posts, Mr Hogue has been an ambassador overseas, and he's been with the Department of Foreign Affairs in Rome, Seoul, Chile, Manilla, and he's been High Commissioner to Malaysia and held other posts in Asia.

Not included in today's program is a speech by Vietnamese born Dr Nih Van Tran. She is a Professor of International Studies at Adelaide University, and she's a writer and a member of many boards and groups.

After the Forum, Dr Ghassan Hage from Sydney University talked through some of the main points of his speech in an interview. Dr Hage is author of the book 'White National: Fantasies of White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society.'

During his speech Dr Hage had talked of the very subtle racism hidden in a too great admiration of people of another culture or race. He had made the point that there is a tendency to make the victims of racism into the embodiment of unreal virtues and expectations, as victims they are more noble or must have better behaviour than their oppressors. Ghassan Hage says that any simplistic view of another people becomes racism.

Gassan Haj: What I was concerned with here was the idea that when people have too much of an absolute view of other people, such as 'They're great', or 'They're lovely', whichever.

Kirsten Garrett: Graceful, or have rhythm.

Gassan Haj: Yes. Because from my disciplinary perspective in anthropology, most of my work is field work, where I'm meeting people and trying to see how they think in everyday life. I notice very well that in everyday life people don't have such absolute views if they are truly interacting with other people. So I do hear people saying 'I love the way Asians are', or Asians saying, 'Oh I like the way English people do this.' But at the same time they say, 'Oh, I hate the bloody English the way they do that'. So what we often perceive as racism is a moment in a conversation; someone might say, 'Oh I hate those bloody Lebanese, they do this', and a second after they say, 'I love the Lebanese for that.' Their views are constantly shifting and sometimes they're racist and not racist at the very same time. Statements are never so clear cut.

And so what I was trying to say was that usually people who have very definite views, such as, 'I think Lebanese are this', or 'I think English people are that', are usually people who don't interact with other people. Whether their view is about how incredibly wonderful these other people are, or because if you interact with other people, it's hard work, interacting with people from other cultures. Not everyone has got a PhD in cultural diversity, and it's hard work. Certain things you don't know, it's hard work meeting your new neighbour, whether they're of a different ethnicity or not, they also have a different culture. And you start having views about them 'This I like, that I don't like ' etc which you develop in interaction.

Kirsten Garrett: I think the point you're making is that at that level of interaction in a community or in a family or as visitors to another country, the racism and the not-racism and the casual comment is all part of a complex mix. It's when you get into a position of power or where there is no interaction, where a person is speaking from ignorance or lack of closeness, that it starts to carry a little bit more weight.

Ghassan Hage: I think it's not just a question of speaking from a position of ignorance, but rather speaking from a position where your purpose is political. So you might not necessarily be ignorant, but you have a purpose and you're directing your supposed views, not because you really did get them from interaction, but because you want them to serve your purpose, your political purposes, whether it is to support multiculturalism and it's like saying, 'Oh I love Asians' etc., or 'I love whoever', or whether you are engaged in racist politics and want to know the negative view of other people.

Kirsten Garrett: But you can also find quite profound and nasty racism in ordinary people who have no political power, or overt political purpose anyway.

Ghassan Hage: Yes, well this is precisely why it's really so difficult to use the concept racism in any decent social scientific status. It can mean all sorts of things; even in a conversational sense it's becoming just too hard to use it. Even though we'll never stop using it. But yes, people can be nasty. The thing is, we have to know whether we're talking about racism as a non-virtuous, ugly mode of behaviour, as we're seeing it from a moralistic perspective. People who think of other people as being inferior or nasty or what-have-you. And that was one of the points I tried to make in the conference, that if we are talking in moral terms, then the question that the conference organisers had put about Are Asians Racist? is very good, even though it's clearly meant to tickle, to be provocative, and not taken too seriously. But at the same time it's welcome because we do have a tendency to assume that the victims of racism in Australia are the repositories of virtue. So if Aboriginal people or Asian people cop it too much as far as white racism is concerned, then we tend to think in moralistic terms and assume that therefore in Australia, whites are immoral and Asians or Aboriginal people 'Oh, aren't they wonderful, they're fantastic, they're great.' We know logically that it doesn't make sense. You know, I mean just because you've been the victim of racism it doesn't make you any better a person at all. There's no reason whatever, logically or historically.

Kirsten Garrett: I think Mr Hogue brought that out very well, that in the end everybody is just a human being, Aboriginals and Asian people are just as capable of bad behaviour.

Ghassan Hage: Exactly, as far as we are dealing with this racism as a mode of behaviour, as a way of thinking about other people in everyday life. But of course that's not really the crucial point about wanting to analyse racism, because what is most important is not just whether you think of people badly, but who has the power to act on their thinking to discriminate and stop other people from doing what they want to do. The point is not that the white person in Northern Queensland is morally bankrupt as opposed to the Aboriginal people who is a wonderful person, but the point is that somehow this white person has acquired the power to stop this Aboriginal person from going into the pub. Just that small act, which means stopping someone from going into a pub is an act in which you have the power to act on your racism to discriminate, to consider people as if they are objects that you can move in what you perceive as your space.

Kirsten Garrett: Just getting back to that idea of investing too much goodness in any other race, that's the sort of 'noble savage' idea too, isn't it, that the other, particularly the other who is less developed embodies some kind of great nobility in relation to -

Ghassan Hage: That's the more common racist way of not being racist in terms of 'noble savage' ideas. But it exists also when you are essentialising people.

Kirsten Garrett: Essentialising, can you just tell me how you use that word, as an anthropologist?

Ghassan Hage: Essentialism is when you consider people's identity as an essence, and considered as an essence means to consider it as if it is the source of one's character and one's behaviour. So why is this person doing this? Well because they're Lebanese. So to think that you don't need more than knowing that a person is Lebanese to know that they've done this, means that you think that them being Lebanese explains everything that they've ever done, and so you essentialise their Lebanese-ness. Locking people into whatever too much into what they are. They are this because. So not only underdeveloped people who are categorised as underdeveloped, but even Asian people who are now perceived as part of the cycle of capitalist development, you can essentialise them by starting and one of the points I'm making is that some Asians essentialise themselves too, when you start attributing your level of development to your character, or to what kind of people we are, or to our values, is the whole idea of what I call developmental racism. It's precisely this racism which emerged with capitalism, and which started to see whether one region was developed or not on the basis of explaining it in terms of the character of the people who are there. So British people have got developed society because of the British character. And so this has emerged in Asia in terms of Asian people starting to run around with the idea that it's Asian values, or the Asian character which explains why Asia has developed while Africa has remained underdeveloped. And so we see this developmental racism which was first only European.

Kirsten Garrett: That's a kind of self-racism, where they hide their human rights abuses for example, behind the notion of Asian values.

Ghassan Hage: Yes but even so, I'm very careful when I say 'they', who do we mean by 'they'? That's sort of like 'they', immediately we're locking too many people when we start using the concept 'they'. I don't know, whoever uses that is doing that, but I'd rather not use 'they'.

Kirsten Garrett: OK, no, fair enough.

Ghassan Hague: But this kind of like what you're calling self racialisation, again it seems to me that's extending a bit the concept of racism, but you're right, there is an element of racialisation and racism in this. We see it not only in Asians in Asia, but we see it in Asians in Australia; and not only Asians, all sorts of ethnic groupings in which there's a leadership which calls for a very ossified concept of an ethnic culture to maintain certain forms of powers. So this is stopping people from being whatever they want to be in the name of some mythical, eternal, cultural form.

Kirsten Garrett: Dr Ghassan Hage, who was interviewed after speaking at a forum addressing the question 'Are Asians Racist?' last month.

In his concept of 'developmental racism', in which people link social and technological development to a particular characteristic, Dr Hage raised the term 'Asian values'. I put it to him that this term has been used by political leaders in parts of Asia themselves, as a kind of smokescreen behind which to hide human rights abuses, the idea that somehow Asian people inherently do not have the same values, rights and needs as others. Is this again, self-directed racism?

Ghassan Hage: Well it can be and it's not necessarily. That's what's so difficult about that issue. To start saying that to talk about value is racist, well we talk about Australian values. It's how you put this concept to usage, how do people use it? Now if you say Australian values are about respecting the Queen, someone might like to say this. Clearly they are using the concept of value here to exclude certain people.

Kirsten Garrett: Who don't respect the Queen.

Ghassan Hage: Yes. The same way with the concept of Asian values, but at the same time using the concept of Australian values like respect for democracy etc. you use it to try to foment a certain ethical climate that people should aspire for. And in this sense it's good, even though it's not intellectually correct. But it's useful politically and has a good function in society. So we don't need necessarily to judge things as to whether they are intellectually correct of not. Asian values are simplistic, like Australian values as a concept. There isn't really such a thing. One can immediately dissect it, and it shows that there's a lot of bulldust in it. But at the same time it conveys a certain respect of hard work, which can be valuable, but it conveys also anti-union modalities, it conveys the extreme exploitative practices which are not so good. It's a question of how it is put to usage really, which determines its degree of racism or not racism. So it's hard to use racism like this.

Kirsten Garrett: You used another word during your talk at the forum: aesthetisisation, and I found that fascinating, but a little difficult again.

Ghassan Hage: Well aesthetisisation is when you make an image in your mind of your people, aesthetically nice, pleasing. Racism, especially developmental racism that I was talking about, does that a lot, which in the sense that let's say you are a European racist, and you think that Aboriginal people are lowly types. Now let's go in a microscopic way if you like, into the way your mind works here. What do you do? You say, 'I belong to the race of superior people. The Aboriginal people belong to the race of inferior people.' Now what do I do when I make the statement, when I say I belong to the race of superior people, who do I imagine in my mind as my people? If I'm white, I'm saying that the wise people are superior people. Obviously the wise people in my mind are not a drunken white guy sleeping on the bench overnight in the park. I immediately think of beautiful people. My people are the middle class people, the spunky people, the people who groove, who move well etc. So racism operates first by the person who is assuming superiority, picks up images off those groups of people among the race that they are constructing, who are wonderful and who they consider are really fantastic, and excludes, and represses images that undermine his concept of 'My people are superior people'. Now that person does exactly the opposite way as far as the other people. So when say the Aboriginal people are a race of inferior people, now usually the racist does not start thinking immediately of Ernie Dingo, but starts thinking of wretched people, precisely, people sleeping on a bench in the park. So asthetisisation means precisely when you start portraying your people as aesthetically beautiful and the other people as aesthetically non-beautiful. And your concept of beautiful is always a class-based concept in these processes.

Kirsten Garrett: And as you say, groovy, spunky, handsome, gorgeous, and we would have seen an apogee of this in Nazi Germany with those magnificent blond men.

Ghassan Hage: Exactly. We've got elements of that very much in Nazi Germany. That's precisely where aesthetisisation become institutionalised.

What I was trying to say is that we are starting to witness a next-step Europeanisation of the Asian in Australia. Because if you look at the Asian population, the Asian migrant population in Australia, it's not made out only of those spunky, groovy, people you see in ads, but there's a lot of working class Asians, people who are doing piece work and being exploited in Australia. And my problem is precisely that there is a tendency of us starting to think in terms of 'We Europeanised Asians' are groovy. And in that process, sort of like creating a beautiful image that you can see in ads, airline ads, all sorts of ads, of beautiful Asian people and beautiful European people, and in the process, the image of the working class Asian in Australia is being repressed increasingly.

Kirsten Garrett: It seems to me the point that you're making is that what's going on is as much a class issue as in fact a race issue, that we can incorporate people into our world view, our acceptance, if we accept that they are aesthetically equal or superior or magnificent, but we will never accept or deal properly with the people who are for whatever reason, working class, drunk, poor, ugly.

Ghassan Hage: Yes, these images of who we conceive as ugly and who we conceive is beautiful, are themselves class images, to begin with. We use these class images in constructing our racial stereotypes.

Kirsten Garrett: Ghassan Hage, I find that absolutely fascinating. Thank you very much.

THEME

Kirsten Garrett: Dr Ghassan Hage of Sydney University. Today's program has been based on a recent forum arranged by the Asia Australia Institute which had as its title, 'Are Asians Racist?'

Background Briefing's Co-ordinating Producer is Linda McGinness; Technical Production, Craig Preston; Research, Jim Mellor.

I'm Kirsten Garrett.

THEME

Further information

Asia-Australia Institute at UNSW
Sponsors of the 1999 Australia in Asia lecture series.
http://www.unsw.edu.au/aai/visitor/index.htm

National Thai Studies Centre at ANU
Cavan Hogue is the Centre's Director.
http://www.anu.edu.au/ThaiOnline/

Institute for International Studies at UTS
For the study of comparative social change and cultural diversity.
http://www.uts.edu.au/fac/iis/

ASEAN Focus Group
http://www.aseanfocus.com/

Publications

White National: Fantasies of White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society
Author: Dr. Ghassan Hage
Publisher: Pluto Press, Sydney 1998

Quick update

2008-01-22T00:35:00.000-03:00

OK, only time for a quick update. I found this interesting site with links to numerous articles highlighting asian racism (focused on China, Korea and Japan) here.

There is also an interesting article here and here

Digging up Facts of Singapore

2008-01-09T20:24:00.000-03:00

One of the more annoying double standards that i have encountered in Asia is that of the Singaporean mindset towards migration. Now, i need to clearly articulate that i mean chinese Singaporean. You see, many chiense Singaporeans are rightly very critical of Australia's former 'white australia' migration policy. It was a racist piece of garbage that belongs on the scrap heap of history. By and large, Australia has moved on from the days of only allowing 'whites' who could speak english to their shores.

But fast forward to the 21st century and we have in Singapore a blatantly pro-chinese migration policy still in place. Indeed, it was set up in the led up to Hong Kong returning to Chinese rule.

Basically the policy is this:

Hong Kong citizens can migrate to Singapore. They are given assistance. No education requirements. At the time the then Prime-Minister of Singapore refereed to the need to keep Singapore predominately chinese to ensure it's economic success (read in between the lines what you will.

The proof of this policy is still out there at the following places here here and here

To be balanced although the migration policy has been publicly linked to keeping the proportion of Singapore's population that is Chinese above a certain percentage, nothing explicitaly states you MUST be chinese, it is very clear that the policy is aimed at recruiting Chinese hong-kong citizens and as this is the only ethnic group that is being targeted in such a way it then lends itself to the question: if the white Australia policy was so racist and so evil, how is this any different or better? The answer to that (IMHO) is none.

Sure, defenders of it will say that Singapore has a non-discriminatory migration policy. They will also say as long as you have the skills you can migrate to Singapore. True to an extent, but if a non-asian country were to introduce such a scheme to keep a certain ethnic mix stable, to proactively recruit a specific ethnic group (which is already the majority) it would rightly be labeled as discriminatory and racist. Why then do many chinese singaporeans feel the need to defend such a policy whilst rightly condemning former very similar schemese hatched by neighboring countries? The double standard is alive and well.

Death to racism.

Wherever it is found.

New Resources and Links

2008-01-09T19:58:00.000-03:00

It's been a while since i've posted on my blog. I've recently moved country. Now that i have, i can be a little more open in my posts as i don't have to worry too much about being silenced for 'dissent' by the government of the country i was previously living in. So now that is out of the way, i've uncovered some really good resources i'd like to share with my all readers.

First off is the outstanding website Galdu which is a website dedicated to examining the issues surrounding the rights of indigenous peoples around the world. It's a sad fact of life that many indigenous peoples have seen their land stolen, way of life destroyed by various colonial and migrant powers - both european, american, and asian. The website has a great series of articles on Malaysia (which is of particular interest to myself) looking at the plight if the Temuan and Semai amongst others.

It's really worth a look to see how some asian countries that loudly decry the (very poor) treatment of indigenous peoples by other western nations (i.e Canada, USA, Australia) and hold it as an example of the innate racism of those countries have the same issues to deal with with their own indigenous peoples. As i've stated all along, the goal of this site is to highlight racial discrimination that occurs in Asia, white racism is well documented and well addressed by a large number of sites (including the folks at Fight'Dem Back) my goal is to simply collect articles that relate to the same issues in Asia.

On topics related to Malaysia another wonderful article on it's racial assimilation policies can be found here

I've also added Galu to the links in the side bar. I hope it helps all of us gain a perspective on the horrors of colonialism and forced assimilation in the 21st century.

updates coming

2008-01-02T20:12:00.001-03:00

Some more updates will be coming soon. It's also been a sad week with the death of the former Pakistan prime minister. She will be missed.

Racism in Cricket

2007-10-24T12:31:00.000-02:00

It's been interesting watching the growing controversy over the racism row in cricket. Now cricket isn't a game i follow for any other reason than my wife - she loves it. It's not really played in my home nation. Anyway, basically what has happened is some sections of the crowd in India have used racial abuse against an Australian player.

When it was first reported the Indian cricket authorities initially denied it happened, or suggested it had been a mis-understanding. When proof was produced, they finally did something about it.

What is interesting is the amount of "what is the fuss, Australia is racist too" type of comments floating about the internet, a prime example being here:

http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?s=a18d9d9a902475c983f32d18474283af&showtopic=137629

Other examples also here and here:

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/229276.html
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/229349.html

Again the same old tired defenses about whites being racist, Australians being racist to "us" (in this case Indians) makes it OK to be racist to 'them'.

What is also interesting is that some writer referred to an Australian government report on Racism in sport, citing it as proof that Australia is indeed racist. However, having taken the time to read the report I was, i must admit, a little surprised. The report can be found here: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/racial_discrimination/whats_the_score/index.html

What i found surprising is that by reading the report you find out:

1. That the majority of professional sporting codes are actively pursuing programs to engage minority groups and aboriginal peoples (albiet room for improvement)
2. All major sports have implemented member protection policies and programs
3. Racism has been identified as a problem and action is being taken, monitored, evaluated and fine tuned.

Now, how is this a racist country? I would think that a country that actively takes steps to reduce racism, foster involvement across racial groups and backgrounds is one that is a positive country rather than one that sticks it's head in the sand and pretends that racism only happens to it and it's people!

It's denials like the ones made by India that fuel xenophobic nazi-style morons in western countries. It's people taking the attitude that "all Australians are racist" that lead to those same people seeing every potential issue they have with people of that background as 'racist'

It's like visiting France. Now, i learned French in high school. Don't remember allot of it, but enough to travel. I love France and the French people, but almost EVERY person i know who has expressed fear and hesitation about going to France because of the 'rude people' has generally come back and spoken about how rude people are. If you LOOK for "it" (racism, rude people, bad food, whatever) you will invariably find it.

So how does this related to the racism row in cricket? well for one, I'm sure that various loony 'white power' groups on the net are going to use this as a chance to encourage people to 'stand up for themselves' and other nonsense. I'm sure that some dumb-ass rednecks in Australia will take it upon themselves to 'give it back' to the Indian team. I'm also sure that any negative cheering etc by Australian crowds will be deemed by the Indian media as being racist. Simply negative energy and thoughts feeding off each other. So what to do? Well, i for one will be attending my wifes family re-union at the time Sri Lanka are touring Australia. We will be watching a 'test' - i think they are the things before the main tournaments? anyway, take a stand - EVERYONE. If some red-neck Aussie hassles the Sri Lankans, I'll tell them to stop. If some Indian cricket fan tries to tell me (again) that the behavior is appropriate I'll, again, correct them and advise them to take the higher ground.

Point being: Asian Racism has again been exposed, the denials again (initially) loud and the same old justifications trotted out. How is racism in the west going to be beaten once and for all if westerners are treated this way? it only adds to the negative perceptions and fuels suspicion and mis-understanding. Only by admitting the problem exists and taking firm positive action to educate and correct peoples thinkings can we rid the world of racism, in all it's shapes and forms.

Rid the world of Racism. Admit that it exists. Confront it. Educate and Emancipate people from narrow perspectives!

Asian Racism in Malaysia: Apostasy

2007-10-12T04:06:00.000-02:00

Although not strictly racism, the story surrounding this womens plight is turly amazing... religious re-education camps? what is this, Nazi Germany? Enjoy

Apostasy

I DO not intend to renounce my religion—in so doing, I have in fact chosen the religion I now have. But I am deeply saddened by the news of someone forbidden to practice the religion of her choice. I am saddened by the story of Revathi Massosai.

Revathi, a Malaysian woman married with one child, is the daughter of Hindu parents but she converted to Islam. It was they who gave her a Muslim name but it was her grandmother, a Hindu, who raised her and Revathi decided to adopt her grandmother’s religion. In Malaysia, this is a problem. There, people whose fathers are Muslim must be Muslim. And as a Muslim, Revathi is forbidden from renouncing her religion or from marrying someone of a different faith. Apostasy is forbidden.

But in 2004 Revathi married a Hindu man and the couple had a daughter.

Last January she went to court for official acknowledgment of her status as a Hindu. Not only did she fail, she was detained by the officials. She was sent to a “faith rehabilitation center” and held for six months. The officials in charge of the implementation of Shari’a law wanted to ensure that she would stay “on the right path”—which of course means the “right path” according to those holding religious authority in Malaysia.

During the whole six months of her captivity, she had to wear the veil and perform Muslim prayers, amongst other things. When she got out she told of how she had also been served beef which Hindus are forbidden to eat.

Her stories triggered an angry response from Hindus in Malaysia, and the defense lawyers for the Shari’a officials in the state of Malacca hurriedly explained that Revathi’s stories were untrue. The BBC quoted them as saying they were sure that Revathi could still be persuaded not to give up her Muslim faith.

Revathi disagreed.

I don’t know what those Shari’a officials in Malacca hope to really achieve: save a Muslim soul from the fires of hell; ensure there is no decline in the number of Muslims; or make someone merely pretend to believe in Allah yet in her heart is unwilling and suffering.

I don’t know how those in charge in the Shari’a courts interpret the accepted wisdom of the Qur’an that “there is no coercion in religion”.

I am also not certain whether the efforts to prevent an adult from choosing his or her own religion are part of the politics of suspicion afflicting Malaysia—which makes the matter of one’s identity as a “Muslim” bound to one’s identity as a “Malay” so that religious conviction is no longer a matter of awareness, but a matter of genetics.

I am Indonesian and I am proud to say that in this country Islam is not automatically linked to race. Faith is not something automatic. Religion is reason, the Prophet said. Reason implies freedom to think and to choose.

Still, I have to say that I am a Muslim because of my parents. But I am free not to follow that path—just as the Arabs of times past were free not to follow the beliefs of their ancestors and could decide to follow the Prophet, even at the risk of being ostracized by their own families and societies.

Still, I have to say that I have chosen to keep my current religion not because I consider it to be the best. I am not converting to another religion simply because I know that in my religion there is good and there is bad, just as there is good and bad in other religions. The history of religions is always full of the most repressive and cruel chapters, but it also has passages that are the most noble and hope inspiring. Religions offer a ray of awareness to human life, no matter how impossible it is that justice will ever come. This, and all Allah’s attributes, still inspire. That is the essence of faith.

And so in the end what is important is not which religion Revathi or I choose, but rather how someone can uphold the essence of that faith—how he or she lives and acts.

The essence of faith does not question God. Not even an apostate can question this—just as the character of Lazaro, the apostate, who cannot help but feel close to Don Manuel, the priest in a small Spanish town in Migel de Unamuno’s novel, Saint Manuel Bueno, Martyr.

Lazaro comes to my mind because Don Manuel is a patient man who helps people, and—according to the storyteller—likes to give precedence to “the most unfortunate, and especially those who rebel.” But he is also a priest with sad eyes. His face clouds when he tells a child that one has to believe in Hell.

Even Lazaro, who abandoned his Christian faith, respects him and becomes his assistant. The two of them heal the sick, befriend the lonely, feed the hungry, and cheer those who grieve.

The priest does not ask Lazaro to remain a Christian. He only asks him to “feign belief”, even if he does not have any faith, so as not to shock the townspeople. Don Manuel does not demand truth, for truth, as he tells Lazaro, is “perhaps so unbearable, so terrible, and so deadly that simple people could not live with it”.

He himself probably does not believe in Hell; he is sad when God takes revenge. But he does not want to renounce his religion, even as he allows Lazaro to do so. At the same time, everything he does in life shows that hope can happen—hope as the reflection of God who is present in every act of kindness and sincerity towards the wounded and neglected.
By Goenawan Mohamad, translated from the Indonesian by N.S.
Asiaviews, August-September 2007

A paper on Racism in Malaysia

2007-10-12T04:04:00.001-02:00

Another article examining the tense relationships between Malays (migrants to the land now know as Malaysia) and other ethnic groups, with religion as another fault line dividing the population

Malaysia: Overcoming ethnic fears

If ethnic controversies have become more pronounced in Malaysia, it is partly because ethnic consciousness has been increasing among all communities since the early seventies. Within the Malay community, the New Economic Policy (NEP) was partly responsible for this. So was Islamic resurgence which in a sense was linked to the NEP since rapid Malay urbanization in those decades reinforced the community's attachment to certain religious forms, symbols and practices that set it apart from the non-Muslim communities in the country. By and large, they tend to be exclusive and ethnic-centered in their outlook and approach, now strengthened by the global environment. The subjugation and oppression of Muslims in various parts of the world, often accompanied by their stigmatization and demonization, are much starker today than ever before, creating a situation where Muslims are convinced that they are under siege.

Among the non-Malays and non-Muslims, negative reactions to both the NEP and Islamic resurgence have resulted in an upsurge of commitment to their own ethnic identities and interests. There are quite a few non-Malays in various sectors of society who partly because of their own experiences with the NEP in particular bear deep communal grudges which are not conducive towards social harmony. It is resentment whose significance cannot be underestimated since a huge portion of the Chinese and Indian populace is already third or fourth generation Malaysian and therefore more conscious of the promise of equality embodied in the nation's Constitution.

These attitudes have been further aggravated by the situation in the school system. With the switch from English to Malay as the main medium of instruction in national schools in the early seventies, the vast majority of Chinese in the 7 to 12 age group now attend state run Chinese primary schools, thus depriving themselves of the opportunity to mix with Malay and Indian Malaysians at a critical stage of their lives.

As with the Malays, there are also global forces impacting upon the non-Malay mind. Islamic and Muslim demonization is often accepted as the truth by many non-Muslims and non-Malays in the country. They refuse to see demonization as a tool, employed by the powerful to not only denigrate their adversaries but also to camouflage their own hegemonic designs over the land and resources of the demonized.

It is important to emphasize that there are also some perennial forces at work which tend to keep the ethnic temperature high. The political manipulation of ethnic sentiments is one such force. It has been shown that in most multi-ethnic societies politicians on both sides of the government-opposition divide just cannot resist the temptation of exploiting ethnic issues in order to enhance their electoral standing, sometimes to conceal and camouflage widening income disparities and social iniquities within a particular community.

The fears

The fundamental fears of the Malays are linked, directly or indirectly, to their position in what was historically a Malay polity. They are afraid that in spite of all the constitutional provisions and public policies, they could one day lose control over their own land because of their perceived inability to compete with the economically more robust Chinese. If that happens, not only will the Malays cease to be politically preeminent but some of the principal Malay characteristics of the Malaysian nation would also be jeopardized. This fear has acquired an added dimension in recent times due to the rapid economic globalization and Malaysia's own position as an open economy in this increasingly borderless world. The pressures upon the Malay community to compete in both the domestic and international arenas have multiplied.

Sections of the non-Malay communities also have their own particular fears. They have for a long while complained about discrimination against them and they regard the NEP and the constitutional provisions that underlie the policy as inimical to the interests of the non-Malays. They are equally concerned about what they perceive as their lack of political clout. UMNO, they feel, dominates the ruling Barisan Nasional. Some non-Malays are also of the view that their languages, cultures and religions are not accorded the prominence they deserve.

A significant segment of the non-Malay populace has concluded from all this that Chinese, Indians and other non-indigenous Malaysians are 'second-class citizens'.

Assuaging the fears

To assuage these fears within the community which are largely unfounded, Malay leaders should show the community through honest and rational analysis that the Malays have made tremendous economic and social progress in the last 49 years. In almost every profession today, Malay participation is significant, compared to the situation 30 years ago. Likewise, in the upper echelons of commerce and industry there are a number of Malays whose hallmark is their competence and ability.

The primary reason for this success is the vast expansion of opportunities for the Malay masses through education and not through ethnic quotas and special privileges per se. To put it differently, it is the state's commitment to social justice, and not its ethnic agenda, that is mainly responsible for the upliftment of the Malay community.

Malay leaders should assure their community that neither Malay political preeminence nor institutions are under any threat from the non-Malay populace. The vast majority of non-Malays accept that a Malay core within a multi-ethnic national leadership is vital for national stability and harmony. What is important is for that core to be just and fair to all communities.

But it is not just Malay leaders who should dispel the unjustified apprehensions of the Malay community. Chinese and other non-Malay leaders can also give a helping hand. Chinese Chambers of Commerce at national and state levels and other trade and manufacturing bodies operating within the community can take proactive measures to assist Malays, other Bumiputras and even Indians to establish small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Since non-Chinese business people have always found it difficult to access the production, supply and distribution networks of SMEs, aid from Chinese businesses could provide a breakthrough. Malays and other non-Chinese should also be given opportunities to occupy the upper echelons of Chinese dominated corporations.

The overall situation of the non-Malay communities is better than it is made out to be by some of their ethnic champions. The Chinese remain as ubiquitous in the economy as they were before the NEP was launched in 1971. The Chinese rich continue to dominate the upper crust of the economy. Non-Malays are also actively involved in the civic and political life of the nation. Apart from playing leading roles in trade unions and NGOs, Chinese, Indian and other Malaysians are at the helm of a number of political parties both in the ruling coalition and in the opposition. Since independence non-Malays have become an integral and essential part of the nation's political process.

The solution

It would be too simplistic to suggest the rescinding of the NEP or the abolition of Chinese medium schools as the remedies. For even if the NEP is not there, the underlying fears and aspirations of the Malay-Bumiputra community related to its economic strength and resilience would still have to be addressed. Similarly, the Chinese school has become a metaphor for the community's sense of ethnic security and identity. This is why any effective, long-term solution should seek to overcome fundamental fears and apprehensions of all communities.

If the State is sincere about strengthening the Malay economy in the coming years, it is justice that should be its central concern. What this means is that it should harness all its energies to tackle what is undoubtedly the single most important challenge confronting the Malay economy: the challenge of widening economic disparities within the community. The state should also go all out to combat the pervasive rentier culture which has inhibited the growth of genuine entrepreneurship. Eradicating both corruption, which has emasculated the economy, and abuse of power should also be its national priorities. None of these goals would require ethnicizing the economy.

If it is important for non-Malays to develop some empathy with the idea of a Malaysian nation that had emerged from a Malay polity, it is imperative that Malay leaders convince the Chinese and Indian communities that they are committed to the evolution of a social order that will be less and less preoccupied with ethnic policies and more and more devoted to an all-embracing vision of justice that focuses upon our common humanity.

Only when justice supplants ethnicity will it be possible to overcome the current challenges facing Malaysia and ethnic fears be laid to rest.
By Chandra Muzaffar, President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST)
Asiaviews, August-September 2007

Asian Racism in Indonesia

2007-10-12T04:02:00.000-02:00

Another article largely examining the problems that Indonesia is facing in regards to developing a working model of multi-ethnic and religious relations. Enjoy

The problem of multi-ethnicity in Indonesia

Indonesia is a multi-ethnic and multi-religion society but for most of its 62-year history as an independent nation-state, the Indonesian ruling elites have chosen not to deal with this reality. Their offensive and degrading interactions with colonialism in the past, together with their bad experience with various 'local' uprisings during the early years of independence, led to a 'a strong obsession with unity'. Now we can see how much this obsession has harmed the Indonesian people. Today we are paying the price.

Soekarno's decision in 1959 to adopt Guided Democracy as the governing principle of his reign and Soeharto's New Order policy to prohibit discussions on issues of SARA (Suku, Agama, Rasial and Antar Golongan-Ethnic groups, Religion, Race, and Intra groups) were all motivated by that obsession. So for more than five decades, Indonesians pretended to have a harmonious relationship with each other even when conflicts were occurring everyday. The Soeharto regime in particular has, for the three decades of his power, successfully 'put conflict under the carpet'. Except for recurring incidences of anti-Chinese sentiments in 1974, 1977, 1980 which reached its peak in the tragic May 1998 Riots, there was little information about conflicts around the country. Some ethnic Chinese Indonesians would argue that anti-Chinese sentiments were purposely nurtured in order to divert the people's attention away from other kinds of conflict, especially state-society conflict.

The situation went out of control after the 1996/1997 economic crisis which led to the fall of Soeharto's regime in 1998. During the first six-seven years after the new era of 'Reformasi' was proclaimed, social unrest happened in various places of the country, from Kalimantan and Maluku to Aceh, Poso and Papua. Nowadays, ethnic and religious issues have become the most important determinant in Indonesia's social and political life. It seems that after years of 'forced unity', the people have become too over- enthusiastic about re-learning the diversity among them and emphasizing the differences. In so doing, locality, ethnicity and religion have begun to create new problems of ethno-nationalism and separatism.

Our question now is 'shouldn't we re-learn unity and be united again?'

Considering the archipelagic nature of our country, where each island produces different goods that are being exchanged for the consumption by others, we actually should rediscover the meaning of unity. No island, especially the small ones like West Timor, would be able to support itself without the help from the peoples of the other islands, a reality that is reflected in the busy flow of people and goods in every day inter-island exchanges.

But how should we re-learn unity? The answer is 'from history'.

Clearly, mutual dependency, common interest, and a simbiosis mutualistic relationship have been developed over the ages and created a connectivity between the islands as well as between the people who occupy these islands. Our history has shown that the Nusantara archipelago, through its inter-island trading network, has become a social, economic and political entity which can only grow with cooperation between the inhabitants of its numerous islands.

As many historical records indicate, way back in the past Nusantara was widely known as a rich and prosperous place which attracted many foreigners to come and trade various local crops with the natives. Obviously it was the cooperation between the natives themselves which created a good impression of them in the eyes of foreigners and was an attractive pull factor.

If in the past unity gradually became a valuable necessity, today unity is similarly a must, if not more crucial, particularly under the pressures of current economic globalization. Without cooperation and unity, we certainly would not be able to compete with other countries.

In forging this unity, even the ethnic Chinese, Arab and Indian Indonesians should be included because each group has their own unique sociological role that cannot be replaced by other ethnic groups. Their contribution to the so-called Indonesian nation-state was written in the stories of their migration, settlement and existence in this country full of social and cultural exchanges, not to mention their friendly cooperation with the locals throughout the generations particularly before the Dutch colonial occupation. These groups, together with the locals, as a whole represent the diversity of Indonesia. As many have said, this diversity is a social asset that should be utilized to achieve the common goals specified in the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia, namely the people's freedom from oppression, their prosperity, security and dignity.

Finally, as a lesson learnt, the Indonesian case has proven that diversity and unity is not a zero-sum choice. Both are an undeniable part of the society with neither one more important than the other. The mistake made by Indonesians was to emphasize the importance of unity by neglecting diversity. The result was chaos still felt today.

To change the situation, the Indonesian leaders have to find the proper equilibrium between their desire for national unity (repeatedly articulated by military leaders as NKRI-short for Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia or Unitary State of Republic Indonesia-being "a fixed price") and adequate respect for the Indonesian people's diversity, their different beliefs, cultures and traditions. Only then can Indonesia achieve peace and stability.
By Thung Ju Lan, Senior Researcher, The Research Center for Society and Culture of The Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Asiaviews, August-September 2007

Asian Racism in Thailand

2007-10-12T03:59:00.000-02:00

Another article on Asian Racism - this time in Thailand. Enjoy.

Thailand deals with ethnicity

Thailand is not a multicultural country as its leaders often claim. The ongoing conflict and violence in southern Thailand reveal the country’s deep-seated discrimination and injustice against the country’s minorities who have different cultures, languages and religious beliefs. Thailand is a very diverse country with 79 different nationalities and linguistic groupings.

The hullabaloo surrounding the drafting of the new constitution during the past several months on the provision related to whether to declare Buddhism as the state religion is another case in point revealing the insensitivity towards Thailand’s diversity.

As in the rest of Southeast Asia, religious belief in this country is often linked to ethnicity. Approximately 10 per cent of the 66 million Thai population are Muslims and comprise the country’s largest religious minority. Almost all of the Muslim in the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat are Sunni, with Shiites representing a small percentage. In the case of the Chinese ethnic group, they are either Christian or syncretic Taoist-Buddhists.

It is interesting to note how Thailand has succeeded in assimilating the Chinese. Within Southeast Asia, the Chinese communities tend to have strong cultural identities and societal links amongst themselves. That is not the case, however, for the Thai-Chinese communities. They are different.

Once they arrived in Thailand, they adopted Thai names, took up Buddhism and other aspects of Thai life and norms without any resistance. The estimated 13 million Chinese-Thai citizens are considered well off, both in terms of education and wealth, but they have chosen to follow the local culture and traditions. Any visit to Bangkok’s famous China town, Yaowaraj, would reveal this strong trait. While all the façades and huge neon signs along the main roads stress the Chinese-ness of their cultural heritage, the small alleys or soi and walkways show the other side of them being Thai.

It was only in the past ten years that the government has allowed the teaching of putonghua or mandarin Chinese. After more than half a century of suppression, the government is now enthusiastically promoting the teaching of the once so-called “communist language” which would require at least 5,000 language teachers from China.

In contrast, the Muslims down south live in isolation despite Bangkok’s claim of successful assimilation. They have more contacts with the neighbor in the south, Malaysia, than with their own government. This strong linkage with Malaysia continues unabated today, especially since the 1902 annexation by the central authority in Bangkok of Pattani and six surrounding areas. This places Thailand in a precarious situation.

Within their own communities, they have little interaction with the Thais. The only contact they have would be when the local authorities want to find fault with them. Their children attend religious schools or pondoks near their homes and are taught by religious leaders they know and trust.

Before the tumultuous event of 11 September 2001, the Thai authorities have never attempted to control or monitor the curriculum taught at these various pondoks, assuming that their curriculum must be automatically in line with the Thai national education system to take advantage of the higher education system for students in the provinces.

Since there is no standardized Muslim syllabus, the daily teaching method and its contents are being left to the religious teachers themselves. Many local pondok schools continue to teach Islam as the main subjects and Thai-Malayu as the main language, without sufficient tutoring in subjects such as the social sciences and humanities. Some parents do not want to compromise religious teaching classes with other subjects. As a consequence, children studying in private pondoks are unable to compete with other mainstream students coming from elsewhere, including Muslim children who study in Thai schools.

Thai-Muslims face two dilemmas once they reach their youth. Without proper education and lacking the Thai language ability, both oral and written, they find themselves unable to go for higher education in their own country. Most of them choose to go abroad or cross the border to study in Malaysia and other Muslim countries in the region or in the Middle East and Africa. But those educated abroad eventually end up unemployed upon returning home. A survey conducted by a team of scholars from Prince of Songkhla University showed that 60 per cent of Thai-Muslims youth in 2003 could not get jobs. Inevitably, they become a highly alienated group of youngsters. Full of frustration and a sense of hopelessness, some of them have been targeted for recruitment by either criminal groups or separatist groups.

Thailand needs to change its mind-set in dealing with its multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. Some senior Thai officials, for instance, including the statesman Gen Prem Tinsulanonda opposes the teaching and use of Thai-Melayu as a working language in the Muslim areas for fear it would diminish their ability to absorb the Thai language.

Besides the Thai-Muslims, other less well-know ethnic groups including the Karen, Mon, Chong, Mlabri and Meo are also struggling to overcome the injustice and prejudice against them. They want to be accepted and treated as equals in Thailand. The only difference is that their struggle continues without media’s attention.
By Kavi Chongkittavorn, Bangkok-based journalist
Asiaviews, August-September 2007

Asian Racism in Singapore

2007-10-12T03:45:00.000-02:00

This article is one i read in a taxi on a weekend visit to Singapore - and strangely enough it is actually written by a Singaporean. The article encompasses many of the points i have been trying to illuminate through the collection of articles that comprises this blog - that racism is alive and kicking in Asia and is conveniently ignored or dismissed as being a problem belonging to other countries. Enjoy.

Racism within Asia
AsiaViews, Edition: 30/IV/August/2007

In recent months, there has been much discussion in the media here about how Singapore could cope with a large migrant population from other parts of Asia if the country is going to aim for a population of 6.5 million within the next decade.

Though the question of race relations has not overtly being discussed, yet, it is what we are referring to when we talk about integration, etc. Asians seem to be very reluctant to talk about race relations or racism within their societies, but are quick to point fingers at the West. A couple of months ago, there was ample coverage given, especially in Singapore, to an episode of ‘Big Brother’ TV program in Britain in which Indian Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was the butt of racist comments.

Reading these reports, particularly in the Singaporean press, I could not resist the thought, “what’s the big deal, is it not present here?” This is particularly after some experience I’ve had here around the same time when I was looking to rent a condo apartment and was told not once but five times by housing agents that the owner “did not want to rent to Indians”. Some letters to the editor written by Indian expatriates published in ‘Today’ newspaper about 2 months later indicated that this is a widespread practice here.

I have raised this issue with Singaporeans recently and the usual response with the shrug of the shoulders is “well, racism exists everywhere” so what can we do about it?

In one of the popular expat forums on the Internet here, when I raised this point there was a heated debate which developed that reflected this attitude. One typical comment by a Singaporean professional woman in her 30s was: “No, housing agents are not racists, but local house owners may have pre-stated their preference to the agents representing them of not renting to Indians on account of Indian cooking involving very pungent spices that makes the house smell”.

When I responded: “This is what I said, it is a racist attitude to think that anyone of color cooks spicy food at home and smells”. Her reply was: “It is not my intention to make excuses, I’m merely stating the facts…”

Singapore has often boasted about the harmonious multicultural society they have created where Chinese, Indians, Malays, Eurasians, Filipinos, etc, live in harmony. But, what has transpired in the ‘blogsphere’ in recent years indicates that not everything is rosy under the surface.

Coming back to my experience, when I questioned the housing agents for the reasons for refusing to rent to Indians I was told that because they cook with such aroma, it leaves a “bad smell” in the house long after they have left. I pointed out that (a) I’m not an Indian, but a Sri Lankan-born Australian (b) I don’t usually cook at home because I live on my own. One agent told me “that doesn’t matter, you look Indian, all the same”.

This is exactly what is called “stereo-typing” a process which is described in any cross-cultural communication textbooks as “those overgeneralized and over simplified beliefs we use to categorize a group of people (which) have a tendency to make a claim that often goes beyond the facts, with no valid basis.”

At a time when Singapore is looking towards India—an emerging world power—to develop closer economic ties, and with increasing number of “Indian” professionals coming here to work and many even taking up PR here, it is an opportune time for Singaporean educational authorities to take a closer look at how the educational system could be utilized to address this problem of stereo-typing and racism. It does not apply only to Indians, I have noted that Filipinos, Indonesians and Thais to name a few, are also effected by such racial stereotyping.

I must also add that racist attitudes towards other Asians are not peculiar to Singaporeans. Even Malaysia’s recent treatment of its migrant laborers from Indonesia and Bangladesh in particular has been described by some observers as racist. A few years ago, when I arrived in Hong Kong for the first time I noticed that their customs checked the bags of all the people of color arriving there and not the Chinese nor the Caucasians. This was before the 9/11 event. After that I have observed that they do the same at Bangkok airport.

Over the past 25 years I have been to Bangkok over 30 times. Since the 9/11 event I have been there about 6 times and each time they have called me up and checked my bags, even though I was passing through the “green” line and I’ve noticed that they only check the bags of colored people, especially with South Asian appearance. Obviously they suspect us as possible “Pakistani Muslim terrorist”, even though I’m Buddhist and for 20 years living in Sydney, it was Thai monks who performed our family religious ceremonies including my father’s last rites in 2001.

Though many of us, especially professionals of South Asian background, find this attitude offensive, perhaps many of these officials behave in such fashion because they lack cross-cultural communication training. In many Western countries when they have such security concerns they usually do it more subtly where a few Whites will also be checked along with the non-Whites.

Today, in this globalizing world, not only Singapore, but many other Asian countries are facing an influx of people of different ethnic backgrounds, either coming as tourists, convention delegates or to work or invest in their countries. So, knowledge of cross-cultural communications should be an essential ingredient in these countries.

I lived in Australia for 20 years—throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s—at a time when Australia had to address a similar problem in their society, because they were experiencing an immigration boom from Asia, after the ‘White Australia” policy was abolished in the mid-1970s. Australia was also trying to link up economically with a booming Asia, whose people were historically seen by most Australians as of “lower status” or what was called the “yellow peril”. This was tackled through the educational system with new Asian Studies and Cross-Cultural Communication courses introduced in high schools and tertiary institutions. Today most young Australians are less racist towards Asians and are more comfortable dealing and living with them—even marrying Asians in increasing numbers.

Two years ago, I taught an inter-semester course at a leading university in Singapore on Cross-Cultural Communications during which I covered many theories on stereotyping and racism. When I set assignments for students and asked them to apply these theories to practical situations, all of them took examples from the Western textbooks we were using because no Asians texts were available on the topic. They were happy talking about the Caucasians, Hispanics, Blacks or Australian Aborigines rather than applying these theories to their own environment and talk about relationships between the Chinese, Malays, Filipinos and the Indians for example.

There seems to be this perception in Asia that racism is a problem of the West, a problem of the “White” people. But, ‘Whites’ now understand the problem—thanks to many Indians, Africans and Arabs like Edward Said who pointed this out to them more than 30 years ago—and the West has taken remedial action via the education system. The fact that the Britons were able to acknowledge that there was racism involved in the ‘Big Brother’ episode and Shilpa Shetty was voted overwhelmingly as the winner of the show is reflective of such enlightenment.

In Asia, people are still in self-denial mood. Singapore, with its multiracial population mix and its ambition to become an educational hub and a bridge between South and East Asia, is in an ideal position to address this issue. A good start would be to introduce cross-cultural communication courses and textbooks with Asian examples which could be a benchmark for Asia.

By Kalinga Seneviratne, Singapore-based journalist, media analyst and international communications lecturer.
Asiaviews, August-September 2007

Racism in Cricket

2007-10-12T00:16:00.000-02:00

Interesting article on racism in Cricket. The much maligned Australian cricket team and fans are often accused of racism now it appears that the Indian cricket fans have also stopped to that level.

Indian crowd racially taunts Aussie Symonds
October 11, 2007 - 10:26PM

Australia's Andrew Symonds has been racially abused by Indian fans while fielding during the home side's innings in their one-day match at Vadodara today.

The only black member of the national side was taunted with monkey noises from the crowd during the latter stages of India's innings at the Reliance Ground.

A Cricket Australia official confirmed the racist taunts were directed at the allrounder who was heavily booed on the occasions that he fielded near the boundary line today.

"The matter will be left in the hands of the local authorities," a CA official confirmed.

The Australian cricket team was trying to respect Symonds' wish not to make a big deal out of the incident.

However the Indian camp had condemned the behaviour of their fans.

"This should not happen but the problem is trying to control the crowds and in some areas there can be some trouble," said team manager Lalchand Rajput.

"People come to watch the game and this sort of behaviour spoils the game."

He said the Indian team would be very upset that a player had been racially abused.

"Yes, definitely these things are not good for the morale of the team, it is upsetting for them," he said.

"They (the fans) should watch and not get into these sorts of trouble and behave in the right way."

Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive Paul Marsh expressed similar sentiments.

"If this incident has occurred I would be disappointed for Andrew," he said.

The International Cricket Council has made cracking down on racial abuse from crowds a top priority with Australian, English, West Indie and South African fans having come in for criticism for racial abuse towards.

An ICC spokesman said the body treated racial abuse very seriously.

"We have not received any complaints about this but in general terms we have a no tolerance policy to racism and a very strict anti-racism code," a spokesman said from Dubai.

"Our anti-racism policy was approved and strengthened in November 2006 with all members having signed up to this, that racism will not be tolerated at any ground."

The matter left a sour note on Australia's comprehensive nine-wicket win over India that handed the side an unbeatable 3-1 series lead with two matches to play.

It is understood the matter was not a major talking point in the Australian dressing room following the change of innings.

The next contest will be in Nagpur on Sunday.

AAP

Flaming Hatred: Malaysian style

2007-09-06T03:03:00.000-02:00

Another article on the attempts to generate inter-racial hatred in Malaysia. Thankfully cooler heads prevail here. Maybe if religious freedom was a reality and not just a myth for the majority it would not be so easy to flame these hatreds?

Two detained for sending inflammatory SMSes on race riots

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian police have detained two men for allegedly sending mobile phone text messages about race riots, under an internal security law which allows them to be held without trial. The men, who are in their 20s, were arrested by police in Johor, where acting police chief Mohamad Mokhtar Mohamad Shariff said they were held under the Internal Security Act.
"I wish to stress that security in the state is under control and that the SMS messages being circulated are purely rumours and malicious," the police chief was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper. Some Singaporeans have also received text messages warning them not to go to Malaysia.

Police have boosted their presence in the state by increasing patrols and deployed some 200 anti-riot police officers to ensure security, according to the New Straits Times. Race relations have become an increasingly fraught issue in Malaysia.
A series of court cases — notably regarding conversions from Islam — has called that status into question.

Activists have been campaigning for greater religious freedoms in the country, where proselytising by other faiths is banned.
Last November, text messages carrying rumours that ethnic Muslim Malays would be baptised as Christians sparked a large Muslim protest in the northern state of Perak. It led to a government warning that the Internal Security Act could be used on anyone spreading texts, which could cause instability. — AFP

Race Riots in Malaysia?

2007-09-06T03:01:00.000-02:00

Hope these don't go down any time soon...

Police arrest fifth person for allegedly spreading rumours of race riots in Johor

KUALA LUMPUR — Police have arrested a fifth person for allegedly spreading rumours of race riots in Johor, as another flashpoint surfaced in Malaysia's inter-ethnic politics.

The Malaysian national was detained under the Internal Security Act, which allows detention without trial, over SMS messages about race riots, AP reported. The messages, which have been circulating for days, said that Malays and Indians had fought in two Johor towns and that rioting would break out on Malaysia's 50th independence anniversary, which was last Friday. The government dismissed the messages as false. No riots were reported.

Meanwhile, an email, claiming to be from an Islamic body, has urged Muslims to stay away from Indian restaurants because of certain Hindu practices that were allegedly performed daily on the premises, the malaysiakini website reported yesterday.
The email, posted on a website on July 26, suggested that the rituals, which were meant for blessing and purification, were unacceptable to Muslims. The author of the email said that he was a director from the Muslim Consumers' Association of Malaysia (PPIM).

Identifying himself as "MJH", he said that some Hindu-owned restaurants that practise the rites served cuisine associated with Indian Muslim restaurants and used Malay-sounding names to bring in Muslim customers by "confusing" them.
Dismissing the email, Mr A Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, said: "I hope people would be level-headed when they come across this email. It's best to ignore it."

PPIM spokesman Noor-Nirwandy Mat Noordin denied the group had issued the email. "This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that PPIM has been used to further some opportunistic agendas," he said.

Ethnic Violence in China

2007-09-06T02:58:00.000-02:00

Another article that lifts a lid a little on the internal 'race' and ethnic issues inside china:

1 dead, 20 hurt in ethnic clashes

BEIJING — Clashes between minority Chinese Muslims and the Han majority last month left at least one person dead and 20 injured, a Hong Kong newspaper and human rights group reported yesterday.

The fighting in the province of Shandong broke out on Aug 17 after a Hui man was caught stealing and beaten by several Han in the town of Shimiao. The man returned to the Muslim neighbourhood where several thousand Hui people gathered sticks, bricks and other improvised weapons and marched on the town's commercial district.

The fighting was only brought under control after several hundred members of the People's Armed Police were dispatched to the scene. Official media do not report on the sensitive issue of ethnic clashes, the likely reason why word of the incident has only leaked out now.

Numerous violent incidents between Hui and Han have been reported in recent years, including a December 2000 clash in Henan province in which police shot dead at least six Hui men. — AP

Chinese Colonialism

2007-09-06T02:53:00.001-02:00

An interesting extract from an article on Chinese colonialism that focuses on the 'internal' aspects of the drive towards a singular mono-ethnic china.

Uyghur Ethnogenesis and Internal Colonialism

The following statement was told to me by a Uyghur tour guide at the ancient Astana underground tombs outside of Turfan. First heard in 1985 (see Gladney 1992), this widely believed Uyghur historiography was repeated on subsequent trips in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1996 : "The Uyghur people are the direct descendants of a high civilization of Central Asian nomadic people who had a kingdom based here in Turfan. The elegant paintings and wrapping in this tomb date to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) and are comparable in beauty and sophistication. A mummy in the Xinjiang Provincial tombs also found in this area dates over 6 000 years old and proves the Uyghur people are even older than the Han Chinese" (Personal Interview, March 1985).

Chinese histories notwithstanding, every Uyghur firmly believes that their ancestors were the indigenous people of the Tarim basin, now know as Xinjiang. This land was "their" land. Nevertheless, I have argued elsewhere the constructed "ethnogenesis" of the Uyghur (Gladney, 1990). In his popular history of Xinjiang, Jack Chen (1997 : 100) noted the re-introduction of the term Uyghur to describe the Turkic inhabitants of Chinese Turkestan. While a collection of nomadic steppe peoples known as the "Uyghur" have existed since before the 8th century, this identity was lost from the 15th to 20th centuries. It is not until the fall of the Turkish Khanate (552-744 C.E.) to a people reported by the Chinese historians as Hui-he or Hui-hu that we find the beginnings of the Uyghur Empire described by Mackerras (1972). At this time the Uyghur were but one collection of nine nomadic tribes, who initially in confederation with other Basmil and Karlukh nomads, defeated the Second Turkish Khanate and then dominated the federation under the leadership of Koli Beile in 742 (Sinor, 1969 : 113).

Gradual sedentarization of the Uyghur, and their defeat of the Turkish Khanate, occurred precisely as trade with the unified Tang state became especially lucrative. Samolin (1964 : 74-5) argues that the stability of rule, trade with the Tang and ties to the imperial court, as well as the growing importance of establishing fixed Manichaean ritual centers, contributed to a settled way of life for the Uyghur tribes. Sedentarization and interaction with the Chinese state was accompanied by socioreligious change : the traditional shamanistic Turkic-speaking Uyghur came increasingly under the influence of Persian Manichaeanism, Buddhism, and eventually, Nestorian Christianity (Sinor, 1969 : 114-15). Extensive trade and military alliances along the old Silk Road with the Chinese state developed to the extent that the Uyghur gradually adopted cultural, dress and even agricultural practices of the Chinese (Mackerras, 1972 : 37). Conquest of the Uyghur capital of Qarabalghasun in Mongolia by the nomadic Kyrgyz in 840, without rescue from the Tang who may have become by then intimidated by the wealthy Uyghur empire, led to further sedentarization and crystallization of Uyghur identity.

Indeed, it is the Uyghur nationality of Gansu today, not the Uyghur, who fled the Kyrgyz to Central China who are thought to preserve much of the original Uyghur history in their contemporary religious, linguistic, and cultural expression. One branch that ended up in what is now Turfan, took advantage of the unique socioecology of the glacier fed oases surrounding the Taklamakan and were able to preserve their merchant and limited agrarian practices, gradually establishing Khocho or Gaochang, the great Uyghur city-state based in Turfan for four centuries (850-1250). Reflecting the earlier multi-ethnic, multi-langual, and multi-religious traditions established in Qarabalghasun, this is "Uyghuristan" described by Oda (1978) to which contemporary Uyghur separatists refer today. Most of the Uyghur separatists who are devoutly Muslim would not wish to resurrect the wide variety of religious and ritual practices found in the former Uyghuristan.

The gradual Islamicization of the Uyghur from the 10th to as late as the 17th centuries in Hami, where according to Kahar Barat one could still find Uyghur Buddhists (Barat, personal communication), while displacing their Buddhist religion, did little to bridge these oases-based loyalties. From that time on, the people of Uyghuristan centered in the Turfan depression who resisted Islamic conversion until the 17th century were the last to be known as Uyghur. The others were known only by their oasis or by the generic term of Muslims (Haneda, 1978 : 7). With the arrival of Islam, the ethnonym "Uyghur" fades from the historical record. Instead, we find the proliferation of such localisms as "yerlik" (persons of the land), "sart" (caravaneer), "taranchi" (agriculturalists from the Tarim basin transplanted to Ili under Qjan-long), and other oasis-based localisms. Under the Manchu Qjing dynasty (1644-1911), the region was first brought under direct control from Beijing due to Manchu efforts to defeat the Zunghars, and it was only in the late 18th century that is received the name "Xinjiang" (new border or new dominion) in Chinese.

During the Republican period, Uyghur identity was marked by factionalism along locality, religious and political lines. Forbes (1986), in his detailed analysis of the complex warlord politics of Republican Xinjiang, finds important continuing distinctions between the three macro-regions of Xinjiang : the northwestern Zungaria, southern Tarim basin, and eastern Kumul-Turfan ("Uyghuristan") areas. Rudelson (1991 and 1992) confirms this persistent regional diversity along three, and the insightfully proposes that there are four macro-regions, dividing the southern Tarim into two district socio-ecological regions. The Uyghur were recognized as a nationality in the 1930s in Xinjiang under a Soviet-influenced policy of nationality recognition that contributed to a widespread acceptance today of continuity with the ancient Uyghur kingdom and their eventual "ethnogenesis" as a bona fide nationality (see Gladney, 1990; Rudleson, 1988). This nationality designation not only masks tremendous regional and linguistic diversity, it also includes groups such as the Loplyk and Dolans that had very little to do with the oasis-based Turkic Muslims that became known as the Uyghur (see Svanberg 1989b; Hoppe 1995). While rebellions by Yakub Beg in the late 19th century, and the short-lived establishments of the Eastern Turkestan Republics (TIRET) in Kashgar in 1933 and Yining in 1944 (Benson 1990), indicated Uyghur attempts at resisting expanding Chinese colonialism, these efforts failed just as those of the Uzbeks and Tadjiks in Csarist and Soviet Central Asia.

In the second half of the 20th Century, Xinjiang was occupied by the communist Chinese state in what was regarded as "peaceful liberation", in that, like Tibet, the People's Liberation Army did not have to fight its way into the province, but were welcomed by local leaders. "Minoritization" of the Uyghur became objectified when they were recognized by the Chinese state in 1950 as the Uyghur nationality (Gladney 1990), and the region was recognized as the Uyghur Autonomous Region in 1956. Chinese practices of "integration through immigration" has meant the in-migration of Han Chinese since the 1950s, with populations increasing from an estimated 5 percent in 1940 to 38 percent in 1990. The expropriation of Xinjiang's vast mineral and petrochemical resources, with processing of petroleum products in the interior, primarily Lanzhou, further fits the internal colonialism model (see Dorian, et al., forthcoming). Finally, the development of the tourist industry in the region as a "silk road" destination follows the line of touristic developments in the minority areas of the southwest that Oakes (1995) and Schein (1996) have analyzed as "internal colonialism" and "internal orientalism" respectively.

I argued earlier that the widespread diversity and factionalism found today among the Uyghur reflects a segmentary hierarchy of relationality common among all social groupings (see Gladney 1996b). Uyghur are divided from within by religious conflicts, in this case competing Sufi and non-Sufi factions, territorial loyalties (whether they be oases or places of origin), linguistic discrepancies, commoner-elite alienation, and competing political loyalties. In addition, it might be argued that resistance to the Chinese state has also contributed to factionalism among the Uyghur, particularly among exile communities, as Ortner (1995) has argued for the complex and internally contested nature of resistance movements elsewhere.

It is also important to note that Islam was only one of several unifying markes for Uyghur identity, depending on those with whom they were in significant opposition at the time. For example, to the Dungan (Hui), the Uyghur distinguish themselves as the legitimate autochthonous minority, since both share a belief in Sunni Islam. In contrast to the nomadic Muslim peoples (Kazakh or Kyrgyz), Uyghur might stress their attachment to the land and oasis of origin. In opposition to the Han Chinese, the Uyghur will generally emphasize their long history in the region.

The indigeneity of the Uyghur poses an alternative to Chinese historiographies of the region, which is consonant with "internal" colonizing regimes seeking to assert power in a region not previously their own. By moving the clock back far enough, any regime can claim the land as inoccupied. Claims of indigeneity always transgress nation-states that are founded most often under the conditions of post-coloniality.

Sub-Altern Perspectives on the Chinese Geo-Body

As Thongchai Winichakul (1994: 15) has eloquently argued in his path-breaking work, Siam Mapped, modern nations become established through the imposition of borders, boundaries, and categories of configuration upon previously borderless, unbounded, or uncategorized regions, peoples, and spaces. The invention and "imagined community" (Anderson 1991) of the geo-body of Thailand, Winichakul argues, is effected through the state-sponsored definition of boundaries, peoples, centers, and peripheries. It is clear that parts of China considered to belong to its "geo-body", such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang will never be considered released from Chinese authority. To do so, most Chinese believe, would be to er one's limb. Recovery of Hong Kong and Taiwan is merely reconstructive surgery.

Taking inspiration from subaltern studies in South Asian scholarship and studies in cultural criticism, this article seeks to understand the implications of China's increasing internal colonialism and notions of the Chinese geo-body for its sub-altern subjects. Perhaps it is the recognition of and tolerance for heterogeneity that has led to the influential impact of sub-altern scholars in India (see Duara 1995: 6), producing almost no similar movement in China. The sub-altern studies movement has drawn together a diverse group of South Asian scholars, including Giyatry Chakrovorty Spivak, Ranajit Guha, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Partha Chatterjee, Homi Bhabha, Gyanandra Pand Shaid Amin, and Akhil Gupta, to name just a few, who share a common commitment to writing post-colonialist studies of Indian society. As Edward Said notes in his introduction to the now classic 1988 Guha and Spivak collection, under the editorship of Rjit Guha, the first volume of Subaltern Studies: Writings on South Asian History and Society appeared in 1982, with the claim that "hitherto Indian history had been written from a colonialist and elitist point of view, whereas a large part of Indian history had been made by the subaltern classes, and hence the need for a new historiography" (in Guha and Spivak 1988: v).

In China, a full-fledged "subaltern scholarship" has yet to emerge. While there is a growing dissident and women's literature, particularly from Chinese intellectuals living abroad, clearly there is very little written from the perspective of minorities or other disadvantaged and dispossessed groups. Women's studies and the study of women in Chinese society have begun to give voice to a wide range of opinion heretofore rarely heard (see Honig and Hershatter 1988). These studies have begun to look at Chinese society through a multitude of voices, many of which have been suppressed or ignored. The Gilmartin, Hershatter, Rofel and White 94) collection, Engendering China, has sought to open up a wide variety of perspectives on Chinese society, demonstrating that the internal colonialism in China of constructions of gender influence not only how engendered subjects act in that society, but also how we see them.

Yet there have been few studies giving voice to those subalterns who have independent histories and cultural memories that cry out for understanding on their own terms, rather than placed in a peripheral, sub-regional, or "sub-ethnic" position. This is why at the end of this century the plight of China's sub-alterns becomes increasingly important, both for understanding China's increasing nationalism but also the nature of modern internal colonialism. For this article, “subaltern subjects” are the very groups, individuals, and subjectivities that continue to be regarded as somehow less authentic, more peripheral, and farther removed from a core Chinese tradition

Chinese Nationalism and its Sub-Altern Implications

In a Far Eastern Economic Review (November 1995) interview, Liu Binyan, the former Xinhua journalist and now dissident Chinese writer living in exile in Princeton, clearly indicated that attention to China's ethnic "sub-alterns" is critical to our understanding of contemporary Chinese nationalism. "Nationalism and Han chauvinism are now the only effective instruments in the ideological arsenal of the CCP", Liu declared. "Any disruption in the relationship with foreign countries or among ethnic minorities can be used stir `patriotic' sentiments of the people to support the communist authorities". The recent outpouring of reports over the last few months in the official Chinese media regarding separatist incidents in Xinjiang and elsewhere suggests that Liu Binyan was perhaps correct.

After denying them for decades and stressing instead China's "national unity", official reports have recently detailed Tibetan and Muslim conflicts activities in the border regions of Tibet, Yunnan, Xinjiang, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia. With the March 7'1997 bus bombings in Beijing, widely attributed (though never verified) to Uyghur separatists, coupled with the Urumqi bus bombings on the day of Deng Xiaoping's memorial on February 25 (killing 9 people), Beijing can no longer keep them secret. The Yining uprising on February 7'1997 that left at least 9 dead and 100s injured, with 7 Uyghur suspects now arrested and most probably slated for execution, has been heavily covered by the world's media. This distinguishes the last few events from on-going problems in the region in the mid-1980s that have previously met with little media coverage. In the northwestern Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, the Xinjiang Daily reported five serious incidents since February 1996, with a crackdown that rounded up 2,773 terrorist suspects, 6,000 pounds of explosives, and 31,000 rounds of ammunition. Overseas Uyghur groups have claimed that over 10,000 have been arrested in the round-up, with over 1,000 killed. On March 2 the pro-government mullah of Kashgar's Idgah mosque and his son were stabbed by knife-wielding Uyghur militants, on May 27 there was aner attack on a senior government official, and September 1996 six Uyghur government officials were killed by other Uyghurs in Yecheng.

The government has responded with a host of random arrests and new policy announcements. On June 12 1996, the Xinjiang Daily reported "rampant activities by splittists inside and outside China", that contributed to the closure of 10 "unauthorized" places of worship, the punishment of mullahs who had preached illegally outside their mosques, and the execution of 13 people on 29th in Aksu county (an area that is 99 percent Uyghur) supposedly for murder, robbery, rape, and other violent crimes. Troop movements to the area have reportedly been the largest since the suppression of the Baren township insurrection in April 1990, perhaps related to the nationwide "Strike Hard" campaign. This campaign, launched in Beijing last April was originally intended to clamp down on crime and corruption, but has now been turned against "splittests" in Xinjiang, calling for the building of "great wall of steel" against them. The Xinjiang Daily on December 16 1996 contained the following declaration by Wang Lequan, the Region's First Party Secretary : "We must oppose separatism and illegal religious activities in a clear and comprehensive manner striking hard and effectively against our enemies".

Intra-Muslim conflicts and anti-government protests among the Hui have occurred since 1992 in Xi'an, Yunnan, and Ningxia, China's only Autonomous Region for its largest Muslim minority. In Southern Ningxia, an intra-Sufi Muslim factional struggle in Xi in the Winter and Spring of 1992-93 led to the deaths of 49 Hui Muslims and the arrests of 4 local and provincial-level leaders, with 2 of them receiving life-sentences. Though reported only in November 1996 in the New York Times, the government's harsh response to this and other local disputes have angered Muslims throughout China. Madrassahs, or mosque-related schools, have been closed and a moratorium on mosque-building imposed. This Spring (1997), the National Peoples Congress passed a New Criminal Law that redefined "counter-revolutionary" crimes to be "crimes against the State", liable to severe prison terms and even execution. included in "crimes against the state" were any actions considered to involve "ethnic discrimination" or "stirring up anti-ethnic sentiment". Many human rights activists have argued that this is a thinly veiled attempt to criminalize "political" actions and to make them appear as illegal as traffic violations, supporting China's claims that it holds "no political prisoners". Since any minority activity could be regarded as stirring "anti-ethnic feeling", many ethnic activists are concerned that the New Criminal Law will be easily turned against them. Remarkably early summer 1996 a new directive requiring all Party Secretaries down to the village level to be Han Chinese in Xinjiang indicates the lengths the government is willing to go to re-establish firm control over the region. There are few Han Chinese at thillage level in Southern Xinjiang.

While much is reported about the policy shifts and re-imposed hardline in Tibet, including the prohibition of all public displays of the Dalai Lama's picture and the political re-education of monks, less is known about the extent of the unrest and cracowns in Xinjiang. Unlike Tibet, intra-Muslim factionalism and religio-political killings make the situation in Muslim areas much more complex and volatile. Without a Dalai Lama to sort out disputes and impose a restraining hand, China's Muslims who are riven by political, religious, and local factionalisms, are more susceptible to local and widespread violence.

Muslims in China are distinguished from each other not only by linguistic, locality, and nationality distinctions, but also by a history of Islamic factionalism. Though predominantly Sunni, Muslims in China have divided, sometimes violently, over Sufind reform movements often attempting to make Islam less "Chinese" and more true to their updated versions of its Middle Eastern roots. Since the Ming dynasty, overly harsh government responses to these intra-Muslim conflicts have often led to a unification of formerly factionalized Muslims against the intervening State. PRC officials have increasingly tried to nip intra-Muslim conflicts in the bud or mediate local conflicts, with varying success. It is clear that domestic disputes may have international implications.

The People's Republic of China, as one of five permanent voting members of the U.N. Security Council, and as a significant exporter of military hardware to the Middle East, has become a recognized player in Middle Eastern affairs. With the decline in trade with most Western nations after the Tiananmen massacre in the early 1990s, the importance of China's Middle Eastern trading partners (all of them Muslim, since China did not have relations with Israel until recently), rose considerably. This may account for the fact that China established diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia in August 1990, with the first direct Sino-Saudi exchanges taking place since 1949 (Saudi Arabia canceled its long-standing diplomatic relationship with Taiwan and withdrew its ambassador, despite a lucrative trade history). In the face of a long-term friendship with Iraq, China went along with most of the UN resolutions in the war against Iraq. Although it abstained from Resolution 678 on supporting the ground-war, making it unlikely that Chinese workers will be welcomed back into Kuwait, China enjoys a fairly "Teflon" reputation in the Middle East as an untarnished source of low-grade weaponry and cheap reliable labor. Recent press accounts have noted an increase in China's exportation of military hardware to the Middle East since the Gulf War, perhaps due to a need to balance its growing imports of gulf oil required to fuel its overheated economy (see Dorian, Wigdortz, and Gladney, forthcoming). Unlike Tibet, China can thus ill afford to ignore its Muslim problem.

Yet Chinese authorities are correct that increasing international attention to the plight of indigenous border peoples have put pressure on the regions, with even the German government calling for more human rights in Tibet following a June 15-17 1996 visit of the Dalai Lama. In Amsterdam, on June 2nd, Amnesty International supporters passed out fliers in Damme Square calling for the release of Kajikhumar Shabdan, a 72-year-old ethnic Kazakh, poet, writer, and radio broadcaster, who has been held in prison since July 1987. The fliers were printed on cards in Ensh and Dutch with places for signatures to be mailed to Abdulahat Abdurixit, People's Government Chairman of Xinjiang in Ürümchi. In Munich, on November 11, a "Days of Uygur Youth" conference attracted 100 delegates from Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East interested in what was termed the "plight" of the Uyghurs. Notably, the former chairman of the Unrepresented Nations and People's Organization (UNPO) based in Geneva is the Uygur, Erkin Alptekin, son of the Uygur Nationalist leader, Isa Yusuf Alptekin who died in Istanbul in December 1996 where there is now a park dedicated to his memory. There are at least five international organizations working for the independence of Xinjiang, known as Eastern Turkistan, and based in Amsterdam, Munich, Istanbul, Melbourne, and New York. Clearly, with Xinjiang representing the last Muslim region under communism, Chinese authorities have more to be concerned about than just international support for Tibetan independence.

The real question is, why call attention to these Tibetan and Muslim activities and external organizations now? The Istanbul-based groups have existed since the 1950s, and the Dalai Lama has been active since his exile in 1959. Separatist actions have taken place on a small but regular basis se the expansion of market and trade policies in China, and with the opening of six overland gateways to Xinjiang in addition to the trans-Eurasian railway since 1991, there seems to be no chance of closing up shop. In his 1994 visit to the newly independent nations of Central Asia, Li Peng called for the opening of a "new Silk Road". This was a clear attempt to calm fears in the newly established Central Asian States over Chinese expansionism, as was the April 1996 Shanghai communique that solidified existing Sino-Central Asian Borders. This was perhaps the most recent and clearest example of Chinese government efforts to finally keep hold and fully map its "geo-body".

Sub-Altern Separatism and Chinese Response

China's geo-body is not threatened by internal dismemberment. Such as they are, China's separatists are small in number, poorly equipped, loosely linked, and vastly out-gunned by the People's Liberation Army and People's Police. Local support for separatist activities, particularly in Xinjiang, is ambivalent and ambiguous at best, given the economic disparity between these regions and their foreign neighbors, which are generally much poorer and in some cases such as Tadjikistan, riven by civil war. Memories in the region are strong of mass starvation and widespread destruction during the Sino-Japanese and civil war in the first half of this century, not to mention the chaotic horrors of the Cultural Revolution. International support for Tibetan causes has done little to shake Beijing's gron the region. Many local activists are calling not for complete separatism or real independence, but more often issues express concerns over environmental degradation, anti-nuclear testing, religious freedom, over-taxation, and recently imposed limits on child-bearing. Many ethnic leaders are simply calling for "real" autonomy according to Chinese law for the five Autonomous Regions that are each led by First Party Secretaries who are all Han Chinese controlled by Beijing. Extending the "Strike Hard" campaign to Xinjiang, Wang Lequan, the Party Secretary for Xinjiang, recently declared: "there will be no compromise between us and the separatists".

Beijing's official publicization of the separatist issue may have more to do with domestic politics than any real internal or external threat. Recent moves suggest efforts to promote Chinese nationalism as a "unifying ideology" that will prove more attractive than communism and more manageable than capitalism. By highlighting separatist threats and externintervention, China can divert attention away from its own domestic instabilities of rising inflation, increased income disparity, displaced "floating populations", Hong Kong reunification, and the post-Deng succession. Perhaps nationalism will be thely "unifying ideology" left to a Chinese nation that has begun to distance itself from Communism, as it has Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism in the past. As Bruce Kapferer has noted, nationalism "makes the political religious". This is perhaps why regiously-based nationalisms, like Islamic Fundamentalism and Tibetan Buddhism, are targeted by Beijing. At the same time, a firm lid on Muslim activism in China will send a message to forn Muslim militant organizations to stay out of China's internal affairs. In a July 1994 interview with Iran's former ambassador to China in Tehran, I was told that Iran would never intervene in a Muslim crackdown in China, despite its support for the tring of Kubrawiyyah Sufi Imams from Gansu and close foreign relations with China.

Any event, domestic and international, can be used as an excuse to promote nationalist goals, the building of a new unifying ideology. As Shen Guofan from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation revealed in his statement concerning the most recent Sino-U.S. trade dispute : "If the U.S. goes so far as to implement its trade retaliation, China will, according to its foreign trade law, take countermeasures to safeguard its sovereignty and national esteem.” Trade and separatism become obstacles not to economic and political development, but to preserving national esteem. Any action deemed by Beijing to be "unpatriotic" is quickly interpreted as an attempt to split the country, which runs counter to Chinese efforts at reunification of its entire geo-body. Hong Kong becomes the first example of the attainment of China's historic destiny, with islands such as the Spratleys and Diaoyutai, to say nothing of Taiwan, arded as impediments to national development and physical reunion.

Conclusion: China's Expanding Internal Colonialism

In his recent visit to the U.S., Defense Minister Chi Haotian, declared: "We hope to see a peaceful settlement [regarding Taiwan] yet refuse to renounce the use of force.... The entire Chinese history shows that whoever splits the motherland will end up condemned by history". This follows the new Chinese History Project launched by Song Jian, Minister of Science and Technology, aimet writing a new chronology of China. In a Science and Technology Daily editorial, published May 17 1996, Song Jian stated that the project's goal was to demonstrates its 6,000 year "unbroken, unilineal" development. "Unlike those in Egypt, Babylon and India", Song declared, "the Chinese civilization has lasted for 5,000 years without a break". The project, to be completed by October 1, 1999, clearly will take a dim view of anyone accused of separatism. As long as Muslim activism is regarded as "separatism", it will be regarded not only as going against China's national destiny, but against history itself. It is through the writing and re-writing of history that colonial and sub-altern status most often becomes internalized, both among the minorities and among the majority. This "internalized colonialism" lead to self and other-perception as "minority", and subject only to definition by state categories and policies. It also displaces indigenous prior claims to land and voice in the administration of local affairs.

Future prospects for the Uyghur in the 21st century may be low considering the proclivity of Chinese historiographers to write histories from the perspective of their "idealized" view. The Uyghur are in danger of being written out! This scenario was already pre-figured by the science fiction novelist David Wingrove in his eight volume futuristic novel, Chung Kuo (The Middle Kingdom). Once the Chinese have taken over the globe in the later 21st century, they re-write history, dating back to the first Chinese "conquest" of Central Asia in the Han dynasty.

"Pan Chao! It sometimes seemed as if half the films ever made had been about Pan Chao! He was the great hero of Chung Kuo-the soldier turned diplomat turned conqueror. In A.D. 73 he had been sent, with thirty-six followers, as ambassador to the king of Shen Shen in Turkestan... bringing Shen Shen under Han control... Over the next twenty-four years, by bluff and cunning and sheer force of personality, Pan Chao had brought the whole of Asia under Han domination. In A.D.97 he has stood on the shore of the Caspian Sea, an army of seventy thousand vassals gathered behind him, facing the great Ta Ts'in,the Roman Empire. The rest was history, known to every schoolboy.

Rome had fallen. And not as Kim had portrayed it, to Alaric and the Goths in the fifth century, but to the Han in the first. There had been no break in order, no decline into darkness. No Dark Ages and no Christianity - of, and what lovely idea that was : organized religion! The thought of it...

In his version of events, Han science had stagnated by the fourth century A.D. and Chung Kuo had grown insular, until, in the nineteen century, the Europeans - and what a strange ring that phrase had; not Hung Mao, but "Europeans" - had kicked the rotten door of China in.

Ah, and that too. Not Chung Kuo. Kim called it China. As if had been named after the First Emperor's people, the Ch'in. Ridiculous!

He strugged. "I suppose you might call it an alternative history of Chung Kuo. Chung Kuo as it might have been had the Ta Ts'in legions won the Battle of Kazatin" (Wingrove, 1990 : 439-54)".

The nationalist re-writing of history, Prasenjit Duara (1995) reminds us, is not unique to China, but accompanies nationalist projects around the globe. The threat of this re-writing is not to China's neighbors, for they do not belong to a nationalist history of China's past or future geo-body. Rather, the rise in nationalist rhetoric in China may have the greatest implications for its internal colonial others, it sub-altern subjects. And, one should not forget the ominous words contained in the Chinese national anthem : "The Chinese race is at a most crucial moment, we should stand up and build up a new Great Wall with our blood and flesh". As Franke and Twitchett note in the introduction to their sweeping Alien Regimes and Border States (907-1368) :

"Traditional histories of China depict the Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongols as "outsiders", inrupting into "Chinese" territory. But this is a misleading oversimplification that needs to be laid to rest forever. In spite of what is shown in modern historical atlases, the T'ang, like its predecessors, never had any clearly defined and demarcated northern frontier... There was never a continuous defensive line or a defined frontier. There was a line of fortified border prefectures and counties, a few fortresses in strategic places, and a scattering of military colonies, military stud farms, beacon signal towers, and military picket-outposts. It was a defense in depth..." (Franke and Twitchett 1994 : 7).

The real question is, what will happen to those Chinese citizens on its borders, should a nationalist movement rise up that sees them as more of a threat than as part of a China that is multi-national and multi-ethnic. If nationalist sentiments prevail during this time of transition, what will happen to those sub-altern subjects currently living in China, but beyond the Great Wall?
Bibliographie

References Cited

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Cui, Weiyi. 1993. "An Historical Survey of Modern Uyghur Writing Since the 1950s in Xinjiang, China", Central Asiatic Journal 37.3-4, pp. 249-322.

Dorian, James P., Brett Wigdortz, and Dru Gladney. Forthcoming. "Emerging Energy, Economic, and Ethnic Relations between Xinjiang, China and Central Asia" Submitted to Central Asian Survey.

Forbes, Andrewx D.-W. 1986. Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Franke, Herbert and Denis Twichett. 1994. Alien Regimes and Border States (907-1368), Cambridge History of China, Volume 6, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Friedman, Edward. 1994. "Reconstructing China's National Identity: A Southern Alternative to Mao-Era Anti-Imperialist Nationalism" The Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 53, No. 1: 67-91.

Gladney, Dru C. 1994a. "Salman Rushdie in China: Religion, Ethnicity, and State Definition in the People's Republic" In Asian Visions of Authority: Religion and the Modern States of East and Southeast Asia. Helen Hardacre, Laurel Kendall, and Charles Keyes, eds. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Press, pp. 255-78.

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- 1996b. "Relational Alterity : Constructing Dungan (Hui), Uygur, and Kazakh Identities across China, Central Asia, and Turkey", History and Anthropology, vol.9, n°2, pp. 445-77.

- 1992. "Constructing a Contemporary Uighur National Identity : Transnationalism, Islamicization, and State Representation", Cahiers d'études sur la Méditerranée orientale et le monde turco-iranien, n°13, pp. 165-184.

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Guha, Ranajit and Gayatri Chakrovorty Spivak, eds. 1988. Selected Subaltern Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gouldner, Alvin W. 1978. "Stalinism : A Study of Internal Colonialism", Telos 34, pp. 5-48.

Haneda, Akira. 1978. "Introduction : The Problems of Turkicization and Islamization of East Turkestan", Acta Asiatica, 34, pp. 1-21.

Hechter, Michael. 1976. "Ethnicity and Industrialization: The Proliferation of the Cultural Division of Labor," Ethnicity 3.3:214-24.

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Hechter, Michael and Margaret Levi. 1979 "The Comparative Analysis of Ethnoregional Movements" Ethnic and Racial Studies 2 (3):260-74.

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Japanese Racism

2007-08-05T23:53:00.000-02:00

An excellent article from the BBC on Japan. Like any "Gaijin" knows, Japan is in deep denial about it's racism (disguised as nationalism) and the free use of terms to describe foreigners in negative ways (much Like Ang Mo in SEA Asia and Guilo in HK) only highlight this. Again, the double standards show when confronting this issue. A simple post on another blog about a term being racially offensive generates posts and emails tellimg me that i am wrong, that the term is not racist and yet if the role were reversed, a term used to offend an asian in a western country would result in job disciplinary action, formal complaints etc etc. It just goes to show: racists all over the world a crack heads and nutters.

Japan racism 'deep and profound'
By Chris Hogg
BBC News, Tokyo

Japanese commuters, Tokyo
Only about 1% of Japan's population is registered as foreign
An independent investigator for the UN says racism in Japan is deep and profound, and the government does not recognise the depth of the problem.

Doudou Diene, a UN special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia, was speaking at the end of a nine-day tour of the country.

He said Japan should introduce new legislation to combat discrimination.

Mr Diene travelled to several Japanese cities during his visit, meeting minority groups and touring slums.

Japan mulls multicultural dawn

He said that although the government helped to organise his visit, he felt many officials failed to recognise the seriousness of the racism and discrimination minorities suffered.

He was also concerned that politicians used racist or nationalist themes, as he put it, to whip up popular emotions. He singled out the treatment of ethnic Koreans and Chinese and indigenous tribes.

Mr Diene says he plans to recommend that Japan enact a law against discrimination, which he said should be drawn up in consultation with minority groups.

He said he would now wait for the Japanese government to respond to his comments before submitting a report to the United Nations.

Racial Slurs: Ang Moh

2007-08-05T23:51:00.001-02:00

I got my first piece of hate mail / posting today. It's taking issue with labeling the term "Ang Moh" for what it is: a racial slur.

Anyway, my response is as below:

I suggest you research the history of racial slurs before you suggest to start telling people of a minority what they should think of a name.

For example, the word "Nigger" originally was only a descriptive name without any negatiave conotations but quickly became to be percieved by the people to whom it was applied too as derogatory.

Likewise the term "Ang Moh" is increasingly seen for what it is: a racial slur.

It doesn't matter how it is INTENDED, it matters how it is recieved and PERCIEVED.

As a cursory glance at both the internet and archives of the singapore staits times shows, many people of caucasian / slavic / baltic background who are described by this word find it offensive.

Indeed, even a number of singaporean bloggers have commented on the need to be careful when and where to use it as they have found through personal experience that it can, and does, cause offence to the people to whom it is used to describe.

Secondly, the origin of the term is it's self racist. It originally means "red-haired foriegn devil", which in the dialect it comes from had specific negative quasi-religious overtones.

This is not in dispute, any number of empirically based sources can cofirm this. It doesn't matter that the 'gui' has been dropped from the end, most caucasians / slavs / baltic people who spend some time in the areas of asia where this term is used quickly learn of it's origin and original meaning. As such, the term has baggage and lots of it.

A similar example is the phrase "Nip". Today this term is used as a racial slur against asians. It originally started as a simplification of NIPPON (name for Japan as a nation, in Japanese) but quickly became a negative name for all east-asians.

Like wise with the phrases "yellow man" (a simple physical description, yet offensive, just like Ang Moh), Nigger, Chink and a host of others have, at one stage or another, been used by a majority on the premise that they are a simple and inoffensive label.

They are not.

Ang Moh is a term that deeply offends an increaing proportion of non-asians in Singapore and Malaysia. The simple fact that even discussions about the words racist overtones crop up in official government controlled press in Singapore speaks volumes about the changing perception of the word.

I politely suggest it is you that need to polish up on your Hokkien language history before you defend a racial slur as something it isn't.

Links to Anti-Racism Resources

2007-07-08T23:08:00.001-02:00

As part of making this blog more useful to people researching racism i'll be progressively adding some links to anti-racism organizations around the world.

The first one i have added is the "fight dem back" organization in Australia and New Zealand. They target neo-nazi and fascist organizations and have a wonderful track record in raising awareness of racism and preventing these groups from spreading hatred and spewing crap at conferences and meetings.

I've also posted a link to Asian Nation which has an excellent section on the racism that Asian peoples have faced in the United States with a load of academic resources.

As i find other organisations i'll post them here. Most anti-racism organizations out there deal with the nazi and kkk styled white suprememecy organizations, which is logical as they probably the most numerous and most violent organisations out there.

However, even though this blog is aimed at combatting asian racism, i still feel it's appropiate to link to organizations that combat racism in all it's forms and locations. I would like to re-iterate that in now way do i wish to demonize any ethnic group or belittle the racism caused by other groups such as white supremacist or, as another example, the ethnic elements behind the rawanda genocide.

I've focused on Asian racism because:

1. I live in Asia and i'm exposed to it on a regular basis.
2. I have personally experienced it
3. It is usually an 'out of bounds' topic for discussion in many asian countries media (with the censorship prevalant in many asian countries) hence the ability to highlight racist behaviors and policies and mobilize community support against them is limited.

I hope this collection of media clippings and academic reports will simply highlight that racism does occur in Asia, it is a growing problem and that by linking to other anti-racism resources community minded individuals in Asian can begin to develop grass roots programs similar to what is happening elsewhere in the world to stop this cancerous disease on human relationships.

Religious Freedom in Malasyaia

2007-07-08T22:53:00.000-02:00

Whilst not strictly racial discrimination, this article was sent to me by a friend in Singapore from the on-line newspaper todayonline. What i find really disturbing are the 're-education' camps and the obvious lack of religious freedoms. I know i am coming from a liberal western perspective but it strikes a chilling cord to someone who had family members flee from Stalin's horrors in the 50's and settle in a new country. Anyway, an enlightening article that shows how fragile inter-faith (which are often in asia divided upon ethnic lines) relations really are and how the majority in many countries use their numbers as a bludgeon against non-conformity.

SHAH ALAM — A Muslim-born Malaysian woman who was held at an Islamic rehabilitation center for six months because she tried to live as a Hindu after marrying man of that faith insisted on Friday she will never return to being a Muslim.

The Islamic Religious Department in southern Malacca state detained Revathi Masoosai, an ethnic Indian, in January and sent her for religious counselling after officials discovered that she had married a Hindu.

Ms Revathi, 29, was born to Indian Muslim parents who gave her a Muslim name. Her official identification documents state she is a Muslim. Malaysians who are born as Muslims are legally barred from changing religion. But she claims she was raised as a Hindu by her grandmother and changed her name in 2001.

Three years later, Ms Revathi married Mr Suresh Veerappan according to Hindu rites and gave birth to a daughter in December 2005. But the marriage was not legally registered because under Malaysian law, Mr Suresh would have had to convert to Islam first.

Ms Revathi was released from the rehabilitation centre on Thursday. A day later, she appeared in a High Court in an attempt to have her detention declared illegal.

Ms Revathi, 29, claimed officials at the centre tried to make her pray as a Muslim and wear a head scarf. She refused to eat food which she feared contained beef.

"They say it's a school, but it's actually a prison," she told reporters.

Mr Tuah Atan, a lawyer representing the Islamic department, said Ms Revathi seemed to have become "so obsessed with love" after meeting her husband. But he said officials remain hopeful that she might still return to Islam.

Islamic officials seized the couple's 18-month-old daughter in March and handed the child to Ms Revathi's Muslim mother.

Ms Revathi said officials have ordered her to live with her mother and her baby for now and to continue undergoing counselling.

Her case highlights an increasing number of conflicts affecting the religious rights of the ethnic Indian and Chinese minorities.

Indians, who form about 8 per cent of Malaysia's 26 million people, are mostly Hindus while some are Christians, Muslims and Sikhs.

Mr Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party, said on Friday that Ms Revathi's case and other religious disputes could hurt Malaysia's image, saying they showed "a narrow and intolerant face of Islam which must be of increasing concern to progressive and moderate Muslims". — AP

A paper on Racism in Singapore

2007-07-04T02:01:00.000-02:00

Not meaning to pick on Singapore, but someone emailed me with a link to this site:

http://www.crsi.mq.edu.au/news_and_events/documents/selvarajvelayutham_000.pdf

It's a paper that was presented at conference on multiculturalism. A real eye opener. Text is below:

1
Everyday Racism in Singapore

SELVARAJ VELAYUTHAM
Centre for Research on Social Inclusion, Macquarie University

In this paper, I outline some of the common forms of racism that Singaporean Indians
experience in their daily lives. Though other racial minority groups such as the Malays and Eurasians also experience racism within the Chinese dominated Singaporean society, I am limiting my focus to the Indians as my research is based on this community. It should be pointed out that the experience of racism among the Malays has been well documented (see Tremewan 1996 & Rahim 1998). Moreover, because the Malays are often singled out as a “socially and economically underachieving” community in Singapore which in turn has generated critical response and resentment from countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, racism towards the Malays is also well publicised. However, racism towards the Indians has received
little public attention. Even though Indians face racial discrimination in their everyday lives, their high socio-economic standing relative to their population size puts them as a prosperous and successful community in Singapore. As a result, racism has been become a non-issue for the India community and effectively ruling out the possibility of articulating experiences of racism discrimination in any official capacity.

Although the term ‘everyday life’ is synonymous with the idea of being mundane or ordinary and according to Gouldner (1975) is the stable, recurrent and seemingly unchanging features of the social life of ordinary individuals, they are by no means insignificant. In particular, what Heller (1984) termed as the ‘modalities of everyday contact’ which range from the random to the organised are important sites for gaining an insight into everyday racism. It is often argued that in multicultural societies, the proximity and intimacy created by living and encountering racial and cultural diversity can encourage familiarity and awareness of cultural difference. But as scholars such as Ash Amin (2002), Amanda Wise (2005) and others have argued it can
also create social tensions resulting in racial abuse, discrimination, and stereotyping.
Multiracialism is a fundamental pillar of postcolonial Singaporean society. It is a
political ideology that is actively promoted by the city-state to recognise/represent
Singapore as a racially and culturally diverse society. By that token, the main racial
groups in Singapore are accorded official status and are guaranteed equality.
Singapore considers itself a racially tolerant and harmonious country and indeed, the
four official groups – Chinese (77%), Malays (14%), Indians (8%) and Others - have co-
existed peacefully since its independence in 1965. However, this does not mean that
racial discrimination and intolerance are non-existent. Whilst there are many
examples of peaceful cross-cultural intermingling between the races, everyday social
tensions and discomforts arising from living with cultural difference are rarely
officially acknowledged (see for instance Lai 1995). Indeed, the term racism is entirely
absent from official discourse and public debate in Singapore. In this paper, I seek to
document some of the everyday experiences and practices of racism in Singapore.
Using empirical material and research field notes, I will outline a range of subtle to
explicit forms of racism that manifest in different social spaces in Singapore (indeed,
there are more research that needs to be done in studying structural and institutional
racism). I argue that while the city-state actively engages in activities targeted at
2
'fostering social cohesion' and is ever vigilant at suppressing overt racist provocations,
with few exceptions it has effectively silenced the voices of people who are at the
receiving end of everyday racism.

The Maria Hertogh and Prophet Muhammad Birthday remain as the two significant
events in Singapore history that exposed serious racial tensions on this island state.
The Maria Hertogh riots started on 11 December 1950. It was led by outraged
Muslims after the court’s decision to award custody of Maria Hertogh - raised in a
muslim family - to her biological Dutch Catholic parents. The riots lasted 3 days with
18 killed, 173 injured and many properties damaged. The second riots, took place
during two separate periods in July and September 1964 between Chinese and
Malays. Though no clear cause was identified, state officials blamed Indonesian and
communist provocateurs for instigating racial violence. But as official history and
discourse would have it these riots are regarded as the country’s most bitter
experience with racial conflict. Singaporeans are regularly reminded in official
speeches not so much about the causes of the riots but the fact that they were serious
and potentially disabling events in Singaporean history. The fragility of inter-racial
relationship and disaffections that emerged as a result of living with cultural
difference were never spoken.

In 1965, when Singapore gained full autonomy from the British, one of the foremost
concerns of the People’s Action Party (PAP) state was to ensure that such racial
conflicts did not take root again. And so, the promotion and maintenance of racial
harmony became a central pillar of nation-building. The new government was
confronted with the realities of serious unemployment, immense poverty, low levels
of education, acute housing shortages, strikes, and demonstrations, most of which
were Communist-led, and it had to deal with a plethora of competing ethnic and
national sentiments. The PAP addressed these challenges through what Chan (1975,
p. 51) describes as “a steady and systematic de-politicisation of a politically active and
aggressive citizenry” and mobilising the support of various organisations such as the
trade union and grassroots’ groups. Central to the PAP leaders’ thinking on the role
of the government was their view that the compulsion to achieve economic progress
and ethnic harmony made it imperative that the government in Singapore controlled
all instruments and centres of power and did not allow the growth of political
pluralism (Vasil 2000).

Following independence, many policies and programs were put in place by the PAP
government in an effort to build a nation-state. According to Quah (1990, p. 45):

[t]he rationale for the Singapore government’s approach to nation building has
always been and continues to be the nurturing of the growth of a Singaporean
national identity among the population, which will surmount all the chauvinistic
and particularistic pulls of the Chinese, Malay, or Indian identities of the various
ethnic groups on the island. The objective of the political leaders is to build a
nation of Singaporeans out of the disparate groups in the city-state. The
government has relied on many instruments to promote national integration,
including the promotion of economic development, public housing, national
service, educational policies, the mass media, periodic national campaigns, and
grassroots organization.

3
For instance by emphasising multiracialism and multilingualism as fundamental
principles of the state, the Singapore leaders aimed to inculcate a sense of commitment
in the various race groups to the state and to existence in racial harmony. In
institutionalising multiracialism as a state ideology, the fragmented and divided notion
of the nation no longer became an issue. Multiracial Singapore with a population of
around 4 million people — consisting of 77 per cent Chinese, 14 per cent Malays, 7.6 per
cent Indians and 1.4 per cent Other (CMIO) — was redefined as an essential feature of a
Singaporean identity and culture. The concept of Singapore’s multiracialism was
fostered through every conceivable means — in all forms of official cultural
representations, celebrations, schools, the media, national holidays and tourism.

Many scholars (Benjamin 1976; Clammer 1998) argue that the CMIO model
accommodates and assures equality and rights for minorities and is a practical and
viable ideology for maintaining racial harmony. One the most notable critical
assessments on Singapore’s multiracial policy was provided by Geoffrey Benjamin
(1976, p. 115) who argued that although the multiracial policy “accords equal status to
the cultures and ethnic identities of the various “races” that are regarded as comprising
the population of a plural society, [it at the same time] serves to define such a population
as divided into one particular array of “races”” (see also Chua 1998).

In addition, the government also actively championed the ideology of meritocracy so as
to tackle the problem of persistent racial inequality. It practical application can be
observed in the government’s promotion of multiracialism as a fundamental ideal
where the four main races are said to be given fair and equal opportunity without
privileging one or the other. According to Carl Trocki;

As an excuse for the paternalistic management of society, the multiracial agenda
justified the government’s structuring of education, housing and the new identity
to which all Singaporeans were expected to subscribe. At the same time, any
attempts by members of a specific cultural community to gain consideration for
themselves have been treated as expressions of chauvinism by the government.
The possibility of racial violence or outside intervention, should the government’s
brand of multiracialism fail, was presented as a constant threat to Singapore’s
“survival” and thus became an unchallengeable article of faith (Trocki, 2006: 140-
141)

And this remains the case till today. To be sure, there have not been any racial
conflicts since the 1950 & 1964 race riots. In fact, people generally do get along.
Similarly, structural and institutional racism are not wide spread. Nonetheless the
official rhetoric of racial violence or disorder has completely overshadowed critical
debates and discussions on racism, inter-cultural tension and disaffection in
Singapore. For a nation which prides itself as a multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-
religious and multi-cultural, there has been very little academic scholarship on racial
relations, cross-cultural interaction and racism. Within this context, any attempt to
engage in discussions about everyday experiences of racism is deemed as lacking in
legitimacy and unconstructive. The spectre of racial violence has literally erased the
notion of racism from public and official discourses. Instead the need to maintain
racial harmony, social cohesion and tolerance is repeatedly voiced to render racists
practices as non-occurrences. In fact, the only time it is ever discussed is when
Chinese Singaporeans encounter racism while traveling or studying overseas and
report such incidents in Singapore - Australia is frequently cited in these reports. And
4
so, other forms of racism that the minority racial groups such as the Malays, Indians
and Eurasians experiences are silenced. The government’s repression of discussions
on racist experiences has meant that there are no avenues for expressing or speaking
out about them.

The most common form of racism invariably experienced by Indians is ‘name-calling’
with specific reference to ones physical appearance. The body and colour of the skin
becomes the point of reference for ridicule, insult and verbal abuse. As it is well
argued by scholars like Audre Lorde (1984) and Frantz Fanon (1965, 1967) racism is an
embodied experience. Repeated references to one’s skin colour, appearance and body
are not uncommon. Let me read to you a set of quotes from my interviews that relates
to this point. As one informant, Shanti in her early 30s pointed out:

I first became aware of racism when a PE [physical education] teacher of mine, because I
was not athletically inclined, called me “Black tofu” in front of everyone. He later said
he was just joking when my father complained to the school.

Another interviewee, Gita in her 20s recalled:

I was about 14 and at the public swimming pool with my brother and cousin. I didn’t
know how to swim and was just getting interested in water, swimming etc and quite
excited. A Chinese man walked past, looked at us and said, “Indian Olympics ah?” My
whole body froze, felt strange, embarrassed, hurt. I lost interest in learning swimming
and did not wear a swimsuit for 20 years. More importantly, it severely affected my
body confidence.

In these two incidents the Indian body is discredited and made inferior because it is
black and also lacking in athleticism. It is a tainted body and incapable of performing
at a competitive level such the Olympics. While the first discriminatory remark is
associated with ‘old’ racism, the second stems from a cultural stereotype that
circulates in Singapore. Sports activities such as volleyball, basketball, and swimming
are almost entirely are associated with the Chinese in Singapore. All other ethnic
groups do not have a high visible present in these sports. As such, within this context,
the remark at the swimming pool was rather insulting.

Another instance where racism is frequently experienced is during everyday
encounters in closed spaces such as on public transport. The involuntary proximity
created by a crowded bus or train and a vacant seat can potential generate
expressions of discomfort and subtle racism. As my informant Ravi in his 30s echoed:

On many occasions this incident has happened while I travelled in a bus. A co-Chinese
passenger would rather stand than sit next to me if there are no other places in the bus.
At other times, the passenger would pass by me and sit next to another Chinese
ignoring to sit next to me. Am I smelly or what?

Bala, in his 20s:

My first direct encounter with racism was probably my first day in kindergarten (1978)
when Chinese classmates will not sit next to me or cover their noses whenever I am near
because they thought I smelt. They would tease or tell me that their parents told them
that my skin is dark because my family and I bathed in mud or excrement or never
5
bathed at all. As a six year old, it was very troubling to be perceived in such a way and
it certainly damaged self- confidence.

Vimala in her late 20s said:
Often the seat next to me is one of the last ones to be taken on the bus. Once a young girl
boarded the bus and saw me and immediately told here mother loudly, eeee, mummy,
Indian... smelly.” (I did not smell or look shabby.).

It is fairly obvious that a general pattern of racially motivated discrimination emerges
in everyday encounters and contacts between Chinese and Indians. Though they may
not take place on a regular basis, it is hard to deny that they don’t occur at all. Name
calling, the use of expletives, and stereotyping are born out of an attempt to label
Indian bodies as inferior, a threat and mark them out as different to Chinese bodies.
The terms such as ‘black’, dirty and smelly are not just hurtful and distressing but can
result in what Fanon (1967: 11) describes as “the internalisation or the
epidermalisation of this inferiority”. The respondents in my study were clearly
affected by the disparaging remarks to the point that they felt that it has damaged
their self-esteem and confidence. The lacking in athleticism or trying a sport which
Indians don’t excel well is seen as a point of mockery. Moreover, the subtle as well as
overt responses to the Indian body such as the impulse to avoid sitting next to an
Indian and holding of the nose as an expression of revulsion may not appear as acts of
racism but are powerful means by which displeasure and fear is conveyed. The
assertion of the superior status of the Chinese arguably comes about because of their
position as the dominant majority in Singapore. Unlike in neighbouring Malaysia and
Indonesia, where Chinese exists in small numbers, the Singaporean Chinese
population is a powerful force as they dominate the economic, social and cultural
sectors

In addition, the arrival of large number of non-skilled workers from India since the
late 1980s has further intensified ongoing racist practices. There are some 160, 000
non-skilled foreigners currently working in Singapore - a majority of them are from
the Indian subcontinent. These workers congregate in the Indian historical and now
tourist enclave called Little India. During Sundays and public holidays, the Indian
workers gather here to do their shopping, meet friends, eat and so forth. However,
these large gathering has not only created an uproar among non-Indian Singaporeans
but also to the perpetuation of racists sentiments and stereotypes about Little India.
As one informant noted:

“Friends (yes, people I actually know quite well) who avoid Little India like it's some
Danger Zone. I can take it if they tell me they're not used to the food or the smell of
spices and incense, but to make comments like, "eeee, all the Bangla and Indian
workers hang out there" are uncalled for. It's not just about the workers (I mean if
they were Chinese workers, these people won't kick up such a big fuss). I mean if you
want to talk about a place being dangerous, Geylang [an area famous for late night
food stalls, nightclubs and a red light district] can be said to be fraught with danger
too right? but no one seems to make a big deal out of it -- most Singaporeans have no
qualms about heading there for durians and supper” (Devi)

Another respondent, Thiru – reiterated:

6
I also have non-Indian friends who refuse to go to Little India on Sundays because they
fear being harassed by the Indian foreign workers who hang out there. I have heard
stories of cab drivers whizzing through Little India and only stopping for local
Singaporean customers. I have also seen on public transport – especially when taking
the train to Little India – how people will avoid sitting next to Indian men (in
particular).

It has to be said that although Singaporean Indians (who are mostly 3rd or 4th
generation) try to dissociate themselves from the temporary Indian workers, they are
invariably implicated and are to subjected similar racist overtones. In this instance,
Little India with its large concentration of Indians (not frequented by many Chinese)
is perceived as an alien space which is potentially threatening and even dangerous.
Even though there are no crime statistics to show that it is an unsafe area – Little India
is a place which you would want to avoid. Such derogatory remarks and stereotyping
are becoming a common place in Singapore.

There are also many other instances of everyday racism relating to food, homes,
neighbourhood, characterization of Indian behaviour and so forth that I am aiming to
examine in the longer version of the paper. But in conclusion, I want reiterate that
everyday racism in Singapore is fairly widespread especially within dominant and
minority relationship and encounters. Unfortunately, such experiences are never
articulated or openly discussed in the public arena. As a result, they continue to
simmer beneath the warm and fuzzy image of a harmonious and tolerant image of
multiracial Singapore.

7

References

Amin, Ash. 2002. ‘Ethnicity and the Multicultural City: Living with Diversity,
Environment and Planning A 34(6): 959–980.

Benjamin, Geoffrey (1976) ‘The Cultural Logic of Singapore’s ‘Multiracialism”, in Riaz
Hassan (ed.) Singapore: Society in Transition. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University
Press.

Chan, Heng Chee (1975) ‘Politics in an Administrative State: Where has the Politics
Gone?’, in Seah Chee Meow (ed.) Trends in Singapore. Singapore: Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies.

Chua, Beng Huat. 1998. ‘Culture, Multiculturalism, and National Identity in
Singapore, in Kuan-Hsing Chen (ed.) Trajectories: Inter-Asia Cultural Studies.
Routledge: London.

Clammer, John (1998) Race and State in Independent Singapore 1965-1990: the Cultural
Politics of Pluralism in a Multiethnic Society. Brookfield, Vt : Ashgate.

Fanon, Frantz. 1967. Black Skin, White Masks. Grove Press: New York.

Fanon, Frantz. 1965. The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press: New York.

Goulder, Alvin. 1975. ‘Sociology and Everyday Life’, in Lewis Coser (ed.) The Idea of
Social Structure. Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich: New York.

Heller, Agnes. 1984. Everyday Life. Routledge: London.

Lai, Ah Eng. 1996. ‘Everyday Spaces, Ordinary People and Everyday Life Activities’,
in Lee Weng Choy (ed.) Space, Spaces and Spacing. The Substation: Singapore.

Lorde, Audre. 1984. Sister Outsider : Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press: New York.

Rahim, Lily. 1998. The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational Marginality of the
Malay Community. Oxford University Press: Kuala Lumpur.

Quah, Jon. 1990. ‘Government Policies and Nation-Building’, in Jon Quah (ed.) In
Search of Singapore’s National Values. Singapore: Times Academic Press.

Tremewan, Christopher. 1994. The Political Economy of Social Control in Singapore. St.
Martin’s Press: New York.

Trocki, Carl A. 2006. Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control. Routledge:
London.

Vasil, Raj. 2000. Governing Singapore: A History of National Development and Democracy.
St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Wise, Amanda. 2005. ‘Hope and Belonging in a Multicultural Suburb’, Journal of
Intercultural Studie.s 26(1/2): 171-186.

Racism in Singapore

2007-07-02T07:06:00.000-02:00

Taken from the "Today" newspaper:

Study finds children of different races are not mixing. Should we be surprised?

by Constance Singam
news@newstoday.com.sg

ARE you a racist? We are kidding ourselves if we think we are not. Let's admit it. We are all racist. That's the first step towards
change.

In Singapore, racism is institutionalised and we don't even challenge that. It is "normal".

However, racism is a learned social phenomenon. Children learn it from their families, through education, religion, the law and the
media.

I recall an incident in which two children, four and six at that time, thought it was fun to mimic a language they didn't understand
while watching an Indian programme.

Their father reprimanded them for being rude. "What do you think you are?" he asked them. They were surprised to discover that
they were Indians.

Another little boy I know, who must have been four at the time, discovered the notion of race when he was told that he was
Indian and that his friend was Chinese.

He then wanted to know what race his friend's brother was!

By the time children go to school, they would have learnt what it means to be "different". They learn it from their parents; they
learn it in the playground.

A young mother related a heart-rending experience that her two year-old son faces every time he goes out to play in the
playground of her HDB block.

Other mothers in the playground warn their children against playing with this little boy because of his "difference".

Once in school, they learn it in their "mother tongue" classes. They learn it from their teachers. They learn it when they fill forms.

By the time they reach Primary Six, their identity card would forever confine them to their racial group, labelling their "difference"
and depending on their experiences, they would have learnt to celebrate that "difference" or be ashamed of it.

A child told her mother recently that she wanted to kill herself because of her dark complexion.

A principal of a school that a little girl I know attended is known for her racial biases. Some of the teachers, as an exercise in
empowerment, taught the Indian girls an Indian dance for a school concert.

While the students proudly displayed their skill, the principal's comment was: "They can shake, shake. But they can't study."

In such an environment, they would have difficulties with their studies. Low self-esteem and internalised acceptance of the myth
of racial inferiority or superiority are the consequences of racism.

So, we should not be surprised by the results of the recently-published study by the National Institute of Education which
revealed that children of different races are not mixing with one another.

But it doesn't end there at the school level. A young woman, proficient in Mandarin and English, was not picked for a job
because she was not Chinese.

She applied for the job at a career exhibition, the requirement of which matched the qualifications she had, including proficiency
in Mandarin.

But she was told that the company was looking for a Chinese. These examples may be countered by the argument that that
there is racism in every country — which is true.

But racism is racism wherever it takes place. It threatens humanistic values and undermines the moral development of the whole
society.

The biggest problem we face in Singapore is that racism has been normalised. It is normal to describe people in terms of race,
for instance.

It is normal for the media to identify people in terms of race; it is normal to compare the achievement of various groups (for
instance, examination results) of school children along racial lines; it is normal to divide people in HDB housing estates according
to their ratio in the population; it is normal to limit the learning of language to "mother tongue".

These practices are racist and the tendency towards sticking together and preferring the values and personal beliefs of one's
own group perpetuates racism.

And so, a society may live in peace together but they do so in a state of mutual isolation, suspicion and incomprehension. And no
wonder! In our system we are taught "racial harmony" with a narration of the history of racial riots.

That is "normal".

Yet, there are signs of tolerance everywhere.

For instance, there could be a Chinese funeral in one void deck while a Malay wedding is celebrated in another. Churches and
temples stand side by side, in amicable co-existence.

The Buddhist temple, the Christian church and the Sai Baba Centre located next to each other in Moulmein Road, is an amazing
testimony to this high degree of tolerance.

The most positive affirmation of the triumph of a common humanity is seen in the ever increasing number of inter-racial
marriages.

And who among us has not experienced the wonder of cross-cultural friendships, occasions of kindness and generosity
across racial and, sometimes, even language barriers?

My own experience in civil society supports my optimism in the ability of Singaporeans to suspend their individual prejudices,
racial and class differences, and work towards common values and goals.

However, for all that optimism, the level of racism will not diminish if we continue to assume that group differences are
biologically determined and, therefore, inherently unchangeable.

We will then remain a nation of racists.

Extracted from Today, Thursday July 31, 2003

Inter-Asian Racism in the USA

2007-07-02T05:44:00.000-02:00

A great article on inter-asian racism in the USA is located here:

http://vyuz.com/031306_Asian.htm

A copy is listed below:

What we Asians want to be called isn't always what we call each other

By Phil Wang

March 13, 2006

San Diego--“You’re dating a Japanese girl? Chinese scum, eater of thousand year old eggs! How dare you! You should know better than that!”

Is this a scene taken out of context from a clichéd Chinese soap opera? Is this an overstated story of fiction, embellished to advance a simple plot line? Actually, the quote was overheard during a family dinner with a good friend of mine as said friend was chided for his choice to date outside his ethnic zone. The truth is that with any facet of Asian relations, Asians are both the victims and the perpetrators of a great deal of discriminatory behavior amongst themselves that borders on unhealthy elitism.

A stereotype of Asians: homogenous

(Photo Location: Chiba, Japan)

San Diego is a unique city in that, unlike Los Angeles of Vancouver, it has an Asian population that does not exert a great cultural influence. For example, we have a Chinatown, otherwise known as Clairemont, Dim Sum that’s twice the price and half the quality of Monterey Park, and none of the trendy Asian clubs that can be found in Hollywood.

To many San Diegans, even given their exposure to Asians, Asians are still perceived as a homogenous population of rice consuming, chopstick wielding, boba drinking black-haired individuals. Though the perception may arguably hold water, there is an undercurrent of bad blood that most non-Asians are not aware of.

During a recent sabbatical to Idaho, I sat down for a haircut, and in the middle of the conversation my balding barber asked me what I was.

“American, just like you.”

“No, where were you born?”

“Seattle.”

“Seattle… Washington?”

“No, Seattle, China.”

While you could argue that it was a very subtle case of racism, or at least ignorance, I’d say that many Asians bring those sorts of questions on themselves. I can’t count the number of times growing up in a predominantly white and Hispanic population I’d be questioned as to where in Asia my family, or I, was from, in spite of the obvious fact that I was American and spoke perfect English. This is because the label of being Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese or any other Asian group permeates our collective sense of identity as much as age, gender and occupation. We use labels ourselves, so how can we preclude others from doing the same?

When two Asians come into contact for the first time in any type of social situation, their nationalities will always be divined sooner rather than later. Imagine, as a native American, carrying a badge that states that one’s parents are from England, or Ethiopia, or Argentina. The thought of such a prospect merits a chuckle because, for the most part, such facts are irrelevant, irrelevant to everybody except for Asians. We carry a figurative badge in our minds and will flash it to our peers anytime and anywhere.

The other day, over lunch at Café Japengo, I had a chat with a Thai buddy, Nick, and we addressed this very topic. It turns out that there is a hierarchical ranking system of Asians that most are aware of. It’s a vague sense of superiority and inferiority, possibly obtained through social inheritance, which has insidiously wormed its way into our subconsciousness.

Nick, having run the relationship gamut, stated that his parents have always preferred his Chinese girlfriends to his Korean girlfriends. I mentioned this to a Korean friend who vigorously disputed the notion, but did venture that her parents would be happier with a significant other of Japanese descent than one of Vietnamese descent. Being more integrated into the American mindset of equality and tolerance than older generations, none of us were able to postulate a suitable explanation for this system. So I went to my grandma.

With her vast encyclopedia of experience, she graciously offered me a list of adjectives.

Japanese: Ruthless, emotionless sharks bent on world domination.

Koreans: Lazy alcoholics who run liquor stores while drunk on Soju.

Vietnamese: Irresponsible dark-skinned mutts who run hair salons in the day and massage parlors at night.

Chinese: Determined, bright, responsible, intelligent leaders of the free world.

Now, you have to understand where my grandma is coming from. She lived through the military conflicts and the acrimony that has been documented in the history books. She has lived and breathed the racial tensions that are prevalent in continental Asia. In Asia, there is genuine dislike that runs through the diplomacy of certain nations. Case in point: a recent spat, which spurred numerous protests, between China and Japan regarding one publishing company’s take on Japan’s occupation of China and of Nanking.

In any case, later that evening, I gave my girlfriend a chance to respond to my grandmother’s pristine evaluation of the Chinese. She claimed that the Chinese are a people consisting of insensitive womanizers who somehow get away with having little personality and having a marked propensity towards being three-footed klutzes on the dance floor. I retorted that she was supposed to be reflecting on nationality and not on gender. She countered with a glare and thus the conversation was concluded.

As if all of this isn’t enough, there is a further divide between Asian-born Asians and American-born Asians: the concept of being a FOB (fresh off the boat) versus being whitewashed. However, that’s a story for another day. As Jeff Loor, 25, of Danville, California aptly commented, “In this country, Asians are a miniscule minority. Why can’t we stick together?” That is a question that runs into the realms of sociology and psychology for which there is no simple answer.

Perhaps we Asian Americans will learn to pass on a more harmonious mindset, as old wounds, forged in Asia, dull and heal.

Racism in Japan (again)

2007-07-02T05:41:00.000-02:00

This article examines the problems minorities face in Japan. Taken from: http://www.answers.com/topic/ethnic-issues-in-japan

Ethnic Issues in Japan

Amongst the major industrialized countries, Japan is one of the most ethnically homogeneous and some consider Japan's ethnic homogenity to be the main reason for social and political stability in Japan.

In 2005, a United Nations report expressed concerns about racism in Japan and that government recognition of the depth of the problem was not total.^[1]^[2] The author of the report, Doudou Diène (Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights), concluded after a nine-day investigation that racial discrimination and xenophobia in Japan primarily affects three groups: national minorities, descendants of former Japanese colonies and foreigners from other Asian countries.^[3]

Background

Only about 1.5% of Japan's total legal resident population are foreign nationals. According to 2003 data from the Japanese government, the principal groups are as follows

Nationality	Number	Percentage
North and South Korea	613,791	32.1%
China and Taiwan	462,396	24.1%
Brazil	274,700	14.3%
Philippines	185,237	9.7%
Peru	53,649	2.8%
USA	47,836	2.5%
Others	277,421	14.5%
Total	1,915,030	100%

The above statistic does not include about 50,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan and illegal immigrants. Moreover, the statistics do not reflect minority groups who are Japanese citizens such as the Ainu (an aboriginal people primarily living in Hokkaido) and the Ryukyuans (who may or may not be considered ethnically Japanese).

Japanese minorities

The four largest minority groups residing in Japan are the Zainichi Koreans, the Ainu, the Ryukyuan, and the Burakumin. There are also a number of smaller ethnic communities in Japan with a much shorter history.

Korean people

Main article: Zainichi Korean

Zainichi (resident in Japan) Koreans are permanent residents of Japan, but hold North or South Korean citizenship. Most Zainichi were part of the Korean diaspora during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945, when Korean landowners and workers lost their land and livelihood to Japanese land and production confiscation initiatives. Those who continued to work the land suffered harsh conditions and saw their harvest shipped to Japan proper. This created large scale internal displacement, and many Koreans migrated to Japan for work. A total of 5.4 million Koreans were also conscripted into forced labor, and shipped throughout the Japanese Empire. Of these, 210,000 to 870,000 Koreans died during forced labor in Manchuria, Sakhalin, etc..^[4] Large numbers of Korean immigrants also came to the country during the Jeju massacre in the First Republic of South Korea. Though most migrants returned to Korea, GHQ estimates in 1946 indicated that 650,000 Koreans remained in Japan.

After World War II, the Korean community in Japan was split between allegiance to capitalist South Korea (Mindan) and communist North Korea (Chongryon). South Koreans in Japan are called Zainichi Kankokujin (在日韓国人, 재일한국인), while North Koreans are called Zainichi Chosenjin (在日朝鮮人, 재일조선인). Zainichi who identify themselves with Chongryon are also an important money sources of North Korea. Charles Wolf, Jr. of the RAND Corporation estimated the total annual transfers from Japan to North Korea may equal more than $200 million.

Japanese law does not allow dual citizenship, and until the 1980s required adoption of a Japanese name for citizenship. Partially for this reason, many Zainichi did not obtain Japanese citizenship as they saw the process to be humiliating. Although more Zainichi are becoming Japanese citizens, issues of identity remain complicated. Even those who do not choose to become Japanese citizens often use Japanese names to avoid discrimination and live their lives as if they were Japanese. This is in contrast with the Chinese living in Japan, who generally use their Chinese names and openly form Chinatown communities. Because of their citizenship and legal status, Zainichi Koreans have traditionally been excluded from select employment, housing, education, etc.^{[citation needed]}

Chinese and Taiwanese people

Main article: Chinese in Japan

Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese are the second largest group after Koreans. Mainland Chinese in particular have been the target of anti-immigrant sentiment partially because of their perception of having a taste for committing crime, and also due to strained relations between the two nations, and the simple fear of a large unfriendly nation on their doorstep, and differences in cultural politeness and economic development.

Ainu

Main article: Ainu people

Main article: Ainu independence movement

The Ainu are an Indigenous group mainly living in Hokkaidō. The Tokugawa Shogunate tried to develop Hokkaido to counter Russia's growing influence in the Far East, but mostly left the place for the native Ainu. Then the Meiji government started development programs, increasingly aimed at assimilating the Ainu, outlawing Ainu language and restricting them to farming on government-provided plots. Many of the Ainu were also used in slave-like conditions by the Japanese fishing industry. As the Japanese government encouraged immigration of ethnic Japanese to populate Hokkaido, the Ainu became increasingly marginalised in their own land.

At present, fewer than 20,000 Ainu are considered racially distinct. Most, if not all, of the Ainu in Japan are of mixed ancestry. 80-90% of Ainu now either ignore or don't know of their Ainu identity. Many customs and traditions of the Ainu have been lost, abandoned or annihilated by way of assimilation, and the Ainu language is no longer in daily use.

Only in the decades after World War II have the Ainu started to become aware of international aboriginal rights movements. Thus, as of late, some schools in Hokkaido have been established to preserve and revive the Ainu culture.

Ryukyuan people

Main article: Ryukyuans

Main article: Ryūkyū independence movement

The Ryukyuan people lived in an independent kingdom until it came under the control of Japan's Satsuma Domain in 1609. The kingdom, however, retained a degree of autonomy until 1879 when the islands were officially annexed by Japan as Okinawa prefecture.

The Okinawan language, the most widely spoken Ryukyuan language, is unintelligible to many Japanese people, yet sometimes believed to be a distant dialect of the Japanese language. Even within the four main islands of Japan, different regions may speak local dialects that are unintelligible to other regions.

Culturally, Okinawa is much closer to southern China and Southeast Asia reflecting its long history of trade with these regions. However, because of the standard use of Japanese in schools, television, and all print media in Okinawa, these cultural differences are often glossed over in Japanese society. Consequently, many Japanese consider Okinawans to be Japanese, sometimes ignoring their distinct cultural and historical heritage in insensitive ways.

Some Okinawans intensely resent what they perceive to be second-class treatment from the Japanese government, especially in regard to friction with the United States military presence in Okinawa.

Burakumin

The Burakumin are a social minority group with no distinct ethnicity from other Japanese. Rather, their status is derived from policy introduced in the Edo period, when the government designated butchers, leather workers, executioners, and others as eta (filth) or hinin (non-persons) and imposed various restrictions on their lives, including the clothes they were allowed to wear and areas they were allowed to visit. The Meiji Restoration abolished these caste-like restrictions. However, those having eta or hinin status were registered as shin-heimin (new commoners) which allowed social and economic discrimination against them to continue to this day.

After the war, shin-heimin registration as well as other differential registration was abolished. However, at the time, family registry (koseki) in Japan was tied to the location of original (i.e. ancestral) registration. This meant that one's burakumin background could be revealed easily before marriage or when applying for employment. A law prohibiting the transfer of koseki was amended during the 1980s, so it is now possible for burakumin to avoid discrimination simply by changing the location of their koseki.

Municipal rubbish collection, sewage cleaning, and cremation—jobs which Japanese associate with filth—have historically been performed by people with a burakumin background. Discrimination is still an issue for kaihou seisaku (liberation policy) in the local municipalities. Unlike other minority groups, however, the burakumin are decidedly integrationist due to the lack of a distinct cultural heritage.

Other groups

Foreigners in Japan, particularly those from Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, are often called Gaikokujin or Gaijin. The first noticeable influx of foreigners occurred in the 1980s, when the Japanese government adopted a policy to give scholarships to large numbers of foreign students to study at Japanese universities. In addition, as the Japanese economy grew quickly in the 1980s, a sizeable number of Westerners began coming to Japan. Many found jobs as English conversation teachers, but others were employed in various professional fields such as finance and business. Although some have become permanent residents or even naturalized citizens, they are generally perceived as short-term visitors and treated as outsiders to Japanese society. For some, it is hard to find the Japanese myth of "them and us" because of Japanese hospitality.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the Keidanren business lobbying organization advocated a policy of allowing South Americans of Japanese ancestry (mainly Brazilians and Peruvians) to work in Japan, as Japan's industries faced a major labor shortage. Although this policy has been decelerated in recent years, many of these individuals continue to live in Japan, some in ethnic enclaves near their workplaces. Many people from Asia (particularly Vietnam and the Philippines) and the Middle East (particularly Iran) also entered Japan (often illegally) during this time, making foreigners as a group a more visible minority in Japan. Those foreigners are called Rainichi ("coming to Japan") in contrast to Zainichi ("in Japan").

The main concerns of the latter groups are often related to their legal status, a public perception of criminal activity, and general discrimination associated with being non-Japanese.

Ethnic issues

Government policy

Because of inherent discrimination and the low importance placed on assimilating minorities in Japan, laws regarding ethnic matters receive low priority in the legislative process. Still, in 1997, "Ainu cultural revival" legislation was passed which replaced the former "Hokkaido ex-Aboriginal Protection" legislation that had devastating effects on the Ainu in the past.

Article 14 of the Constitution of Japan states that all citizens are equal under the law, and they cannot be discriminated against politically, economically, or socially on the basis of race, belief, sex, or social or other background. However, this clause does not apply to discrimination committed by private individuals or establishments. Hate speech is not a criminal offense, but insulting, such as calling someone "fool!", is a minor civil offense resulting in monetary compensation (which is often lower than the cost of going through the judicial process). Japan does not have human rights legislation which enforces or penalises discriminatory activities committed by citizens, businesses, or non-governmental organisations. The country does not have specific hate crime laws. Racism and hate-motivated offenses that include assault, vandalism, and robbery are prosecuted as regular crimes.

Attempts have been made in the Diet to enact human rights legislation. In 2002, a draft was submitted to the House of Representatives, but did not reach a vote. Had the law passed, it would have set up a Human Rights Commission to investigate, name and shame, or financially penalise discriminatory practices as well as hate speech committed by private citizens or establishments. Though the anti-discrimination clause raised little objection, the anti-hate speech clause received very hostile reception from Japanese media, including liberals who saw it as a potential threat to the freedom of speech and publication. In 2005, the ruling coalition government attempted to resubmit a revised version of the draft which somewhat limited the application of hate speech clause, but it still failed to reach a consensus within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Another issue which is often debated, but has not received much legislative attention is whether to allow permanent residents to vote in local legislatures. Zainichi organisations affiliated with North Korea are against this initiative, while Zainichi organisations affiliated with South Korea support it.

Finally, there is debate about altering requirements for work permits to foreigners. Currently, the Japanese government does not issue work permits unless it can be demonstrated that the person has certain skills which cannot be provided by locals.

Higher learning

Tenure for foreigners in Japanese universities is extremely rare. However, many professors from all over the world teach throughout the Japanese higher education system.^[5]

Non-Japanese citizens and crimes

Similar to other countries, many foreigners come to Japan to work, sometimes entering the country legally, and sometimes overstaying the term of their tourist/entry visa. Their employment tends to be concentrated in areas where most Japanese are not able to or no longer wish to work. Consequently, accusations of foreigners stealing jobs are not often heard in Japan. Due in part to intense institutionalized discrimination by Japanese government & society, some foreigners resort to criminal activity.

According to National Police Authority record in 2002, however, 16,212 foreigners were caught committing 34,746 crimes, over half of which turned out to be visa violations (residing/working in Japan without a valid visa). The statistics show that 12,667 cases (36.5%) and 6,487 individuals (40.0%) were Chinese, 5,272 cases (15.72%) and 1,186 individuals (7.3%) were Brazilian, and 2,815 cases (8.1%) and 1,738 individuals (10.7%) were Korean. The total number of crimes committed in the same year by Japanese was 546,934 cases.

Within these statistics, Japanese committed 6,925 violent crimes, of which 2,531 were arson or rape, while foreigners committed 323 violent crimes, but only 42 cases are classified as arson or rape. Foreigners, however, were more likely to commit crimes in groups. About 61.5% of crimes committed by foreigners had one or more accomplice, while only 18.6% of crimes committed by Japanese were in groups.

However, the former head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Emergency Public Safety Task Force, Hiroshi Kubo, published a book disputing foreign crime statistics, suggesting that such statistics were being manipulated by politicians for political gain. He suggested, for example, that including visa violations in crime statistics is misleading. He also said that the crime rate in Tokyo is based on reported rather than actual crimes.

Access to housing and other services

A sign outside an Onsen in Otaru printed in Japanese, English and Russian barring foreigners from entry. (See Arudou Debito#Otaru onsen lawsuit)

Some apartments, motels, night clubs, and public baths in Japan have put up signs stating that foreigners are not allowed, or that they must be accompanied by a Japanese person to enter, though these signs are rare. The most common reason cited for this policy is that foreigners are associated with being overly disruptive and ignoring Japanese etiquette (which causes Japanese residents or clientele to feel uneasy and leave).^{[citation needed]} This is considered to be a big social problem in Japan, however there has been no known opposition nor any legal battles against such a measure.

In the case of housing, it is often stated that those that cannot bring references from their employer or professors might be illegal immigrants who may sublet their room to a large number of other foreigners (which is undoubtedly due to a lack of housing these illegal immigrants encounter). Despite this, the Japanese in general are increasingly becoming more open to certain foreigners, (mostly North Americans and Europeans or those with Japanese oriental ancestry) believing they can bring new energy and information to Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Political correctness

By global standards, Japan is highly homogenous ethnically. Thus, there are some issues which many non-Japanese find insensitive. The debate over these issues parallel the debate over political correctness in the West.

A common example of this issue is the Japanese use of the colloquial term "gaijin" instead of "gaikokujin" to refer to foreigners (particularly Westerners). Many strongly object to the word,^{[citation needed]} as it literally means "outside person",^{[citation needed]} as opposed to "foreigner",^{[citation needed]} and allegedly has an implied exclusionary tone. Others view it as an abbreviation of the more formal term gaikokujin, which is used by the government and media.^{[citation needed]}

Similarly, when Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara referred to Chinese and Koreans as "sangokujin" in context of foreigners being a potential source of unrest in the time of an earthquake, it caused an outcry among the media. Historically, the word has often been used pejoratively and Ishihara's statement brought images of the massacre of Koreans by civilians and police alike during the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake to mind. Therefore, the use of the term in context of potential rioting by foreigners is considered by many as provocative, if not explicitly racist.

Another example, which had been particularly shocking to some in the West,^{[citation needed]} was a lack of sensitivity among the Japanese toward racism against black people. For example, one Japanese doo-wop pop group (see Rats & Star) in 1970s routinely appeared on stage painting their skin dark brown and wearing sunglasses to look black, totally oblivious to the implications of such an act in the West. Similarly, during the 1980s, Takara created and sold a doll called "Dakko-chan" (snuggle baby), an inflatable dark-colored plastic doll with fat lips and arms that could wrap around human arms or other pole-like objects. The doll was a commercial hit and was soon exported outside Japan as "Little Black Sambo". Many Americans made claims that it resembled blackface costumes worn by performers in the minstrel shows popular in the past.^{[citation needed]} After receiving numerous complaints, the sales of the doll were stopped. In Japan, as a sort of hasty reaction, there were efforts to remove anything that people believed were racist against black people. The sale of Japanese translations of the book "Little Black Sambo" was halted. Any pictorial representations of blacks with fat lips, especially in manga and anime, were purged during this period.^{[citation needed]}

Assimilation and integration

There are a number of aspects of Japanese society which foreigners find difficult.

Japanese citizens are recorded in koseki (family registry) and jūminhyō (resident registry) systems, while foreigners are only recorded in a separate alien registration system. A non-Japanese person cannot be directly added to a koseki, which is the main record of familial relations. As a result, based on official records, the Japanese spouse of a foreigner may appear to be a single head of household, and children may appear as illegitimate. Some municipalities compromise by allowing foreign spouses to be recorded in the "Notes" section of the koseki and jūminhyō.

Foreigners residing in Japan for longer than 90 days are issued an alien registration card. By law, foreigners must carry their passport or alien registration card at all times and present it to police upon demand, even though Japanese citizens are not required to carry identification. Recently, government officials have relaxed this policy, but foreigners still need identification.

Kanji (Chinese characters) are used as part of virtually all Japanese writing. Resident foreigners faced with paperwork from their local city wards and places of employment must generally learn about 2000 kanji before they can function independently in Japan. This often poses great difficulty for those from outside East Asia. However, many business and government offices provide translations of forms and other documents in English, and occasionally in other languages as well (such as Chinese and Korean). However, by their nature, such documents are often inaccurate, especially where specialist terminology is involved (e.g. vaccination notices, legal instructions etc.). Moreover, by their very nature, translated versions may not be up to date and thus pose additional procedural hurdles to those who are illiterate in Japanese and thus forced to rely on secondary documents.

Japanese view of racism

When most Japanese hear other accounts of racism throughout the world it is met with shock and disgust. Japan feels they are in a unique situation due to the combination of a declining population and rapid migration to urban areas. Some think every year knowledge and skills unique to their culture are lost. The Japanese consensus is that any means needed to preserve their culture are legitimate, even if they may seem "racist" to outsiders^{[citation needed]}. Many youth in Japan feel a tremendous burden to keep the culture alive and many times leave the country and completely assimilate to their new homeland. This has compounded the problem in two ways: it exacerbates the decline in population and fosters a deeper fear of the influence of outside cultures.^[6]

References

^ Press Conference by Mr Doudou Diène, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights. Retrieved on {{#time:F j, Y|2007-01-05}}.
^ "Japan racism 'deep and profound". BBC News (2005-07-11). Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
^ 'Overcoming "Marginalization" and "Invisibility"', International Movement against all forms of Discrimination and Racism. Retrieved on {{#time:F j, Y|2007-01-05}}.
^ Rummel, R. J. (1999). Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1990. Lit Verlag. ISBN 3-8258-4010-7. Available online: Statistics of Democide: Chapter 3 - Statistics Of Japanese Democide Estimates, Calculations, And Sources. Freedom, Democracy, Peace; Power, Democide, and War. Retrieved on {{#time:F j, Y|2006-03-01}}.
^ Title:Tenure for Foreigners in Japan, Author:Geller, Robert J. Publication: Science, Volume 258, Issue 5087, pp. 1421 Publication Date: 11/1992 Bibliographic Code:1992Sci...258.1421G
^ Meri's Monthly Circular August 2006 No.92

Asian Racism in Canada

2007-07-02T05:32:00.000-02:00

Hi all;

An interesting forum discussion on the perception of racism by immigrant asian communities in Canada can be found here:

http://www.discovervancouver.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=177142

Also, for amusement check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFlHIqyLyi4&mode=related&search=

Anti-Discrimination, Singaporean Style

2007-06-15T00:19:00.000-02:00

So Singapore is finally getting serous about racial discrimination. Recently the government has annoucned new guidelines to try and ensure that discrimination doesn't occur. Commendable effort, but unless it is actually backed up by statute law, the author believes it will be a failure.

I mean, many other bloggers have complained about ads that essentially state 'chinese only need apply' (abliet in code) through things like "must be able to speak mandarin" (the company does no business with mainland china) or "chinese working environment" and so forth.

So my question is this: if you are a non-chinese living in singapore and you are discriminated against in a job selection process, what recourse do you have?

Therein lies the crux of the problem.

Chinese discrimination

2007-04-20T03:43:00.000-02:00

Taken from: http://fredshannon.blogspot.com/2005/10/filipinos-teaching-english-in-taiwan.html

Filipinos Teaching English in Taiwan

The Philippine Ministry of Labour and Employment has suggested that Filipinos be permitted to teach English in Taiwan.

Filipinos to Teach English in Taiwan

The Taiwan Ministry of Education (MOE) has indicated that it will soon start a recruiting drive for qualified English instructors. Admittedly, there is a shortage of qualified and experienced English teachers in Taiwan (and in other countries within the region) and this move would make perfect sense.

However, the MOE has stated that it will only pay Filipino instructors $25,000 NT, almost half of what teachers from Canada, Australia, U.S. and U.K. make under the same program.

My position on this is that qualified Filipino English instructors should receive the same pay and benefits as their colleagues from Canada, Australia, U.S. and the U.K. if they are to be contracted for the same amount of hours and duties as the native speaking instructors.

Furthermore, I agree that there should be more opportunities for qualified Filipino and Indian instructors who have native-like proficiency in English.

Indeed, it seems wrong to allow access to English teaching positions in Taiwan purely on the basis of where individual applicants were born or the kind of passport they hold.

For instance, there are French Canadians in Taiwan teaching English, some at the university level, in fact, who are not native English speakers. However, they hold Canadian passports, thus, making them eligible to teach English in Taiwan.

The current MOE policies are based on race and they must be ammended so as not to exclude other English speaking applicants from non-English-speaking countries.

Asian Racism: Nobel Peace prize winner speaks out

2007-04-20T03:36:00.000-02:00

Here we have a nobel peace prize winner speaking out against asian racism.

Nobel Peace Laureate denounces Asian racism

By Jonathan Manthorpe, in the Ottawa Citizen,
15 January, 1997

HONG KONG -- Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta says many Asian governments are hypocritical and more racist than the western nations they criticize.

Ramos-Horta singled out racism in China, Malaysia and Indonesia during a speech Tuesday to the Foreign Correspondents' Club here following criticism in the region of race relations in Australia.

"If you compare Australia with Malaysia, Indonesia or China, Australia is the most tolerant country in the region," the East Timorese activist said. "Several regimes in Asia are more color- sensitive than Australia. I get incensed when hypocrites from this region criticize Australia for racism. They should learn from Australia."

Australia has come in for criticism recently after independent legislator Pauline Hanson called for limits to Asian immigration. But Ramos-Horta, while admitting he has had some problems in Australia in the past because of his color, said the country has "made enormous efforts over the years to become really multicultural."

"Chinese are not discriminated against in Australia, as they have been in Malaysia," he said. "Chinese do not become scapegoats and get killed, their shops, their homes burned down every time there is a political problem, or economic, as happens in Indonesia."

Ramos-Horta has spent more than 20 years in exile in Australia from his home in East Timor, which was occupied by Indonesia in 1975. Together with Catholic Bishop Carlos Belo, Ramos-Horta was awarded the Nobel Prize last year for working for the expulsion of Indonesia from the territory.

But Ramos-Horta said United Nations-sponsored negotiations on the future of East Timor are "a farce" because of Indonesia's refusal to accept a referendum on its occupation.

Nine rounds of discussions between Indonesia and Portugal, the former colonial power that is still recognized as the sovereign authority by the UN, have produced nothing, he said.

More than 200,000 people, perhaps as many as 300,000, are estimated to have died in East Timor as a result of military repression, famine and epidemics spurred by Indonesia's occupation.

Ramos-Horta said he hopes the UN's new secretary-general, Kofi Annan, will give the issue more attention than in the past. But he said he does not believe East Timor will regain its independence until the military-backed regime of Indonesian President Suharto is replaced by a democracy.

Ramos-Horta took indirect aim at the concept of "Asian values," which many regional leaders invoke to say western notions of democracy and human rights are not appropriate.

Ramos-Horta said he believed imprisoned Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng, serving 14 years for advocating political reform, would win last year's Nobel Prize.

"I submit the Chinese must release Wei, must release its prisoners. How can a country with a history of achievements like China silence its best people? How can a great country fear the discussion of ideas?"

Southam News

Racism in the West

2007-04-19T03:51:00.000-02:00

Interesting article.... Australia, often labelled by Asian as 'racist' only has 4.5% of people not wanting people of another 'race' next door. I wonder how this compares to Japan, Singapore and Malaysia?

Not all love their neighbours: survey

Almost one in four Australians don't want homosexuals as neighbours, an international survey has found.

Australians are less bigoted on the subject than people in Northern Ireland, said John Mangan, professor of economics at the University of Queensland.

Prof Mangan is co-author of a paper interpreting statistics from the Human Beliefs and Values Survey, conducted in 24 Western countries between 1999 and 2002.

He said the results showed anti-gay prejudice was by no means confined to Australia.

"The conclusion is the most prevalent form of bigotry is homophobia," he said.

"It's everybody except Scandinavians, so it's not a particularly Australian thing."

Of the 2,048 people sampled by phone in Australia, 24.7 per cent said they did not want homosexuals living next door.

But the figure was exceeded by survey respondents in Austria (26.7 per cent), Greece (26.8), the Republic of Ireland (27.5) Italy (28.7) and Portugal (25.6).

And Northern Ireland came out on top, with 36 per cent saying they did not want gay neighbours.

The least prejudiced nationality in the survey was Sweden, where only six per cent said they would object.

Australia fared relatively well in other categories, with only 4.6 per cent of people saying they would not like people of a different race as neighbours and 4.5 per cent objecting to immigrants or foreign workers next door.

Italians, on 15.6 per cent, topped the list of those who didn't want a different race next door.

The Northern Irish held the strongest views on immigrants and foreign workers, with 19 per cent saying they were not desirable neighbours.

Prof Mangan said the reasons why the various national attitudes evolved would be the subject of further research.

Factors influencing bigotry included income levels, whether people were employed or not, education levels and political leanings.

"Tolerance seems to rise with education more than anything else," Prof Mangan said.

"But you can have quite wealthy people who are older and probably have less formal education who tend to have more fixed beliefs."

His research has been published recently in the international economics journal, Kyklos.

The paper, entitled Love Thy Neighbour: How Much Bigotry is there in Western Countries, was co-authored by Professor Vani Borooah of the University of Ulster.

Xenophobia in Thailand on the Rise

2007-03-26T22:39:00.000-02:00

Famed Thai hospitality shows signs of strain

BANGKOK: Long one of the most open and accommodating destinations for tourists and businesspeople in Asia, the well-advertised "land of smiles" is showing signs of a subtle frown directed toward foreigners.

Over the past seven months, successive Thai governments have passed measures scrutinizing land purchases by non-Thais and clamping down on long-stay retirees and expatriate workers who lack proper visas. In January, the cabinet passed a sweeping bill that tightens restrictions on foreign companies, a measure that awaits final approval.

"There's been a trend that suggests rising economic nationalism," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University. Thailand, he said, has fallen into a "very complex mood of ambivalence" toward outsiders under the military-led government that seized power last September.

That mood is evident in a 12th-floor conference room at the headquarters of Bangkok Bank, where Vongthip Chumpani, an adviser and former vice president at the bank, expresses her frustrations about certain types of foreigners who come to Thailand — and tend to stay.

"We are getting a lot of weird retirees here," Vongthip said. "They can't survive in your country so they come here."

Thailand needs to slow down and catch its breath, she said. Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in September, had entered into a flurry of free-trade agreements with Australia, China, Japan, the United States and others. To Vongthip's thinking, he tried to pry the country open too quickly.

"We bent over backward all the time to accommodate foreign investors," she said.

That could be changing.

Under proposed new rules for foreign investors, companies such as Federal Express might have to give up control of their operations in Thailand. Car and electronics manufacturers could be barred from delivering their cars or disk drives to ports for export; only Thai-owned companies would be allowed to transport items within the country.

Retail chains — big ones like Carrefour and hundreds of smaller ones — could be frozen out of future expansion. Land purchases by thousands of foreigners could be declared illegal.

These amendments to the Foreign Business Act were approved by the Thai cabinet in January and are now under review by the Council of State, an independent government body of legal experts.

Since the very first boatloads of Portuguese and Dutch emissaries arrived here five centuries ago, Thailand has had a knack for dealing with foreigners: trade but not domination, hospitality but not subservience. Thais successfully gleaned technology from Europeans, Americans and Japanese, and the elite sent their children to study abroad. Unlike all of its neighbors, Thailand was never colonized.

But this was before millions of tourists poured into the country's spas, beaches, golf courses and restaurants — not to mention red-light districts and massage parlors. The number of tourists visiting Thailand, whose population is 64 million, is expected to reach nearly 15 million this year, a doubling over the past decade.

On the southern resort island of Phuket, roadside billboards, written in English, advertise million-dollar condominiums — this in a country where a schoolteacher is lucky to bring home a few hundred dollars a month. In northeastern Thailand, men from Germany, Switzerland, Britain and other Western countries live with their Thai wives on neatly groomed streets that stand out from ramshackle neighboring villages.

"I've seen so many old farangs with young Thai women," said Nattaya Rattanamanee, 31, an accountant working at a hotel on the resort island of Samui, using the Thai word for Westerners. "These old farangs damage the reputation of Thailand; they turn Thailand into a land of prostitutes."

Feeling the strain of the tourist influx, the Thai government recently announced a new approach: the country would no longer focus on the quantity of tourists, but instead target "quality" — read "wealthy" — tourists.

"In years past we've always targeted numbers: trying to achieve the highest numbers of arrivals possible," said Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, a spokesman for the Tourism Authority of Thailand. "It's time to change. If we continue to focus mainly on numbers, some destinations will not be able to handle that many people."

Any resentment that Thais may harbor toward foreigners is unlikely to be felt by short-term vacationers. It is hidden behind an often genuine Thai smile and shielded by a wall of politeness. There is no generalized backlash against foreigners, Thais say, but rather concerns about specific problems: criminals who come to Thailand on the lam, the increase in land purchases by foreigners and foreign companies having too much influence in the economy.

In September, just before the coup, the head of the country's immigration department announced that foreign tourists would be limited to staying in Thailand for 90 days within any six- month period. This was primarily aimed at foreign retirees who take up permanent residence without proper paperwork and the thousands of people working here without work visas.

One such person was John Mark Karr, the American who falsely confessed to the 1996 killing of JonBenet Ramsey, a Colorado schoolgirl, and was living in Bangkok as an English teacher. Karr's apprehension last August in Bangkok buttressed Thailand's image as a magnet for creeps and perverts.

"I hate them. There are so many of those in Thailand," said Yupa Boontaworn, a 22-year-old university student, when asked about people like Karr. Tourism is good for the Thai economy, she said, but the government should move more aggressively against pedophiles and sex tourists.

As a tourist destination, Thailand shares much in common with the Netherlands: a hands-off government and the veneer of a tolerant society, but a surprisingly conservative core. In some ways, anti-foreign feelings in Thailand arise from the clash between the permissive Thailand of skimpily clad bar girls twirling around poles and the more traditional side of the country, where women are too shy even to wear a swimsuit on a beach. Today, that veneer of tolerance, while still intact, is chipping.

"Foreigners shouldn't be able to do anything they please in Thailand," said Samree Ardsuan, 68, a retired civil servant. If someone led a demonstration protesting foreign ownership of companies, Samree said, he would definitely join in.

With a few exceptions such as condominiums and small plots, foreigners are barred from owning property in Thailand. But many have skirted these laws by registering shell companies, a practice that the government now promises to stop.

The mood toward foreigners today, analysts say, is a corollary to Thailand's political crisis. Many Thais became defensive when foreign governments criticized the coup in September as undemocratic, and today there are occasional nationalist outbursts. In February, the head of the military junta, Sonthi Boonyaratglin, vowed to retake stakes in a satellite company that Thaksin's family sold to a Singapore government agency last year.

The Thai government says the proposed amendments to the Foreign Business Act are long overdue clarifications. But to some Thais, including Vongthip of Bangkok Bank, the law would also help redress what is seen here as the injustices that accompanied the financial crisis of the late 1990s, when indebted Thai companies were forced to sell their assets cheaply to foreigners. Foreign banks and companies, Vongthip said, "picked up everything for a song."

Many questions about the amendments remain. Analysts say there could be less pressure for a new law since one of the more nationalist members of the Thai cabinet, Pridiyathorn Devakula, stepped down as finance minister in February.

The legal committee also appears to be casting a skeptical eye on the proposed new law. "The majority of the committee is not sure that the law needs to be amended," Pakorn Nilprapan, the committee's secretary, said this month. "We are seeking explanations from the Ministry of Commerce."

Even if the amendments do become law, many here predict that the law's harshest provisions will be quietly forgotten.

"I don't think it's going to be enforced — it's just not the Thai way," said David Lyman, chairman of Tilleke & Gibbons, a prominent Bangkok law firm.

Lyman, who first moved to Thailand in 1949, says he has seen this all before: the government has threatened to restrict foreign ownership on and off for nearly four decades.

"Reason usually ends up prevailing in Thailand — after all other options have been exhausted," Lyman said.

Pornnapa Wongakanit contributed reporting from Bangkok.

Being Black in Korea

2007-03-26T22:29:00.000-02:00

Korea is back in focus with an excellent blog (complete with audio) on the subject of racial prejudices in one of Asia's leading economies. The blog can be found here

A fantastic extended piece on how Koreans respond to criticism of their and country can be found on the same blog here
Indeed replace the word "Korean" with "Asian" and you'd have a fairly good description of of how most racist Asian respond to critiques of their behavior and prejudice.

Racism in Japan

2007-03-22T00:04:00.000-03:00

Taken from: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=63291

This article once again shows that Racism is not only the domain of white-supremacists or delusional african despots. The reaction was swift and it is pleasing that the publication was pulled but one wonders if such articles would ever appear in main-stream news agencies or news stands in western countries. Food for thought.

JAPAN: 'Racist' magazine pulled off shelves after complaints

FamilyMart Co withdraws copies of Secret Foreigner Crime Files after sparking criticism on Internet forums, blogs

Straits Times
Thursday, February 8, 2007

Tokyo --- Japan's third-largest convenience store chain yesterday pulled a magazine on crimes committed by foreigners from its shelves, citing the publication's "inappropriate racial expressions."

FamilyMart Co withdrew copies of Gaijin Hanzai Ura Fairu (Secret Foreigner Crime Files) after receiving at least 10 complaints from customers since Saturday, spokesman Takehiko Kigure said yesterday.

About 1,000 copies of the magazine, which costs 690 yen (S$8.80), had been sold by the company's 7,500 stores in Japan by the time the publication was removed.

"We decided to remove it from our shelves because inappropriate racial expressions were found in the magazine," Mr Kigure said.

Crimes committed by foreigners in Japan are often cited by right-wing groups and politicians to justify demands for tighter immigration policies.

Others like Mr Hidenori Sakanaka, the former head of the Tokyo Immigration Bureau, say Japan needs to encourage more immigrants to compensate for a decline in its population if it wants to maintain its economic power.

Japan's crime rate is one of the world's lowest. According to the latest government statistics, there were 1,776 reported crimes per 100,000 people in 2005. Offences by foreigners rose to record 47,865 that year from 47,128 in 2004, police statistics show.

The magazine, published on Jan 31 by Tokyo-based Eichi Publishing, contains images and descriptions of what the magazine says are crimes committed in Japan by non-Japanese, including graphs breaking down crimes by nationality.

Its cover, in red and black, shows caricatured images of foreigners grinning maniacally with glowing red eyes under its banner headline.

The magazine sparked anger on Japanese blogs and other Internet forums.

Debito Arudou, a naturalised Japanese citizen and author of Japanese Only blog, posted a bilingual letter for readers to take to FamilyMart stores to protest against "discriminatory statements and images about non-Japanese residents of Japan."

Another blog, Japan Probe, asked readers to check that FamilyMart is complying with its pledge to remove the publication.

Date Posted: 2/8/2007

Asian Racism

Racism in Mongolia

Chinese investment in Mongolia: An uneasy courtship between Goliath and David

Racism in India: Pt2

Racism in India

Update on Update

from "Aussie Pete"

Interesting blog from Malaysia

More on Singapore

Discrimination, Singapore-style

Double standards in Japan

Chinese Racism (pt5)

A useful link on Tibet

Chinese Racism in Canberra (pt4)

Chinese Racism in Canberra (pt3)

Chinese Racism in Canberra (pt2)

Chinese Racism in Canberra (pt 1)

Chinese Racism In Australia

Chinese Racism Abroad

Censorship in Singapore

Chinese Racism in Sport

Chinese Racism in Tibet (and other places)

Racism: China's Secret Scourge

ICT Report Refutes Beijing's Denial of Racism in China

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

International Campaign for Tibet:Jampa: The Story of Racism in Tibet

PRC Government Policy

Background

Tibetan Experience of Discrimination

Conclusions and Recommendations

White Guilt

Interesting Assumptions

Tibet and Han Chinese Colonialism

Media tell of Chinese police threats over Tibet

Japanese Racism

Program Transcript

Further information

Publications

Quick update

Digging up Facts of Singapore

New Resources and Links

updates coming

Racism in Cricket

Asian Racism in Malaysia: Apostasy

A paper on Racism in Malaysia

Asian Racism in Indonesia

Asian Racism in Thailand

Asian Racism in Singapore

Racism in Cricket

Flaming Hatred: Malaysian style

Race Riots in Malaysia?

Ethnic Violence in China

Chinese Colonialism

Japanese Racism

Racial Slurs: Ang Moh

Links to Anti-Racism Resources

Religious Freedom in Malasyaia

A paper on Racism in Singapore

Racism in Singapore

Inter-Asian Racism in the USA

Racism in Japan (again)

Background

Japanese minorities

Korean people

Chinese and Taiwanese people

Ainu

Ryukyuan people

Burakumin

Other groups

Ethnic issues

Government policy

Higher learning

Non-Japanese citizens and crimes

Access to housing and other services

Political correctness

Assimilation and integration

Japanese view of racism

References

Asian Racism in Canada

Anti-Discrimination, Singaporean Style

International Campaign for Tibet:
Jampa: The Story of Racism in Tibet

By Jonathan Manthorpe, in the Ottawa Citizen,
15 January, 1997