Ex-NMP Calvin Cheng admitted in a Facebook post that racism exists in Singapore.
Cheng made the admission on the state of racism and race relations in Singapore, when discussing the brownface ad vs K.Muthusamy music video.
Nevertheless, he remained adamant that Singaporeans were blindly copying the latest trend in the West in what is deemed racists, or offensive. For him, you can't compare the two controversial productions.
What’s the difference between the Mediacorp Ad and the YouTube rap video that K Shanmugan has condemned ?
I don’t think this has been explained clearly.
Let’s try this thought experiment.
Mediacorp Ad : If it was an Indian actor putting on a traditional Chinese outfit and acting as a Chinese, and also a Malay, is this offensive? I don’t think it is.
It may be distasteful to some. But I think the whole ‘brown face’ concept was borrowed blindly from the West. They take offence. So the copycats here think we must also take offence. Why?
YouTube rap video: If it is a Chinese person rapping the same about Indians, would it be offensive? Or Indians rapping the same about Malays?
Undoubtedly so. No argument.
Therefore there is a false equivalence comparing the two.
There is however a greater issue at stake.
Whilst we shouldn’t blindly parrot the West (especially America) whenever they have a new standard of what is racist or offensive, racism does exist in Singapore.
