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Minister Indranee Rajah believes more work has to be done to integrate foreigners working in Singapore and the locals so that racism incidents do not occur.
"For Indians who live in Singapore, it's important to understand Singapore's culture and norms," she told tabla! on Monday.
"This is true, not just for Indians, but also for the other races.
"Whichever country you go to, if you are a guest, you have to adapt to those norms without having to give up your own cultural identity. That's important.
"In Singapore, we don't have the concept of caste. And we don't want to have the concept of caste - because it really suggests that you are born into a particular category and you can never progress beyond that category.
"Singapore has always been a place where everybody can advance. It's a place where there's opportunity for all - you want to be a fair and just society. We don't look and say, you were born into this category and therefore you are separate and apart. We're all Singaporeans. We're all one.
"So, I think integration is important."
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for National Development acknowledged that there's always an undercurrent of racism in every society in every place, but certain incidents will make it flare up, like what occurred in Singapore recently.
"Singaporeans go to India and there are Indians working here who go and come back" she said. "We went through the circuit breaker and brought down the transmissions - for a long while we had zero transmissions. And then the Delta variant (of the Covid-19 virus first detected in India) took the number of cases up.
"So, you could see that, in that context, people started to get worried. And, when you get worried and afraid, you will point a finger, and nasty things were said on some occasions.
"Going on in parallel was a narrative that Indians were coming in and taking away jobs from Singaporeans. So, you had two things going on at the same time. And that's what conflated the issue and resulted in this (racist attacks on Indians)."
On May 7, Ms Hindocha Nita Vishnubhai, a 55-year-old Indian Singaporean who works as a private tutor, was confronted by a Chinese couple who told her to wear her mask properly as a safety measure.
This then led to an argument between the couple and the woman and the man allegedly made offensive racial remarks against the Indian woman and assaulted her.
The police arrested the man for being a "public nuisance, including uttering words with intent to wound the racial feelings of others and voluntarily causing hurt".
There were a few other incidents, allegedly of similar nature, documented on social media in the following days, including a man racially abusing four members of an Indian expat family at Pasir Ris Beach park.
Then, on June 5, Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecturer Tan Boon Lee, who was subsequently sacked, made racist remarks at interracial couple Dave Parkash and Jacqueline Ho which was captured on video. On July 9, he apologised for his act. The case is still under investigation.
Ms Indranee pointed out that such attacks are not limited to a particular race, but are usually generated by fear.
"At the beginning of last year, before the virus was named Covid-19, it was called the Wuhan virus," she said. "And, if you were Chinese, all sorts of remarks were directed at you.
"In Singapore, people were asking 'why are you allowing visitors from China' and we should close the borders. A Singaporean student was also assaulted in the UK because they thought he was from China. They accused him of bringing the virus over.
"So, (racist attacks) are not limited to a particular race. It is usually generated by fear and in some cases by not knowing the full facts."
According to Ms Indranee, "if you didn't have Covid and concerns about jobs, racism may not be such an issue (in Singapore)". "But, when you start to put them together, they become an issue," she said.
"For example, the case of the man who shouted at the Chinese security guard at a condominium made people upset. It was unnecessary for him to do something like that. And, when you bundle everything together, you can get very heated emotions. So, it's important to separate all these things."
On Oct 25 last year, Indian Singaporean Ramesh Erramalli was caught on video shouting vulgarities at the guard over a rule that requires guests to pay $10 for parking after 11pm at Eight Riversuites condominium. He later apologised to the guard.
Ms Indranee said it is important to deal with such issues calmly and the Government has been doing that. "In terms of Covid, we have taken steps to make sure that we tighten the border restrictions," she said. "We didn't allow flights from South Asia.
"And going forward, if you are coming in from a country where there is widespread infection, we will make sure that the testing is done before the person comes in.
"Regarding Indian nationals taking away jobs, (Health Minister) Ong Ye Kung and (Manpower Minister) Tan See Leng explained in Parliament why the Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Ceca) in itself doesn't confer an unlimited right for Indian nationals to come in and work. It's still subject to our immigration restrictions and they still have to qualify for passes.
"As both of them acknowledged, there is a concern about jobs here. This is something the MOM (Ministry of Manpower) is working on - the fair consideration framework. We're making sure that employers do not unfairly discriminate against locals."
Importantly, she said, locals should understand that the nature of jobs is changing quickly.
"The key is upskilling," she said. "You need a new set of skills to access these new jobs and to progress in your career quickly.
"If somebody has the skills, employers will naturally opt for them."
"Whichever country you go to, if you are a guest, you have to adapt to those norms without having to give up your own cultural identity. That's important."
- Ms Indranee Rajah
