Discrimination and bias less likely than violence and insults to be viewed as unacceptable conduct between races: AsiaOne poll, Singapore News

AsiaOne

29-07-2025

When Matthew (not his real name) joined a company in April 2023 with predominantly Chinese employees, he initially did not think much of the fact that he was one of the few minorities in the office.
Speaking to AsiaOne, the 27-year-old who is now director of growth at an educational technology start-up, said that he thought his colleagues would accept him, or at least respect his skills and merit.
"But over time, it became clear that certain attitudes were deeply ingrained," he said, adding that "casual racist remarks" such as referring to him as "the Indian guy" or asking, "Since when could Malay people speak so well?" were often directed at him.
Matthew, who is Indian-Malay, said that while these comments seemed more ignorant than malicious, they became increasingly direct and damaging.
"I was being referred to as 'black boy', among other names, by senior figures in the company... (and) often found myself on the receiving end of their jokes, stereotypes, and ridicule as a whole," he said. 'Minorities were somehow less capable'
There were also instances where he would be underestimated or undermined at the workplace due to his race.
"There was a constant narrative being pushed — whether subtly or directly — that minorities were somehow less capable... less educated, less articulate, and less valuable in a professional setting," he said.
Although the experience took a toll on his mental health, Matthew said he would cope by constantly reminding himself of his abilities and how the issue was not with him, but with others' ignorance.
When asked if he felt supported by the people around him during this time, he stated that his colleagues who witnessed these incidents did have his back in those moments, while his family and friends were angry on his behalf and even encouraged him to go public with his experiences.
He quit three months later and took up another job in a similar field, where he remained for about two years before moving to his current position.
Having recently started at this company, Matthew said that he feels "the most valued" he has ever felt in his career.
"It's definitely a better place for me to grow professionally and somewhere I hope to be at for a good amount of time. It took a while, but it feels like I've found somewhere that I can say I'm really proud to work at," he said. Experience indicative of wider sentiments
While those close to Matthew found his experiences unacceptable, the people at his previous workplace who treated him poorly saw no issue with their actions. This difference in viewpoints was also seen in a survey done by AsiaOne.
This comes as Singapore celebrates Racial and Religious Harmony Month in July.
Between March 14 and April 4, 1,026 individuals were polled regarding their sentiments on racial harmony in Singapore.
When presented with a list of 13 actions involving some form of unacceptable conduct between people of different ethnicities, from which respondents could select as many options as they wanted, it was found that none of the actions had a 100 per cent selection rate.
Moreover, actions associated with violence and insults were more likely to be viewed as unacceptable than those with elements of discrimination and bias like Matthew faced.
Some actions associated with violence and insults listed in the survey included: acts of violence targeting someone, threatening or harassing individuals, and publicly inciting violence or hatred against an individual or group because of their race.
Examples of racial discrimination or bias comprised discriminatory hiring practices, deliberate exclusion from social settings, and making marginalising or belittling comments towards people due to their race, among other things.
By age group, respondents aged between 25 and 34 were more likely than those younger and older to view the actions as unacceptable conduct between people of different ethnicities.
Males were less likely than females to consider the five listed actions associated with violence and insults as being unacceptable.
But Chinese males were less likely than Chinese females and Malays and Indians of both genders to think that the seven listed actions pertaining to discrimination and bias is unacceptable.
The largest difference was seen between Chinese males and Malay/Indian males regarding discriminatory hiring practices which favour one race over other.
More than half (54 per cent) of Chinese men polled considered this action unacceptable, while 76 per cent of their Indian/Malay counterparts felt the same way.
Just under half of the Chinese males polled said deliberately including or excluding people from social settings based on their race is unacceptable, while 64 per cent of Chinese female respondents, 63 per cent of Malay/Indian male respondents and 60 per cent of Malay/Indian female respondents indicated the same.
The largest difference was seen between Chinese males and Malay/Indian males regarding discriminatory hiring practices which favour one race over other.
More than half (54 per cent) of Chinese men polled considered this action unacceptable, while 76 per cent of their Indian/Malay counterparts felt the same way. 1 in 3 youth likely to believe different races do not get along
The survey also asked respondents about their view on how well people of different races get along with one another.
About one in three respondents under the age of 35 indicated that they believe people of different races get along poorly or very poorly, in contrast to the responses given by the other age groups polled.
In February this year, Parliament passed the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Bill, which consolidates existing statutes to preserve racial harmony while providing additional safeguards.
When asked how effective the four key aspects of the bill are in maintaining racial harmony in Singapore, about six in 10 respondents viewed each of them as being effective to at least some extent.
With a recent rise in self-radicalisation cases in Singapore and the Government expressing concern regarding radicalisation among youth, the poll asked respondents' views on the likelihood of such an occurrence as well.
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It also asked their thoughts on whether the community will remain united should such an incident that is motivated by issues of race or religion take place.
More than half (56 per cent) of the people surveyed thought that such an incident would not happen or is unlikely to happen within the next 12 months, while 36 per cent thought that such an incident was likely to or will happen.
The former group were more likely than the latter to be confident that the community in Singapore would remain united if such an incident takes place.
Edmund Chua, who heads AsiaOne's consumer insights and analytics group, said these survey results suggest that government and community efforts over the years have yielded deeper inter-racial understanding and wide consensus that acts of physical or verbal violence along the lines of race are unacceptable.
"To be intentional in building a racially inclusive society was a lesson that Singaporeans collectively learnt through painful lessons in history," he said.
Chua continued that as Singapore celebrates its 60th year of independence this year, he hopes to encourage readers to consider how we can strengthen public conscientiousness around microaggressions, discriminatory practices, or casual racism — behaviours that are not as widely perceived as racially-motivated violence and insults, but are undeniably actions or speech patterns that can be damaging to our social fabric.
At AsiaOne, communications is both an art and a science. We conduct polls 24/7 to understand our users' perception and opinions towards social issues, as well as their consumer preferences.
Want more insights on Singaporean's attitudes and perceptions towards social issues? Get in touch! Contact us at [e-mail] to explore opportunities to undertake meaningful research.
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