Singapore Expats

Guys,

I have seen posts in this forum about people being laughed at by sporeans because they were caucasians.
I wanted to know if there is any black (afro / caraib) in this forum, living in spore and how easy / difficult their integration was?
I am black and will be moving to spore in sept with my wife (caucasian) and son ....

Thanks
Jag

Hi Jag, i can confirm with you that there is nothing to worry about any racial issues in Singapore. At first, people in your residential area might felt abit odd cos' there is a new kid on the block. After sometime they will get used to it. If you walk thru Orchard Rd, you might notice the street there had became UN street. Not to worry, probably your accent might have some communication misunderstanding. Just relax and you will be okay. Just enjoy your stay.

Hi Jag,

I'm a Cauc, born and raised in Curaçao. There's no real racism in Singapore, although JP may disagree. Oh, there's slight subcutaneous resentment brewing here and there, but most of it is envy-based, not race-related as such. There's no outright racism, although JP may disagree.

You may get the occassional stare or funky look, but I guess it has more to do with the relative rarity of black people in Singapore. You're a bit of a novelty I guess

Also, as in Europe right now, some blacks endure some flak caused by the negative image of the ubiquitous Nigerian scams and ruses.

On the whole, no worries.

While on this subject, I have to ask this question, coz it's been on my mind for years and years. In most supermarkets you'll find this toothpaste called "Darlie'. It's got this Al Jolsen type guy on the tube. Or it did anyway. And I'm sure it was called "Darkie" before. Then I guess they realized it's a bit of a derogatory term, so they switched to "DarLie" instead. But I'm guessing here.

Can anyone remember this? Or is my mind playing tricks on me? Just something that's bugged me for the longest time.

Anyway, good luck Jag!

NBB

Yes. They did renamed it to "Dalie". For reason only known to them ...

Thank you all for your answers.
Sonus what doy mean by UN street?

Sonus wrote:Hi Jag, i can confirm with you that there is nothing to worry about any racial issues in Singapore. At first, people in your residential area might felt abit odd cos' there is a new kid on the block. After sometime they will get used to it. If you walk thru Orchard Rd, you might notice the street there had became UN street. Not to worry, probably your accent might have some communication misunderstanding. Just relax and you will be okay. Jhhust enjoy your stay.

"Thank you all for your answers.
Sonus what doy mean by UN street?"

I mean United Nations. There are so many different races of people walking around.

Hi Jag, to add my 10cents to this topic ... I'm English (Caucasian) with Japanese wife, been living in Spore for 11 years. I'd agree with most of the other comments I've seen in reply to you. Yes, there is some racism but very little and -nothing- compared to Europe/USA. More like an undercurrent of grumbling, really. Locals & Expats complain about each other, Chinese/Indians/Malays complain about each other, British and Americans complain about each other, local Chinese and mainland Chinese complain about each other, .... you name a combination, and I bet there's a grumble to be found! But it rarely (if ever) amounts to anything serious.
It's a very cosmopolitan place with lots of mixed couples, but people are curious here and you -will- get people looking at you in the street. For reasons that I've never found an official explanation for, there are disproportionately fewer blacks (african-american) here than I would expect. None-the-less, assuming you're a decent open-minded kind of guy, I don't believe you'd have anything to worry about here.
Good luck.

Yutenji wrote:For reasons that I've never found an official explanation for, there are disproportionately fewer blacks (african-american) here than I would expect.

I'm going to revise my own post here ... in the last couple of weeks I've now seen far more black/african-american people than I ever recall seeing in Singapore. At the time I wrote the orginal post, I had just returned after a two year absence from Singapore, so I guess that during that period things changed to become even more cosmopolitan.
Apologies for the earlier misleading comment.

for NBB
darlie was indeed called darkie. however, colgate palmolive is the parent company and, thus, had quite an issue on their hand.

Yes, I think many local people here are indeed curious about people from other places. Children with blond hair draw attention at times as do caucasian babies. I had one local lady tell me she loved to look at caucasian babies because they "have such interesting eye colors." I suspect as some others have noted that you will be noticed, but don't take it as a necessarily bad thing - it's likely just curiosity as some local people just haven't seen very many (if any, in some cases) black people. As with most new situations, it's usually best to keep an open mind and give others the benefit of the doubt. Best of luck with your move!

Hi Jag,

I'm new and relocating to SG from Canada. My husband is Cauc and I'm afro/carib, how has the reception been for you so far in SG?

Shar

No worries mates...no major racial prejudice here. There might be closet racists but they themselves know that you can't get anywhere with that kind of attitude.

My black friend says he experiences more "nationalism" than racism. He laughs, when amongst a group of whites, somebody refers to "you Americans" as though we are all one homogenous group.

Singaporeans mostly laugh when foriegners mispronounce names or locations. But don't worry about it too much. Singaporeans have had a steady influx of non-Asians since independence. They are used to working in a multicultural environment.

are you serious about singaporeans laughing at the caucasians the moment they step onto the street, and continuously on the MRT, then on the bus, in the cinema, in the foodcourt, at NTUC Fair Price until they finally get back home?