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To question the issue of racial discrimination would often be done in hushed tones.

Our multi-racial and multi-religious social glue is something we have built for close to half a century. This harmonious relationship among races is something that we Singaporeans are proud of and something we uphold and share as a paragon to the rest of the world.

But are we quick to deny that instances of racial discrimination does not exist in Singapore?

I would say, partly from being the minority race, that yes it does happen but not in the extreme sense as found in ethnically charged countries.

But more often than not, these misunderstandings arise as there is a lack of mutual understanding or common interaction among the different races. For some of my peers, even after 12 years of public education, they have not interacted fully with anyone from another race in Singapore.

“Zakaria, you are the first Malay person I know,” she said. I met her during a junior college seminar. It shocked me as I believed that there would be ample opportunities for people of all races to interact and share their varying values, beliefs and worldview by that age.

Once, I had a friend approach me to find out what is the Bin at the end of my name used for as some are clueless to what it represents for a Malay Muslim like me.

“Yes, its Bin. You know, like Bin Laden.”

Though the joke often defuses the awkwardness that comes from the individual asking that question, I am appreciative of the person’s efforts in finding out more about those around him.

Hopefully there will be greater opportunities for people like him to interact and share their ideas and worldview with other races.

24 year-old Zakaria Zainal is the Deputy Editor of Enquirer.sg, a student-run and independent online newspaper based in Nanyang Technological University. It aims to carve out a niche in comprehensive in-depth reporting of issues within the university. This final-year journalism major at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information is also an avid photographer. His writings and pictures can be found at: http://enquirer.sg/ & http://zakariazainal.com/

“Everybody’s a little bit racist/It’s true!” sang an adorable muppet-like creature in the hit Broadway musical, Avenue Q. I chuckled along with the rest of the predominantly white audience, inclusive of my dear friend’s family. That Thanksgiving Break, I spent my days enjoying the beautiful Pennsylvanian suburbia: baking apple pies from scratch, walking their fluffy dogs, and socializing with exclusively WASP(White Anglo-Saxon Protestant)-like characters. As one of the few Chinese sitting in a theater packed with neatly dressed, upper-middle class white Americans, I could not escape my resonating thoughts. Was I the butt of the joke? Were they laughing at me? As a Chinese-Singaporean, at home, I easily blended in as one of the majority, but halfway across the world in the United States, I stood out as part of the minority—the so-called ‘Model Minority’.

In the 1960s, the American government began to shift from banning Chinese immigration in 1886 to welcoming us, a ‘well-educated, economically capable’ minority. Alas, the myth that the Chinese form an exclusive ‘Model Minority’ has contributed to the omnipresence of racial discrimination in American society. As a Chinese student in the US, I’m expected to possess mathematical prowess and converse in sub par English. My dorm mates do stare quizzically at my strange Chinese tidbits and bottles of chili sauce. Many a time, Americans have marveled, a tad bit too enthusiastically, at my lack of a fob(slang for fresh out of the boat) accent. While these acts may be interpreted negatively as instances of discrimination, on the flipside, these actions could simply be a consequence of the Americans’ ignorance or sheltered upbringings. I believe that racial discrimination is not only perpetuated by the white majority, but also self-imposed.

Removed out of my happy comfort zone and thrown smack in a private American educational institution, a.k.a. the New England Country Club, I tended to hang out exclusively with my fellow Asians. Fearing the unknown, I fell back on self-segregation instead of facing up the challenge. Having spent the last five years studying the US, I’ve come to recognize my personal ignorance. There I was, blaming the Americans for discriminating against me. In reality, I wasn’t making an effort to correct their assumptions. My American friends don’t discriminate; instead, they ask questions about Singapore and Chinese culture motivated by only sincere intentions. Many are taking Mandarin at school, and some have even visited me in Singapore! Racism is not an issue that can vanish overnight. But with the undisputed economic rise of China on the world arena, Americans are beginning to respect the Chinese and appreciate our culture. Coupled with the rise of international students in the US, most of whom hail from China, India and Japan, our peers will befriend Asians, and realize that not all Asians are the same. We aren’t all stingy. We don’t always use chopsticks. We can change their mindsets.

I bear zero desire to study in a color blind America. Embrace diversity instead of enforcing conformity. As the world’s borders are crumbling, so should racism due to stereotyping. Likewise, if you study overseas, do not abide by the judgments others impose upon you. Be yourself. Despite encountering bouts of discrimination, I still stand tall as a Chinese-Singaporean among my collar popping, gum snapping, American peers.

Stephanie Teo is currently in her sophomore year at Brown University, working towards a double-major degree in International Relations and Visual Arts. This Singaporean also studied in high school in the US, at Phillips Academy, Andover. Time sure flies, because this year marks her sixth year in America.