When we work together ✨
(For some context, I saw this at the time when a lot of blatantly racist things were circulating in the media. I don’t know these two men, and I’ve put a painting filter over it to obscure their identities.)
When I saw this image, I thought of how Singaporeans support each other. Here, no one was “helping” the other one out. No one was getting “special treatment”. I feel like when we talk about things like racism, sexism, classism, ableism, etc. There is a sentiment of, “All of us face problems, all of us struggle, why do “they” get “special treatment” and we don’t?” The mere suggestion of any Majority Privilege provokes really strong reactions.
But, actually, is it a “privilege” to not have to bend over backwards trying to express your discomfort whilst also having to protect the feelings of the other person causing the discomfort for fear of retaliation? Is it a “privilege” to be able to point out an objective disadvantage/unfairness without being accused of playing the victim? Or is it a disadvantage when a group of people can’t because of a certain characteristic they have? Certainly not in the same way the majority can. Shouldn’t everyone be able to do that in a safe and healthy community?
It’s not clear in the photo but it was actually raining pretty heavily. When it comes to things like racism, as the Majority race, our umbrella blocks those things for us, so if our fellow Singaporeans tell us they are hurting, use our umbrella; listen, validate, empathise. If we don’t understand, google, figure out why we don’t understand it. Don’t ask them to do the work for us.
The thing is a lot of us have probably experienced this on some level, perhaps with a certain type of boss, with a partner who doesn’t empathise, in a friend group where you have to walk on eggshells, perhaps with a teacher who gives you a hard time for raising a totally valid question. Wasn’t it important to have someone who understood and did something? ☔
#EmergeUndividedSG #SingaporeTogether #SGTogether
