Example Banks Flashcards
(32 cards)
SBU
He has been receiving a daily fixed rate of 18 SGD for an average of 9-10 hours of work, when he asked for a raise of at least $1, his SGrean-Chinese manager said he could not, because $1 is equivalent to 40 rupees. Who is he?
Vikram (34)
SBU
Who said that policing is okay, but there seems to be a “bi-furcated” law system?
Vikram (34)
It is one which works to benefit Singaporeans, and another which conspires to mistreat and render Indian workers powerless.
SBU
Who reasserted Vikram’s stance about differences in wage from worker to worker depending on race, saying that Chinese workers had to be paid a minimum of $40 a day while they have consistently been paid $18 a day?
Velu (32)
SBU
Who felt that Little India was a place where anyone could fit in easily?
Velu (32)
- Only rich people shopped at Orchard Road, so they were excluded from it (no economic capital)
- Little India was a place for everyone, both them and rich people, and Indian vegetables are only available in Little India
SBU
Who asserted with conviction that migrant workers were the reason for SG’s rapid development?
Velu (32)
Foreign workers (which include Tamil migrant workers) understand full well the role they play in SG’s development, and also understand that SG will very well continue to exploit them in order to fulfil its obsession with constantly physically remaking its appearance.
SBU
On the presence of police in Little India, he said the police mainly checks the foreign workers, and will immediately go to them if anything feels wrong.
Velu (32)
Worse still, if SGreans do anything wrong, even if they see it, they won’t approach them to detain them.
SBU
Who has positive feelings about Little India, saying that it feels like home?
Siva (38)
- It “feels like home” because he can see Tamil people like him and that makes him happy
- He can only go to Little India on Sunday, as he needs to do his laundry and cook on other days
SBU
Who gave the example of dropping a cigarette butt on the ground and comparing the reactions by policemen depending on the race of the person who dropped it?
Siva (38)
- Sometimes when they’re minding their own business on the street, police will stop them and ask them to state their business. They do not do so for Chinese migrant workers, because they “have been given a lot of rights”
- When a Tamil migrant worker and a Singaporean commit the same crime of throwing a cigarette butt on the ground, the officers will only immediately issue fines to the former
SBU
Who debunked the stereotype that migrant workers sleeping on cardboard / on the floor is because they got drunk the night before?
Siva (38)
He said that they might have had no money for lodging / could not catch the last train and have no place to sleep for the night.
SBU
Who was listed as the worker who took pictures of monuments in Singapore?
Anjappan (43)
- Took pictures of monuments in SG for a photo diary project which Hamid started
- Illustrated the importance of the strength and historical ties which Singapore once shared with India (indicated through the use of the Tamil language on the monuments) to Anjappan
SBU
Who confirmed the “racialised” wage difference in the SG migrant labour industry?
Key Informant #1
- Confirmed the wage difference between Chinese migrant workers and South Asian migrant workers is “racialised” and embedded in colourism (“the darkness of the people”), “prejudice rooted in stereotypes”
- Stated that it is an attitude that is not really contested, which led to it becoming an “excuse” for prejudice and less pay
SBU
Who claimed that the police presence and arbitrary allocation was based off of SGreans’ perceptions of different migrant workers?
Key Informant #1
- Hence, more policemen in Little India → perceiving Indian migrant workers who crowd Little India on Sundays as a threat
- The fact that it’s crowded is a problem itself (?)
- Perceptions of South Asian workers as sexually threatening and molesters have exacerbated this problem as well
SBU
Who confirmed the wage difference which Vikram and Velu claimed existed?
Key Informant #2
Confirming Vikram and Velu’s statements, Chinese migrant workers do earn about $50 a day and South Asian workers earn about $18.
SBU
Who wrote a proposal in 2012?
Local (SGrean) residents staying near Little India
- Have been diligently writing to the press and complaining to their Member of Parliament since these “foreign workers‟ began arriving in Singapore in the 1970s
- Proposal in 2012 to cordon off a residents’ corner in Little India and introduce police patrols went through, as well as more signs put up in the area in both Tamil and Bengali
- Metal barriers have been put up as clear physical demarcations
SBU
Even though Little India is the only place that Tamil migrant workers have found comfort in and feel closest to home despite labouring in a “global” city, they are still subject to ____________ within it.
exclusion
- Physical demarcations and mental boundaries keep migrant workers out of spaces
- Making a public space more ‘private’, thereby used as a form of social control to regulate the movements of migrant workers and prevent them from using such spaces freely
- All of this legitimises unequal treatment against Tamil migrant workers and other South Asian migrant workers
SBU
Where do other migrant workers frequent?
3 places
- Geylang
- City Hall
- Beach Road
Differential policing as claimed by some migrant workers is true. Tamil migrant workers are policed much more strongly than any other worker in Singapore. Such policing is carried out to control South Asian migrant workers’ masculinity specifically, not All of them.
SBU
What was Wajihah Hamid’s personal example with the arbitrariness of the SGrean police force?
- She was with a fellow SGrean friend of Tamil descent, and they both went to get food. There were policemen patrolling outside the food centre which they bought food from
- A few Singaporean Tamil men shouted and hurled verbal abuse at the both of them, but the police did not react to it despite being right there when it happened
TW
Who learned about her job through a friend who had worked there before?
Vilai (29)
Friends were main agents in shaping her decision to come to work there.
TW
What businesses did Vilai cite to justify her fantasy of return?
2 businesses
- A retail business
- A small restaurant
They are doing very well.
TW
Who fantasised about returning to Thailand and mentioned examples of Thai women who did?
Vilai (29)
Mentioned examples of Thai women who previously went to England who learned a lot from being there, they managed to improve their standard of living with the things they learned.
TW
Who rhetorically asked “what are we supposed to ask?” when questioned about staff anxieties / development?
Karn (27)
- Said that all rules were clearly stated, with the most important thing being to satisfy clients
- Have to be accepting of everything, say sorry all the time and be agreeable
- Acceptance of the unfair –> symbolic violence
TW
Who refused to see the doctor despite having a stomachache?
Jinda (30)
- Had a serious stomachache one night but refused to see the doctor due to poor English skills
- Said it would be a waste of her time and money and she probably wouldn’t understand what the doctor is saying, and that she would recover anyway
TW
Who didn’t mind being sexualised, and had come to embrace it and play up to her skills in order to get a husband like her coworker?
Jinda (30)
- Does not really care about the sexualisation of Thai workers around her, including herself
- Saw fellow worker Saijai having a happy married life with an Englishman, and wouldn’t mind playing up to her skills to secure her a husband herself
- She herself always plays along with them for a good tip
TW
Who recounted life with her British husband, saying that working in the restaurant “gave her a little power”?
Saijai (39)
- Account is quite different from how Jinda described it
- When she first moved to England, she stayed at home, had no social life, was unvalued and disrespected. It was also horrible when her husband got drunk. She endured because he was not a bad guy and still gave her money, and she took care of him and the house
- However, starting work in the restaurant and earning income for herself gave her a little power
- Agency accorded to Thai women can be through playing up to men through asserting their sexuality, or simply working in the restaurant and reinstating their social life and ability to earn income
