SINGAPORE: On the day after Christmas, a video on Instagram where a young woman began by declaring “Southeast Asia hates Singapore,” went viral, getting over 100,000 likes and hundreds of comments.
It was posted by a digital creator from Singapore who goes by @ahlianlia, who frequently talks about her travels, thoughts, and a variety of social issues.
She said in her video that the hatred toward Singapore is “valid, because similar to Qatar and Dubai, our wealthiest built their wealth off the exploitation of migrant workers” from Southeast Asia, “even as they build our skyscrapers, raise our kids, and clean our homes.”
Ms Lia went on to talk about the long hours of domestic workers, adding that they only have one rest day off a month, the instances where some have been abused, as well as the poor living conditions of construction workers.
She took aim at how capitalism makes this possible, and cited how the late chef Anthony Bourdain had once called out Singaporean society for creating a system that represses lower-class workers.
The post author admitted how she grew up among the most privileged class in Singapore, being rich and Chinese, and that the wealth her family has, while due to “these inequalities and exploitation,” has allowed her to travel and live overseas.
She then went on to encourage Singaporeans, especially those who share the same background, to help the city-state’s migrant workers, giving special mention to an organisation called It’s Raining Raincoats, an initiative for the benefit of migrant workers.
“The uncomfortable truth is that Singapore operates on an unequal power structure that benefits people like me, while exploiting the underpaid and often invisible labour of migrant workers.
I spend all the income I earn from part-time work on travel, while many migrant workers send nearly all of their wages home to their families, often while enduring mistreatment within a system that gives them little protection. That imbalance is deeply unfair,” she wrote in the caption to her video.
As can be imagined, while many applauded her for her honesty and for championing migrant workers, her post did not go over well with others, who tended to be dismissive of her views.
“Kids nowadays speak out against the privilege their parents gave them. Just shut it and enjoy life, lah. If not for them, you wouldn’t be speaking from the same position you are now, would you?” wrote one.
While Ms Lia answered the commenter back, others also sprang to her defence.
“Not everything is black and white lah… at least she is doing something,” an IG user wrote.
“Turning a blind eye to abuse as long as you benefit from it is some truly disgusting behaviour. I hope you don’t teach this to your kids as well if you’d have ’em. It’s best that we lessen or aim for a world where that doesn’t happen,” another chimed in.
The same thing happened when another commenter wrote, “Then perhaps Singaporeans should step up into these job roles? Unless you have a solution to solve the labour problem in construction, domestic work, cleaning, security, and facilities, then we’re all ears.”
A commenter answered that with: “I don’t think that’s the point here, but rather there should be more labour representation and agency i.e., more unions, more pro-labour laws, especially regarding work hours, compensation, benefits, etc., more representation in Parliament, etc. But culture shapes government and political systems.” /TISG
Read also: S’porean asks how to improve quality of life of ‘migrant workers who help make Singapore run’
