Racial prejudice rears its head in Singapore

DAVE PARKASH and his girlfriend were strolling down the street one evening in June when an irate man accosted them. Tan Boon Lee accused Mr Parkash of “preying” on his girlfriend, whom Mr Tan, a Chinese-Singaporean, believed was also Chinese, unlike Mr Parkash, who is ethnic Indian-Filipino. He urged the couple to date “people of our own race”. A video of the confrontation went viral and made Singaporeans uneasy. For the country is diverse—nearly three-quarters of Singapore’s residents are ethnic Chinese, 13.5% are Malay, and 9% Indian. It prides itself on how well everybody gets along.