SSA1201: Tutorial 3 questions

My sincerest apologies. I realized that the article on migration that I

assigned is the wrong one. Since there is no time to correct for this, I am
only going to write questions on the articles on human rights.
Taboo socially unacceptable
We have a loud minority thats against homosexuality.
Religions Christians and Muslims (?)
Charismatic Christian groups and Muslim groups some are very
loud in representing themselves against homosexuality
o Hence they seem to represent the majority
o Pastor Laurence Kong? Church - CBC
Taboo going against certain cultural values and norms.
2 major religions in Singapore Christianity and Islam
o From Islamic perspective male homosexuality is a sin, but
nothing about female homosexuality.
It is not what they mention, but is what they dont
mention.
o From Christian perspective homosexuality is a sin.
o Judaism + Christian + Islam Monothestic (Abrahamic
religions)
The other 2 major religions in Singapore Buddhism and Hinduism
o Basic notions in those 2 religions concept of the soul
o The soul is permanent, it never dies, it lives on in different
bodies.
o Hinduism many Gods (millions!)
Vehement opposition from a doctrinal perspective in (Christianity
and Muslims), but none from a doctrinal perspective in (Buddhism
and Hinduism)
Cost to declaring yourself as gay in the army go to non-combat
units
o E.g. those who want to get PSC unit must be officers.
In order to be an officer you have to be in combat
unit
o Once you declare as gay its in your record, you cannot get
married until age 43
o Idea that being gay = feminine
o Military is a highly masculine institution, their job is to protect
the nation.
o The nation is conceptualised in feminine terms she,
protected by he
To protect the feminine, you need the masculine
o Ultimate cost the law Penal Code 377A
Criminalizes male homosexual behaviour in public +
private
o Penal Code 294 indecent act in public (for heterosexuals)
o 377A discriminates against the male homosexuals
o Ivan Tan arrested by 377A (carries a much heavier
sentence), but charged in court by 294 (less heavy sentence)
o PM Lee not going to enforce 377A, international reputation.
If this is the case why not remove the law

o Why as an Asian society we are keeping a British law?

Religious laws belongs to the realm of law
377A for everyone (applies universally to everyone)
Laws supposed to protect the minorities, but 377A discriminates
against the law
When you make something illegal they go underground and
creates problems
o E.g. abortion domestic workers they cannot get pregnant,
so if they do, they have to abort the child and they go to
uncertified places to abort the baby.
o Sometimes, by illegalizing things you drive problems to
becoming worse than they already are.
Declining fertility rate/Reproduction is not, and never is the issue for
homosexuals.
When a society industrialises fertility rate goes down, this is a
problem that occurs in all INDUSTRIALISED countries (e.g
Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong).
o Fertility rates are the issues with women
Foreign gay men have $ (pink dollar)
Asian societies never had laws that are
Singapore has an aging population.
Confucian laws we need to take care of our families and parents
because of Confucianism this in a way lessens a burden on the
government
Singapore needs migrants to take care of us in the future.

Anne- Marie Hildson (2000)

Contemplacions rights globally as a woman, a worker, and a Filipina,..
were subsumed under political and economic hierarchies. (p.186)
Discuss this statement in the light of the transnational rights of women
workers from developing countries in Singapore. How do the political and
economic sovereignty of the Singapore nation-state override such rights
concerns?

Phillipines could speak better English. Migrant sending country.

o Catholic background
o Singapore migrant receiving country.
Politically and economically higher than Phillipines
Chinese male workers If did something wrong, they would fight.
South male workers more submissive, they were less likely to fight
their employers.
Flor Contemplacion seen as a hero and sacrificing herself for her
family and for her country
Phillipines number 1 migrant sending country in the world.
Forensic investigation take the dead body, look for evidence.
After Flor Contemplacion was hung they did the investigation on
the dead maid.
o According to the investigation the maid was murdered by
someone very strong and someone left handed (Flor was
right handed)

o Singapore had a US forensic team look at it as well.

o US, Singapore > Philippines
Murdered not just the maid, but the child who was singaporean.
Another case where a Filipino maid murdered another Filipino maid.
o Hacked her into pieces.
o Found guilty, sent to 10 years in prison.
Human rights labour covenants are not endorsed internationally.
Issues such as labour migration and law frequently breach into state
sovereignty
Singapores national independence - held as a fundamental human
right. Conflicts with the universal covenants that might require a
state to change its legislation.
Those countries sending individuals over to the other country often
lack authority and power to contest the states sovereignty and
hence extend protection for their own citizens going overseas to
work
o and because of the lack of safety net for the migrant workers,
they cannot be covered by international law and their plights
frequently go unnoticed.
Domestic workers must depend on Singapores own laws - but many
of them are dealt with by their employees, who monitor and restrict
their activities closely due to their fear of losing the bonds they
have to pay to the government when hiring the domestic workers
o these agencies are usually profit motivated and would not be
bothered with the rights of the domestic workers.
o their own interests would be placed before anyone elses
In view of their own economic sovereignty, Singapore prevents
domestic workers migrant status, preventing them from obtaining
citizenship rights
o Economic benefits and citizenship or PR status are only given
to foreigners with skills deemed more valuable and qualified,
usually so that they can contribute to the growing Singapore
economy.
Singapores state sovereignty is strictly asserted
o the emphasis on state/society before individual is essential
due to the collectivistic culture endorsed by the government
o rights of an individual is curtailed to pave the way for
whichever benefits the community as a whole.
Subjected to a feminized form of the state-sanctioned religious
discourse of martyrdom which women and mothers , located in the
household formally through marriage, sacrifice themselves for the
hearth, home and heaven
Singapore still at the foreground; Contemplacion, wo represents the
Philippine nation, can only be marginal to national narratives of
Singapore
Ideologies of domesticity, familism, and privacy embodied in
policies of the Singapore government and practices of employers
can thus constrain the human and labour rights of domestic worker
Lack of state intervention in the Private spheres
Singapore follows a philosophy of developmentalism which stresses
and authoritarian development model

Developmentalism emphasizes on societal order and stability

bolstered by universal Asian values
Singapore adopts a relativist approach on rights (puts the state first,
therefore anything else is secondary
virtues of Philippine democracy in conflict with Singaporean
authoritarianism
Philippine narrative is largely based on a tradition of sacrifice,
heroism and martyrdom forged through resistance against three
waves of colonialism
In contrast, Singapores narrative is focused on the considerable
achievement of exponential economic growth through a
developmentalist philosophy bolstered by a consciously created
Asian national identity
Transnational workers are subjected to Singaporean laws and not
laws from their home countries
Hierarchy of sovereignty between migrant-receiving and migrantsending countries
As they are migrant workers, they are not protected by any laws in
Singapore
There may be organisations that aim to fight for and protect their
rights, but ultimately, they are just NGOs and still beneath the state
(in terms of hierarchy)
Comparing Singapore and Philippines, opportunities and standard of
living are vastly different. Coming from a weaker state, many
foreign workers that are in SIngapore are disadvantaged in terms of
education etc.
Hence, transnational workers are more susceptible to discrimination
and abuse

Leong, Laurence Wai Teng (2008)

Leong argues that Asian values and Singapore exceptionalism act as
ideologies to persuade citizens that they dont need human rights. (p. 132)
Explain Leongs argument. Do you agree with him? Is there no
acknowledgement of human rights in Singapore? Can you perceive
alternative ways of understanding the debate on human rights in
Singapore?

Asian values emphasizes on the collectivistic culture of the country,

seemingly pushing aside individual rights because community
should benefit as a whole.
As citizens - we are not educated about human rights, and there is
often no need to discuss/does not come up in discussions because
of the importance Singaporeans place on economic well-being and
prosperity instead.
The lack of human rights advocacy groups also means that we have
few ways to find out more about our own rights
o Not in education syllabus

People might feel that they are not educated enough to

converse about human rights issues, hence it rarely comes
up as a topic of discussion.
o usually left to scholars and better educated individuals.
There is little acknowledgement amongst the larger population
because of the curtailing of the press as well as media
o e.g. Martyn Sees film : Zaharis 17 years, Singapore Rebel
human rights aspects of film such as detention, civil
and political rights are sidelined.
o self-censorship of journalists
Acknowledgement in human rights mostly with regards to FDWs in
Singapore.
o Cases are usually brought up by the newspapers and media,
but usually they center around the criminalizing of the issue
instead of questioning the fundamental roots of the problem which is the lack of human rights
however, this is perhaps due to the government's laws
of ensuring a stable society as number 1, individuals
are usually 2nd.
Language of human rights is under-developed because civil liberties
are strictly curtailed and alternative discourses have been silenced
(strong government control)
It is expensive to demand for human rights (p.123)
Each discrimination act is unique to every foreign worker, hard to
demand for a collective action to tackle human rights
issues/collective resolution
Singapore Exceptionalism (p.126): objectivity vs. subjectivity
Singapore has not officially joined/support any international human
rights body/organisations
Control expression in Singapore = Lack of debate = Lack of support
for human rights movements
[But is this really true? Is the civil society still keeping silent?
Consider recent events, maybe not to Human Rights per se but at
least the civil society is reacting]
International human rights movements largely based on Western
ideals, whereas Singapore abides closely to Asian values (SG state
does not see the relevance; by adhering to international standards,
it would seem like they are forgoing their Asian values
o