Do Singaporeans look down on Malaysians?

Victor Chin, lived in Singapore

Answered Jan 13

Well it depends on what kinda crowd you deal with.

When I was working and running my business in Singapore I have met with 2 kinds of crowds,
those which treat Malaysians as equal as any other person, and those which have bias and
assumptions.

I never really understood the second group of people. And to qualify this is entirely from my
experience and the people that I come in contact with (for better or worse).

So my experience in being looked down upon is as follows. I was there from about year 2009 to
about 2013. I don’t blame them as humans operate mostly on bias, assumptions and experience :-

1. My first landlord automatically assumed I was working in the FnB sector (in which she
meant either I was a waiter or a chef). I don’t cook that well but I promptly informed her
I worked in the IT industry.
2. Some of my selected Singaporean worker friends assumed that I knew less than them
especially in the area of software programming since I was from ‘Malaysia’. In no time
did I show through my work, that I was better than them 10X :P
3. They were perplexed on my command of English and asked if I went overseas to study
during my college or university years, to which I proudly replied I did my degree all
locally in Malaysia.
4. A new local Singaporean friend automatically assumed I worked as a mechanic because I
was Malaysian and understood Cantonese and Mandarin. Honestly, I do not see the
association so go figure.

The above are based on my experiences, and may not apply to everyone in general.

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Gus Xie, lived in Singapore

Updated Mar 27
Originally Answered: Why do many Singaporeans look down on Malaysians?

As a Malaysian ASEAN scholar who lived and studied in Singapore for 4 years, I think there's
many ways to look at the love-hate relationship across the Causeway.

I think Singaporeans generally do tend to have a superiority complex when it comes to Malaysia
on account of the stronger Singapore dollar relative to the Malaysian Ringgit, its better
infrastructure, its better-ranked education system, its more meritocratic policies, etc. My
Singaporean friends would often make jokes about how many Malaysian construction projects
go unfinished, how Proton is a joke of a car manufacturer, how inefficient and irrational the
Malaysian government can seem when compared to the PAP, how Malaysian politicians
routinely get away with corruption, etc. It would be fair to say that Singaporeans are very
confident in the superiority of their government's policies and management of the country since
its break from Malaysia.

At the same time, there's also an envy for what Singaporeans perceive as 'being greener' on the
Malaysian side: a less stressful and 'simpler' life experience, the freedom that comes from living
in a larger country where the government can't really regulate and micro-manage everything
even if it wanted to, things like food and property generally being cheaper, cars not really being a
luxury item since there's no need to bid for a COE or pay so much for the ERP, etc. Malaysians
tend to take its natural assets like national parks, island resorts, beautiful beaches, mountain
ranges and wide, open spaces for granted ... but none of these are widely available in land-scarce
Singapore. There's also some cultural nostalgia projected on Malaysia, since Singapore's more
technocratic policies and wiping out of Chinese dialects have resulted in limited cultural and
linguistic diversity.
My experience may be slightly different from the norm, since my status as a scholar sponsored
by Singapore's Ministry of Education put me in the 'foreign talent' category, but I think
Singaporeans relate too well to Malaysians to really 'look down' on them. There are no
significant linguistic (provided you are comfortable in English) or cultural differences that can
serve as a barrier to socialization, unlike with foreigners from mainland China, India, Bangladesh,
Vietnam or Thailand.

Many Singaporeans also have families back in Malaysia (or even a Malaysian parent with a
Singapore PR status) and some of the founding fathers of the PAP were from Malaysia, so there's
too much of a shared history for Singaporeans to categorically look down on Malaysians.

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Michael Chan, Singapore *is* Southeast Asia!

Answered Feb 7, 2015
Originally Answered: Why do many Singaporeans look down on Malaysians?
I think you need to clarify how "many" is many. If it is but a small minority of Singaporeans, I
can tell you that a similar minority also looks down on Malaysians in other countries, and a
similar minority also looks down on Quora users.

Having said this, I could offer some reasons, from my interactions with Malaysian friends.

1. Singaporeans are highly urbanised, and view their Malaysian brothers and cousins as "from
the countryside".

2. When your currency is worth 2.5 times the Malaysian one, it tends to give a false sense of
superiority.

3. Singaporeans have "something to prove" to the abang that kicked us out of the federation back
in 1965.

I happen to be one of those who do not look down on Malaysians. We are brothers and cousins.
It is a matter of history and politics that we have become separate nations. Singapore was never
meant to be independent from Malaysia.
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Anonymous
Answered Jan 16

I have to go anonymous for this one.

Disclaimer: I am only sharing about my experience with SOME singaporeans and not
generalising them.
I am a healthcare professional here in Johor Bahru. Notably many Singaporeans cross over
because of the perception that the charges for the same procedure is much lower here in JB than
Singapore.

In their minds you HAVE to be cheap. Some Singaporeans refuse to accept that your charges are
not as low as they expect it to be. Just because you are in Malaysia, you must charge cheaper!
How can you charge almost as much as the prices in Singapore?

If anything goes wrong, some of their friends will tell some of these Singaporeans, "Why you do
in Malaysia?!! See lah now! That's why lah!"

I have been told by some Singaporeans that our charges are so significantly different than
Singapore that they are starting to doubt us if we are the real deal or just out to con people.

We too went through the same professional education and continuous education as our
Singaporean counterparts.

We too hold to the same international standards. There will be bad apples who give us a bad
name but these bad apples are there too in Singapore.

It hurts to know that our service isn't appreciated when they have these thoughts about us
Malaysians. It's like nothing is good enough for them here in Malaysia.

That's enough about my grievances from work when tending to certain Singaporeans.

Here are a couple of assumptions/questions/statements I received from Singaporeans:

1. You stay in Johor Bahru?!! Why?!? You are driving back tonight!!? Omg!! (Because
anywhere that is more than a 20 mins drive in Singapore is too far right haha)
2. You speak very good english. Did you study in Singapore? (Why cannot study in
Malaysia and speak good English?)
3. So you speak Malay also? Oh wow!!
4. I could go on but it's 2am now..

Some of the questions, while it is sweet of them to try to make conversation, it just goes to show
that some of them are so clueless and ignorant about their neighbours.

Some. Not all. Just some.

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Carese Lum, MBBS from Singapore

Answered Jun 11

I can assure you that my attitude towards Malaysian Chinese is the opposite, and borders on
inferiority complex (P.S. Don’t know many Msian Malays or Indians so cannot comment)

Based on my experience,

1. They are tougher

Compared to many mollycoddled Singaporeans, Msians can put up with longer working
hours and harsher work conditions.

In my line of work, the first year is very tough. You may have to reach work at 5am and
go home only at 9pm.

You know that with a Msian or two in the team, you are in good hands.

That said, I did hear of one or two notable negative examples, but those were isolated
cases.
2. They speak more languages
Singaporeans may think themselves superior ‘cos we speak such good English. But
consider your Msian counterpart who speaks less than perfect English:

His/her first language is usually Bahasa Melayu, followed by Mandarin and one or two
Chinese dialects. Of course that depends on whether s/he went to a Chinese school or a
public school.

But in general, many Msians are trilingual, even quadri or penta-lingual, counting
dialects as a separate language. Compare this to a Singaporean Chinese who speaks good
English but half-past six Mandarin, and zero dialect.

The Msians have an edge with our elderly clients.

3. They are more street smart
Probably so since they grew up in a rougher environment. Being a racial minority means
 they have to work extra hard against unfavourable government policies.

To make it to the apex of the education system and find a respectable job in Singapore
says quite a lot about their calibre.

My wife knows a Msian couple who work in Singapore, and have to stagger their annual
leave to take care of their baby in Msia. Both of us admire tenacious people like that.

There was once I said something my wife disagreed with, she responded incredulously,
“I can’t believe you said that! My Malaysian colleagues will be laughing at you for
suggesting that”

So, that sums up my experience so far. Good advice to Singaporeans not to always be
frogs in wells.

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Tong Hui Kang

Haha, my answer was on the opposite site of yours. Your impressions seem to be focused on the
Chi...

Tong Hui Kang, S96xxxxxE

Answered May 4

Using this question, I shall make a template to answer all questions in the form of:
Does X look down on Y?
Questions of this type is loaded and has too many interpretations - and I will break them down.
Of course I do not represent all Singaporeans, but this is the observation from my point of view.
X would rather not be Y.

Singaporeans indeed would rather not be Malaysians - you do not see many Singaporeans
renouncing Singaporean citizenship for a Malaysian citizenship unless they are retiring. As much
as we hate our stressful life and MRT breakdowns, we still prefer the comfort and stability of our
sanitized society.

X does not want to be like Y.

The impression is that Malaysia has a much slower pace of life. There is nothing wrong with this
lifestyle and we are usually envious of it. However, this is something that we cannot adopt in
Singapore, individually or as a nation.
Who do Singaporeans want to be like? Japanese and Koreans for their discipline and cultural
produce, and Americans for their innovativeness. It is tough to beat them.

X does not respect Y for what they have gone through.

Malaysians have it easy - they have huge tracts of land which they can generate exports from.
Singapore does not have natural resources. Many Malaysians qualify for generous handouts from
the government and a highly subsidized healthcare. Singaporean do not have such a thing.

X would rather not work with Y.

Most Singaporeans have not worked with Malaysians in Malaysia that are far more competent
than us, and we could be surprised if we find one. Those who deserve respect by their trade are
likely to be working overseas already. We would want to work with or hire people based on their
competence and it will be our loss if we fail to recognize people with the best merits.

X is indoctrinated to despise Y.

Singapore aims to achieve a meritocratic society based justice and equality. The law does not and
should not favour a person over another based on their race or religion - except for a few limited
circumstances. We dislike Malaysia’s preference of the bumiputeras and it is one of the reasons
Singaporeans justify the existence of Singapore.

Conclusion

There you have it - all these deserve individual questions on their own. Many differences can be
interpreted as Singaporeans looking down on Malaysians. While some of us indeed treat
Malaysians with arrogance, I hope we mutually forgive each other as we learn more about each
other.

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Anonymous
Answered Sun

The answer is no.

My paternal side of the family were originally Malaysians who were forced to hide in Singapore,
due to the invasion of the Japanese in the World War 2.

I do not look down on Malaysians because after having worked retail with them, I know of their
hardworking, humble and street smart nature.

They are more warm-hearted and welcome you sincerely. While I may have been so called better
educated with a diploma, and for some of the equivalent of our O levels and N levels, I would
say that this did not cross my mind for the criterias of knowing them. Its not exactly relevant for
retail, just another minor detail.

I do respect their tenacity to leave their home country in order to feed their families or buy
homes, or their abilities to speak multiple languages or our similar cultures.