In this paper, Dorairajoo explores the debate around the notion of Chinese privilege as discussed by race activists, academics, and the general public inSingapore. The notion of Chinese privilege has often been used synonymously with racism and its existence or absence thereof referred to by pointing to personal and institutional discrimination. Such discussion based on binary opposites fail to help us recognize the staying power of Chinese privilege inSingapore. In her discussion, Dorairajoo theorizes the notion of Chinese privilege by looking at it in the following ways (i) as a concept (ii) as an ideology and (iii) as policy. By exploring Chinese privilege through these frames, Dorairajoo argues that one can better appreciate how the notion exists as an enduring phenomenon in Singapore society and challenges entrenched principles of meritocracy and multiracialism as founding charters ofSingaporean society. 

Dr. Saroja Dorairajoo (Senior Lecturer, NationalUniversity of Singapore) is a cultural anthropologist and has researched on issues of gender, violence, and environmentalism in Southeast Asia. She is a pioneering scholar on the use of religious values in creating environmentally sustainable production and consumption in Asia. More recently, her life long interest in the sociological understanding of identity, privilege, and minority lives led to the staging of a conference “Does Invisible PrivilegeTravel?” in May 2019.