Is DEI dead in Singapore?
Chris J Reed
"The Only CEO with a Mohawk" @ Black Marketing: Our Personal Branding services start from only USD$999 per month and can win you new clients or get you a new job. 2,200+ LinkedIn Recommendations are not wrong.
Is DEI dead in Singapore?
Ironically the day of International Women’s Day I’m discussing this subject.?
DEI - is it dead in Singapore?
I’m surprised that Trump hasn’t banned IWD too given that he’s cancelling everything else that is not for white men!
Has IWD ever been “celebrated” at such a dark time for people who are not white men and when women’s rights were on the ropes?
From not being able to get an abortion in much of the US, (even to the point of laws coming in tracking periods and bringing in murder charges for those trying to have an abortion no matter the circumstances or those helping them), to cancelling all DEI programs it’s a dark day for equal rights.
Not just for women but anyone who is not a white male.
You may think that this has nothing to do with Singapore but on the contrary, as the saying goes, "when America sneezes Singapore catches a cold".
All those American MNCs here who have cancelled their DEI programs in the US now have to cancel them here now too or be found to be illegal in their homeland.
I’d say motherland but "Fatherland" maybe more applicable, in more ways that one if you get my not so subtle drift! ????
(Just don’t mention the war!?? Yes Fawlty Towers lives on!)
The fact is that there’s no longer a need for any DEI in Singapore in US MNCs when they have no programs to implement from home.
So where does this leave DEI in Singapore?
Well Singapore has never been especially big on diversity, equity and inclusion to start off with.
We remain one of the only countries, before Trump’s latest iteration, to not fully support Pride Month for example.
Don't forget we only just made it legal for men to have sex with men and same sex marriage is several millennium away!
No local brand apart from the very brave ones, like Cathay, would ever celebrate Pride and change their logos to rainbow and sponsor Pink Dot etc.
The American MNC companies would all do that.
That was then, this is now.
Now there’s no chance of anyone doing it!
The Americans have all been told not to celebrate anything not to do white men, so that’s everything from Martin Luther King Day to Pride and certainly no flags of kinds that are not the US one.
Many local firms previously caught in this cross fire of do they/don’t they celebrate Pride will be relieved that they can now say "well no one else is doing it so why would we?"
DBS, SingTel, Sentosa, STB, SPH, CapitaLand and the like breathes a sigh of relief!
That may also apply now to DEI.
Women, different races on the board? (Of course we have a different kind of "white man" syndrome here, it's a Singapore Chinese man bias instead! Oh the irony!).
Our DEI actually specifies that there need to be non-ethnically Chinese on the board which, ironically, includes encouraging more white men to be on boards.
I laugh at the contrast and am available as one of those unique Singapore any mohs! ??????
But now companies have an excuse and can say well the Americans got rid of DEI, so shall we.
The fact that Singapore will undoubtedly be caught in the trade war crosshairs of being a global free trade supporting nation is also a factor in our economic growth ambitions.
But it’s the cultural side of the new US laws that ripple over here which could have a more devastating effect on our company culture.
No DEI and every man (of all colours) in a powerful position has the excuse that they’ve always wanted not to employ a different race, different gender, different religion, different sex.
Can Singapore’s already weak anti-discrimination employment laws, that already don’t protect LGBTQ workers, become even more worthless than they currently are?
If a man, employed by an American firm in Singapore, actively discriminates against non-white people, whose laws will stop him?
Not American ones.
Will Singapore ones be able to stand up to an American firm’s anti-DEI laws?
Or is that it? Back to the 1950s?
What do you think? Is DEI dead in Singapore?
Account Executive at Back Office Solutions Singapore
1 天前I don't think it is dead. A growing people are aware of this movement and some people promote it like the LGBT or some autistic or disabled rights movement. But compared to other countries the effort to promote DEI is small and there is not much momentum. But it is growing nevertheless
General Partner
1 天前Not sure it was ever alive tbh
Director at JJ Consultants Pte Ltd
1 天前I think we should stop, yes stop making USA like any exemplary country that we should all take reference from, please stop!
Agile Coach & Change Adviser at ONE SYNERGY GLOBAL
1 天前Part 2 - Is DEI dead in Singapore? Hardly. But imagine if singapore did not have these policies and practices in place. I suspect we would have more racial / religious fights. We started these practices since the 60's. We are not perfect and we are work in progress. We just never labelled it as DEI and we focused on unity & harmony. Respecting each other. Isnt that what DEI should aim to accomplish ? I strongly feel countries and even corporations can learn from our struggles to create unity. Learn from us, do better and then share with us to help us move to the next level of unity, together.
Agile Coach & Change Adviser at ONE SYNERGY GLOBAL
1 天前Part 1- Is DEI dead in Singapore? Hardly. You need to go back in history to understand the struggles we have had to create unity. In reality, the govt recoginsed that we are living in a boiling pot. Humanity will naturally gravitate towards clique mentality. They knew apart from focusing on putting food on the table and a roof over the citizens heads, they needed everyone to be united. Easy to do? Definitely not and we are work in progress. We started with our pledge, we looked at policies to ensure we dont have cliques in housing estates, we have community centers, we have events in school to help apprecaite each others religion & cultural practices. You will find temples/ churches/ mosques within walking distances of each other. I remember Malaysia Cup days when as supporters we were rooting for our diverse team of players in blue. I recall the day when Joseph Schooling won the gold. We were all proud to be united Singaporeans. The way to unity is to respect each other for who we are and our beliefs. (Of course we dont tolerate if beliefs harm the wider society) Even with all efforts made, are there instances of racial slurs ? Of course. Why? Because as a human race, we are still evolving in our maturity.