In 2016, a Malay lady wanted to rent a place in Tampines 1.

The response was, “Hi Dee, We are not so keen to run a Malay road show as our target audience are mainly Chinese. Thus, we regret to inform you that we are unable to rent a space to you.” [source]

Here is some art inspired by that sentence.

DPM Tharman Shanmugaratnam is one of the most popular politicians in Singapore. In 2015’s General Election, Jurong GRC – led by Tharman – won in a landslide victory against their opposition team, with a vote share of 79.3%. PM Lee Hsien Loong’s team at Ang Mo Kio GRC won 78.6%, and the PAP as a whole won 69.9% of the popular vote.

• SCMP– Tharman’s a perfect leader for Singapore, so what’s stopping him?
• Yahoo News – Most Singaporeans would choose Tharman as the next Prime Minister: survey

But apparently “Singapore is not ready for a non-Chinese PM”.

• Non-Chinese PM? Possible, but not soon – 2008
• Race, religion still matter when voters cast ballots: PM Lee – 2017

Why is Singapore not ready for a non-Chinese PM? Well, our target audience are mainly Chinese.

When Dee wanted to rent a space at Tampines 1, she was declined. Every year, as Chinese New Year approaches, every single mall in Singapore is eager to focus their attention on their target audience – the Chinese.

Chinese Singaporeans never have to worry about travelling far to buy anything CNY related – because they are the target audience, everything they need is available at their nearest local mall.

Did you know that that, in SPH, the media wing is divided into “Chinese Media Group” and “English / Malay / Tamil Media (EMTM) group? [source]

Chingay vs Thaipusam