“Racialized masculinities”: A gendered response to marginalization among Malay boys in Singapore

Abstract

While social disorganization and anomie theories are generally employed to explain the disproportionate representation of racial minorities in the offending population, such perspectives often fail to address the intersectionalities of class, race, religion, gender, and historicity that structurally marginalize the Malay youth in Singapore. This article hence adopts a neocolonial criminological approach in explaining racial disparity in crime, particularly how the Malay youth establish their dominance in gangs through hyper- and exaggerated forms of masculinity. Drawing on interviews with Singaporean Malay and Chinese individuals who were current and former gang members, this study shows that Malay youth tended to exhibit a blended masculinity comprising “Malayness” and “Chineseness” to compensate for their marginal status, highlighting their agentic capacity in strategically tapping upon an inventory of race resources to negotiate their gendered identities and attain status and economic mobility in the illegitimate society.

Minority gangs in Singapore prisons: Prisonisation revisited

“…The ‘conversion’ that takes place in prisons is both secular and religious. As Ganapathy and Balachandran (2019) observed in their study:The target of the proselytizing approach of Omega is usually the Malay-Muslims in Chinese secret societies who had been exploited and relegated to low level positions. In other words, when assimilation into Chinese Secret societies fails, many of the Malay youths are encouraged to cross over to Omega, and this ‘conversion’ often takes place in prisons.…”

“…Formed in the late 1980s in prison, this mono-ethnic gang, considered to be the most significant Malay secret society in post-independent Singapore, serves to protect and promote the interests of the Malay-Muslim inmates against the ‘infidels’ (non-Malay/Muslim prisoners and staff) who were purportedly compromising their welfare and rights. The Omega gang operates with strong racial and religious overtones as its primary objectives are to ‘create a “Muslim Brotherhood” in the criminal underworld by incorporating the Islamic doctrine of “Fisibilillah” (for the sake of God), and stage a “counter-crusade” against the Malay-Muslim members of Chinese Secret Societies’ (Ganapathy & Balachandran, 2019, p. 11). The word ‘Omega’ has several acronyms but two remain popular: ‘Our Men Establish the Greatest Association’, and ‘ Orang Melayu Enter Gangster Area’, where the Malay words Orang Melayu refer to the ‘Malay People’.…”

“…This often manifests in displays of ‘hypermasculinity’ (Mosher & Sirkin, 1984, p. 5), or an exaggeration of key masculine conventions such as aggression and violent domination, as means to resist and respond to status frustration, social displacement or structural marginalization (Hagedorn & Macon, 1988). Therefore, ‘violence becomes one of the few ways for these minority men to establish their dominance, control, and sense of masculine identity in a world where they have few legitimate avenues or resources’ (Ganapathy & Balachandran, 2019, p. 4). Acts of intimidation and gang violence by Omega members are not simply an expression of the competitive struggle in prison, but a means for affirming self-respect and status.…”

“…Historically, the poor economic status of the Malays can be traced to their exclusion from the colonial economy that positioned them in opposition to the industrious Chinese, whose economic acumen and expansive trade networks rendered the latter as better allies to British imperialist ventures (see Ganapathy & Balachandran, 2019, pp. 5–6).…”

Everyday Intimacies and Inter-Ethnic Relationships: Tracing Entanglements of Gender and Race in Multicultural Singapore

“…Like Michelle, many Chinese-Singaporeans, especially of the younger generation, may go well into adulthood not having more than a fleeting interaction with persons of another race (Giok, 2005). In addition to the simplified and official knowledge of races through CMIO representations, inter-ethnic intimacies in everyday life are also facilitated by the tacit knowledge of racial and gendered stereotypes -in this case, an alcoholic and abusive Indian male -often inherited from the colonial rule in Singapore (Ganapathy and Balachandran, 2019).…”