It's complicated and I hesitate to generalize, but I'd draw two themes:
* Economic: Singapore is an expensive place to live and both parents typically need to work to make ends meet. A foreign domestic worker is the cheapest way to get child or elder care, but it's still a significant expense, so there's a natural incentive to cut costs by providing only the absolute minimum (feed them ramen, make them sleep on the kitchen floor, etc).
* Power dynamics: The stereotypical domestic worker is young woman from a deeply poor rural background, sometimes underage with fake ID (illegal but particularly common with Burmese), who speaks little to no English, is unfamiliar with city living, and knows nobody in Singapore. They are often deeply in debt to the broker who found the job, supporting family back home who will literally starve if she can't provide, unaware of the little rights they do have, and thus very strongly incentivized to tolerate whatever is thrown their way. The employer thus finds themselves in a position of near-absolute power over them, and as the old saw says, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the case above, where the maid was essentially tortured to death over a year, there was an entire household watching and the deviance was normalized quickly because there was nothing she could do to fight back.
> Power dynamics: The stereotypical domestic worker is young woman from a deeply poor rural background
Sadly, it's not just Singapore. This also happens in other places in Asia, especially in the domestic workers' respective home countries. I feel that the abuse is even worse in places where there's more available physical space. Why? Because more physical space allows for more privacy and secrecy. Rape is very common in these places yet it wasn't commonly reported until about 10 years ago. Before, society would just treat this as infidelity. It's a grim subject, but at least things are slightly improving, though still not fast enough.
This is a very extreme dramatisation. Singapore investigates and prosecutes the abuse of domestic workers very judiciously. The only reason it seems novel is because domestic workers are not particularly common in the west. Here you just get the normalized deviance of traditional family violence.
There are places where domestic workers don’t have the protection of the law. Like the UAE for instance, where somebody reporting their abuse can lead to them being charged with adultery.
No its not, have quite a few colleagues in SGP and the caste system which everybody knows of and often enjoys tremendously is quite something. As as european you have to have stomach for this kind of society to live and raise kids in for example. Everybody has their maid(s) which are paid nothing and often abused in one way or another and tossed away in case of issues.
Yes we can go the usual avenue of whataboutism and name places which are much worse than SGP, but the truth is, SGP is not a democracy and at its core doesn't share the western values of equality and human rights.
But as long as partying and cheap flights to Bali is all you ever wanted from life and don't care about rampart social issues everywhere around you, life can be great there. If you like hard long working hours and have something to offer on job market that is.
Just as all Americans are deeply racist and seek the downfall of non-white races, am I right?
Yes, there are abuse cases, some which are particularly bad. No, this is not the norm, at least as far as my social circle's expectations are, and at least one or two hops out.
Singapore has a pile of issues, and I'd include "not a true democracy" in that, but normalized abuse of maids is not one of them. It makes the news for a reason.
Partying in Singapore? You sure? They are snoozefests.
You get some really awful factors working against you for parties:
1) Some 16% of population doesn't drink
2) No drugs allowed
3) People are exhausted from working
4) Can't fool nature: The best parties are in places which are considered dangerous such as Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Cuba, Panama...That's because the strong emotions and impulsivity which makes a good party are the same that can cause stuff to go south immediately as soon as sombody interacts with a girl in a wrong way or disrespects somebody. People are very dull and emotionless in Singapore.
* Economic: Singapore is an expensive place to live and both parents typically need to work to make ends meet. A foreign domestic worker is the cheapest way to get child or elder care, but it's still a significant expense, so there's a natural incentive to cut costs by providing only the absolute minimum (feed them ramen, make them sleep on the kitchen floor, etc).
* Power dynamics: The stereotypical domestic worker is young woman from a deeply poor rural background, sometimes underage with fake ID (illegal but particularly common with Burmese), who speaks little to no English, is unfamiliar with city living, and knows nobody in Singapore. They are often deeply in debt to the broker who found the job, supporting family back home who will literally starve if she can't provide, unaware of the little rights they do have, and thus very strongly incentivized to tolerate whatever is thrown their way. The employer thus finds themselves in a position of near-absolute power over them, and as the old saw says, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the case above, where the maid was essentially tortured to death over a year, there was an entire household watching and the deviance was normalized quickly because there was nothing she could do to fight back.