When Matthew (not his real name) joined a company in April 2023 with predominantly Chinese employees, he initially did not think much of the fact that he was one of the few minorities in the office.Speaking to AsiaOne, the 27-year-old who is now director of growth at an educational technology start-up, said that he thought his colleagues would accept him, or at least respect his skills and merit.«But over time, it became clear that certain attitudes were deeply ingrained,» he said, adding that «casual racist remarks» such as referring to him as «the Indian guy» or asking, «Since when could Malay people speak so well?» were often directed at him.Matthew, who is Indian-Malay, said that while these comments seemed more ignorant than malicious, they became increasingly direct and damaging.«I was being referred to as 'black boy', among other names, by senior figures in the company... (and) often found myself on the receiving end of their jokes, stereotypes, and ridicule as a whole,» he said. Read more