“IF YOU KNOW SECRET SOCIETIES, YOU WILL KNOW DRUG”: CONTEXTUALISING THE STATISTICAL DISPROPORTIONALITY OF MALAY DRUG ABUSERS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The Malay community is represented disproportionately in local drug abuse statistics. While several explanations (functionalist, neo-colonial, and cultural) have been proposed by academics to theorise said disproportionality, I argue that current theoretical explanations are inadequate. Instead, the Drug-Crime Nexus – previously understudied in the Singapore context – is introduced in this thesis as a robust theoretical framework to contextualise the statistical disproportionality of Malay drug abusers. First, I uncover the relationship between drugs and crime in Singapore: I found that the drug-crime relationship would be more accurately described as a reciprocal tripartite of drugs, crime, and Secret Society (SS) membership. SS membership was found to be a prerequisite to participating in the drug business (which even includes purchasing drugs). Additionally, SS members were pressured into drug consumption and participating in the drug business through unspoken subcultural norms, as these activities were a testament to their masculinity. More importantly, while SS members – regardless of ethnicity – have been found to have generally equal rates of drug abuse and participation in the drug business, this thesis posits that minorities are more likely to be caught for their participation. Narratives from my thirteen respondents revealed that minority members experience a glass ceiling to leadership, consistently relegated to rank-and-file positions. This relegation to frontline roles has unfortunately resulted in their enhanced visibility, increased detection, and vulnerability to policing. In other words, minority members have been consistently policed in place of the higher-echelon Chinese members, artificially inflating drug abuse as a minority issue.