Over the years, I’ve heard rumours floating around that Nepali students in Singapore face racist remarks and treatment in schools, but never witnessed any for myself; perhaps because Nepali students are so concentrated in schools near Mount Vernon.

And so I ask Namsang if he’s experienced any racism.

“Obviously I do,” says Namsang, “not really direct[ly], but we face indirect discrimination.”

I ask him whether he remembers any specific incidents.

“I really have no idea,” he says, shifting uncomfortably in his chair, “It has been a while. We didn’t really get discrimination from teachers, but the students … We are, you know, immigrants here.”

“They will just joke around and say: ‘go back to your country!’ Y’know, I don’t take it to heart, just joking. It’s cool between us, but I will stand up for myself.”

Questioningly, I punch my fist into my palm, while raising an eyebrow.

“No, no—well, sometimes, when it gets serious—but not really.”

20-year-old Idha, another Nepali student, and Namsang’s former schoolmate, had a slightly different experience.

“My school was run by a bunch of racists who enjoyed picking on us because our parents are pretty docile,” she says.

Idha admits that many of her memories are of herself personally getting into trouble with school authorities. However, she recalls some incidents and policies that involved many Nepali students.

“The school is quite near to our camp; somehow all the people, teachers, higher-ups, used to think that we all lived in the same area: the two blocks that they could see.”

Because of this, Nepali students had no excuse to be late for school, the administration reckoned. In actual fact, however, Mount Vernon Camp is fairly large, stretching from the school all the way to Joo Seng, and is set to expand further.

After several incidents of tardiness, the Nepali students were given a particular timing to report to school at; earlier than the rest of their schoolmates. A Singaporean student coming at 7:45 AM would be considered on time; a Nepali student doing the same was a ‘latecomer’.

“The funny thing is,” Idha says, “There were [Singaporean] kids who lived right opposite from the school, in the terraced houses, and they would be strolling in while we were getting scolded. It was bizarre.”

On a particular day, Idha recalls, it rained so heavily that Mount Vernon Camp flooded. Because of this, they had to take an alternate route through the camp, so all the Nepali students were later than usual. Once the rain stopped, they asked the students to line up outside the school in two rows.

“Our discipline master threw a fit … He was shouting ‘I’m not going to let you into the school until you call your parents down!’ There was no reason to do this kind of thing.”

Also, Idha notes, the Nepali children were often singled out during assembly and asked to stay back. They would then be lectured.

Idha explains that her experiences differ from Namsang’s because of a change in school administrative staff (she is one year his senior). Also, Namsang was an Express student, while Idha was in the Normal (Academic) stream, which affected teachers’ perception and treatment of the students.

But this was half a decade ago, and at one school. Ditya, who is currently a student at a different secondary school, hasn’t been through anything of the sort.

“Once, though,” she says, “I heard someone say, “Go back to your country.”

“It was a teacher, who directed it to one of my classmates.”

“Most of the staff,” Idha explains, “Had bad impressions of us. As long as we’re Nepali, we’re trouble. Everyone knew that we were second-class citizens.”