Written Answer to PQ on Race-based discrimination complaints

NOTICE PAPER NO. 985 OF 2026 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 7 JULY 2026
QUESTION NO. 1666 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Ms Eileen Chong Pei Shan

To ask the Minister for Manpower in view of the findings of return deficit in a recent Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA) report and a finding in the 2023 Fair Employment Practices survey that race was the second most common basis of workplace discrimination, what is the breakdown, over the past decade, of race-based workplace discrimination by (i) race and (ii) sector and occupation type, including PMET and non-PMET roles.

Answer:

1. Between 2016 to 2025, TAFEP received 163 race-based workplace discrimination complaints. This made up about 5% of all workplace discrimination complaints that were lodged with TAFEP within the same period.

2. The top three sectors with race-based complaints were Administrative and Support Service Activities, Wholesale and Retail Trade, and Education.