Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
techinasia.com
Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
1–10 of 238 posts
Re: Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
#2A similar thing happened to me and my partner in the US, in a fairly liberal part, so I'm not entirely surprised that it's happening in SEA. People wouldn't rent to us because we told them we cook at home and these white folks were like "but Indian food smells!"
Re: Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
#3Yup, common occurrence also here in Tokyo. If you are not Japanese you can expect quite a few rejections, as well as having to pay extra "guarantor" fees, and in general higher than average rent.
And, mind you, I'm probably among the lucky ones... if you're from other Asian countries you can probably expect even worse.
Re: Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
#4This is among the strangest advertisements I've read. "Are you strongly against discrimination? Then rent from us!"
Re: Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
#5Sadly common in Singapore. The usual excuse trotted out is that Indian cooking, particularly the use of ghee, leaves a strong smell in the kitchen that requires either extensive renovation to get rid of, or another Indian tenant.
Singapore has a significant local Indian minority and many mainland Indian expats, but while public housing is forcibly desegregated with racial quotas, in the private market this means there are many condo developments like Tanjong Rhu that are majority-Indian (plus expats who are unaware or don't care).
Re: Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
#6A lot of people have misconception that all Indian food is oily and strong in smell but that's far from true. That is the primary reason given for excluding Indian tenants everywhere.
For some reason, north Indian food is over represented by a significant margin. On top of it, people expect restaurant style food to be cooked at home except nobody does that. Most young people do not use strong ghee or spices. With proper ventilation, it is not a problem at all.
Re: Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
#7Because of that day to day racism I'm often very angry even if I'm not affected by that.
Racism is a big evil.
Re: Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
#8A similar thing happened to me and my partner in the US, in a fairly liberal part, so I'm not entirely surprised that it's happening in SEA. People wouldn't rent to us because we told them we cook at home and these white folks were like "but Indian food smells!"
[deleted]
Re: Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
#9From 2016.
I understand from friends that things have changed due to laws.
Re: Sorry, your wife is Indian, landlord won’t rent to you
#10Was surprised to see “Singapore”, expected “Bay Area.”
When I left my last rental after buying a house, my elderly white landlord asked me to help him put the property on Craigslist. When I did so and mentioned the Cupertino school district, he asked me to remove that part because “it would attract too many Indian families with kids” to avoid the curry smell. He had no issue with other Asian ethnicities, the previous tenant was Chinese.
I did not remove it, but I don’t know anything about the next renter.
I’ve since heard the same comment from people at work who rent out property. The curry smell is always the issue.