For folks who study immigration flows, one of the interesting phenomena has been the tremendous success of the Overseas Chinese. In just about any country with a significant Chinese population, we find substantial overrrepresentation of Chinese folks at or near the top of the income distribution. Interestingly, this is the case even in countries where the Chinese were subject to both historical and on-going discrimination. Nevertheless, their ability to swim these currents results in interesting theoretical debates about “why”, what it means for other minorities and poses significant real world problems. Amy Chua’s groundbreaking book World on Fire does a great job of diving into these issues and extending Thomas Sowell’s scholarship in understanding the ebb and flow of different minorities in the economy.

In contrast to the Chinese diaspora, the Desi diaspora has a far wider distribution of socio-economic outcomes. While Sepia Mutiny regularly catalogs success stories in the US and occasionally across the pond in the UK, the Desi diaspora is unique relative to many in the world in that we can find different countries where “Desi” invokes different stereotypes at every rung of the ladder. At one extreme, in Fiji and parts of Africa for example, Desis are/were practically viewed as nouveau colonial overlords who unfairly “control” a disproportionate share of the national economy much like the ethnic Chinese in the Phillipines.

In the US and much of the West, a milder range of stereotypes encompass wealthy, hardworking professionals (docs, techies), and entrepreneurs large (silicon valley), medium (shop keepers & hotels) and small (taxis!). That’s not to say there aren’t exceptions — Urban centers in Canada are a particularly unique testament to the breadth of the Desi community in the West; I still remember the first time I realized that a significant chunk of the “gang problem” being discussed in a newscast I saw in Vancouver was desi / Punjabi street gangs… Some googling turns up this article, to give readers a taste. Desi gang-bangers are apparently pretty significant in the UK as well… BUT, at the end of the day, y’all know what I’m sayin’.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are several countries where Desis are decidedly clustered at the bottom — the low status & harsh treatment received by Desi laborers in the Mid East is often discussed here. On the news tab, prolific contributer “VenkiG” points us at an interesting article describing the plight of the desi population in Malaysia -

Malaysia’s Indians don’t send home dollars, don’t become CEOs of IT start-ups; they haven’t even produced a VS Naipaul. Consequently, in contrast to the dissertations on the NRI community in the United States, the formerly east African Indians in Britain and the Indian diaspora’s experience in the Caribbean, there is a paucity of even basic information on the ethnic Indians living off the Straits of Malacca. Consequently, in contrast to the dissertations on the NRI community in the United States, the formerly east African Indians in Britain and the Indian diaspora’s experience in the Caribbean, there is a paucity of even basic information on the ethnic Indians living off the Straits of Malacca.

…Malaysian Indians are predominantly uneducated; few are white collar professionals, fewer still own property. Drug addiction is a problem among the young. At the bottom of the heap, they do low-end jobs and run errands for ethnic Chinese crime syndicates.

The article goes into some detail on the various subgroups that make up the Indian population in Malaysia and how integral the group overall has been to Malaysian history. The author argues that Malaysia’s recent turn towards a Muslim-centered identity bodes even worse for this group and he advocates stronger ties between the Indian government and Kuala Lampur as one remedy…

For me, the article is yet another interesting datapoint about the controversial relationship between culture, race and economics…. And I certainly didn’t know that there were nearly as many desis in Malaysia as there are in the US….