“Crazy Rich Asians” isn’t necessarily great PR for Singapore.

“[The film] represents the worst of Singapore,” Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, said after seeing the trailer. “Erases minorities. Erases the poor and marginalized. All you get are rich, privileged ethnic Chinese.”

Singapore is around 75% Chinese, according to 2017 estimates. And while the movie’s entire cast is Asian, they’re mostly Chinese. The movie, which is based on a book by Kevin Kwan, spends little time on the other 25%: Malays (15%), Indians (7%), and other minority races.

“I get that the movie isn’t all about Singapore, and that some may find it entertaining,” Chong told Yahoo Finance. “That said, I think that the context of the movie (and the book) presents Singapore in a one-dimensional manner. In exoticizing Singapore, the story flattens out Singapore society and writes minorities out.”

The book focuses on how a female American-Chinese character travels to Singapore with her Singaporean-Chinese boyfriend for a wedding and meets his rich “old money” Cantonese family, only to face his mother’s (and her circle’s) disapproval.

And given that the movie introduces Singapore to a global audience, some familiar with the country wonder why there is little effort made to make the movie more reflective of the real Singapore.

“Everyone else is told you have to care, even though we are not represented, we can’t see ourselves,” Sangeetha Thanapal, an activist against racism facing Singapore’s Indian, Malay, and other minority communities, told the AP. “You set a movie in Singapore and the only people in it are Chinese and you consider that representation? That is the problem — it’s because you don’t understand the dynamics,” Thanapal said. “When people say that is the world of Singapore, they’re saying that minorities don’t exist.”

In “Crazy Rich Asians,” the only minority actors — beside the main character’s mother, played by Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh — were predominantly security guards or servants. So while the movie is the first studio film in the 21st century starring an Asian and Asian-American cast in a contemporary setting, it’s more accurate to say that the movie represents the Chinese community.

Racism in Singapore

Consequently, the film adds more irritation to the minorities who have already experienced decades of racism in many aspects of their life as the country became predominantly Chinese.