Sometimes they have no choice. They know they are racist, that we live in a racist society and that they are participating in and perpetuating it. They will then turn the tables on you and say “You said (insert whatever). You’re racist too!” This is stupid. There is no such thing as Reverse Racism.
You say…
“In the instances when Indians/Malays say things like ‘Oh I can’t stand Chinese people’ or ‘Damn Chinese people’, they aren’t saying ‘Oh I think they are inferior, I want to humiliate them, abuse them, wipe out their people and generally treat them like shit!’, they’re saying ‘Damn, after many many decades of Chinese people thinking I’m inferior, humiliating me, abusing me, trying to wipe out my people, and generally treating me like shit, I don’t wanna deal with them.’ The context is completely different.”
Answers to Racism in Singapore 