Pinkerton syndrome is a term for the perceived tendency of some Asians to regard white people as superior or more desirable, especially for marriage or relationships.
The term "Pinkerton" is in reference to the character of United States Navy Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton, an upper class white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, who marries a Japanese girl for convenience while docked in Nagasaki, but plans to abandon her as soon as he leaves Japan and to find a suitably upper class white American wife.
[2][3] Lt. Pinkerton's young Japanese wife, and initially her family, are very excited about her marriage to an American man.
After a cursory search of Singapore's online media, it was argued that the Pinkerton syndrome is not restricted to interpersonal attraction.
As such, the Pinkerton syndrome was redefined broadly "as the tendency for Asians to be prejudiced and to discriminate in favor of white people".