Authorities in Singapore have launched an investigation after “racist and xenophobic” remarks, directed at people of Indian origin, surfaced on social media last week. Racist comments surfaced online in response to the August 26 flash floods near Nepal-Tibet, in which nine Singaporeans are among the missing, while comments about Singapore Airlines’ investment in Air India were “accompanied by anti-Indian abuse,” Singapore Senior Minister K Shanmugam said.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also reacted to the online abuse against Indians, saying the country must never allow prejudice against any community to become accepted or normalised.
Shanmugam said police are investigating “shameful” and “totally unacceptable” comments posted online. “If such behaviour goes unchecked, it can become normalised, deepen mistrust between communities, and pull us apart,” Wong said, adding that he had discussed the developments with his Cabinet colleagues and that this was why Shanmugam had spoken about it. The Prime Minister noted that Singapore had encountered similar tensions in the past, pointing to how “anti-foreigner” and “racial sentiments” were stirred during the COVID-19 pandemic and surfaced during debates over the Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. “There will always be people who seek to exploit our differences,” he said. “We can reject such views and refuse to give them more space or legitimacy…Singapore has held together because we have consistently rejected attempts to divide us along racial or religious lines, and chosen instead to recognise one another as fellow Singaporeans,” said the prime minister.
