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Bloomberg

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong warned against a recent spate of racist comments being made online, saying prejudice should not be allowed to become normalised in the multiracial city state.
Wong said in a social media post on Sunday that an “uglier side” had emerged in recent online discussions, including remarks about Singaporeans caught in deadly floods in Nepal and debate over Singapore Airlines’ potential investment in Air India.
“We can and should have robust debates,” he said. “But we should never use seemingly legitimate arguments as a cover to fuel prejudice against any community or hostility towards foreigners.”
The prime minister said racist views expressed online did not represent Singapore as a whole and warned against dismissing them as harmless. “If such behaviour goes unchecked, it can become normalised, deepen mistrust between communities, and pull us apart,” he said.

Wong’s comments followed remarks by Senior Minister K. Shanmugam on Saturday, who said police had been asked to look into the matter and would ask online platforms to remove comments that breached rules. In June, authorities ordered social media platforms to block access to 14 online posts that targeted the Indian community in Singapore.
Shanmugam said there had been more racist remarks directed at Indians in Singapore recently, including attacks on senior executives at Temasek Holdings over their ethnicity.
The senior minister said the state-owned investor, a majority owner of Singapore Airlines, did not account to the government for its individual investments. The government would not interfere in any decision to invest in Air India, saying such decisions should be made on commercial grounds, Shanmugam added.
Air India is close to securing 100 billion rupees (US$1.06 billion) in aid from its owners Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, as the carrier grapples with the fallout from a turbulent year, according to people familiar with the matter. The money was conditional on reaching certain performance milestones and would be paid out in instalments, they said.
The support would be proportional to shareholding, they said, with Tata Sons owning 74.9 per cent of Air India and Singapore Airlines, the remainder.


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News

Asia

Southeast Asia

The prime minister said racist views expressed online did not represent Singapore as a whole and warned against dismissing them as harmless


The prime minister said racist views expressed online did not represent Singapore as a whole and warned against dismissing them as harmless.


Singapore Airlines

Air India

Racism and other prejudice

Singapore’s Wong warns racist remarks over Nepal, Air India risk ‘pulling us apart’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The prime minister said racist views expressed online did not represent Singapore as a whole and warned against dismissing them as harmless

The prime minister said racist views expressed online did not represent Singapore as a whole and warned against dismissing them as harmless