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United Overseas Bank (UOB) has tried to reassure the public that a netizen who called Singaporeans xenophobic and lazy is not actually serving as a vice president at the bank as claimed on Facebook.
“Maybe if Singapoo people weren’t lazy, we Indians won’t have to take their jobs… show some respect to Indian workers here !! [sic]”The netizen exclaimed in a Facebook post that has since been featured by UOB.
Earlier today (September 22), Felix Ng alerted the bank via his Facebook page about a man who wrote a “disturbing post.”
The man in question indicated on his profile that he is vice president of the UOB, although practically anyone can appear in any position at any company without verification on Facebook.
Ng’s dismay, however, stemmed from his loyalty to UOB as a customer.
“As a UOB customer and having referred customers to UOB as well, I am concerned about how he called Singaporeans ‘Singapoo’,” he wrote.
“It is an absolute insult, a mockery of us and a total shame on UOB for hiring someone like him [sic]”He added, urging the bank to conduct an internal investigation.
The post also raised concerns among other Singaporeans.
UOB was quick to respond to Ng’s post, claiming that the man is, in fact, not an employee. The user has even been reported to Facebook.
‘Profane the name of our country’
People’s Voice chief and a vocal critic of the government, Lim Tean, weighed in on the man’s post, criticizing his comments and saying: “They should kick him out of Singapore.”
“He has learned to call us racist, lazy and xenophobic. He desecrates our country’s name by spelling it Singapoo, ”Lim wrote in a Facebook post that has since sparked a number of xenophobic comments.
Disagreeing with Lim’s sentiments, activist and journalist Kirsten Han called his behavior “abhorrent.”
“If that’s the commenter’s opinion, he has the right to air it, and people can be free to disagree with him,” he wrote.
“But it is improper and alarming for Lim Tean, a politician seeking election to office and power, to point him out on social media for trolling and abuse, and demand that he be ‘kicked out of Singapore’, or suggest that it would all be right to ‘teach him a lesson’ by canceling his visa simply for expressing his opinion. “
