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Insight looks at various race-related incidents that have cropped up in Singapore in the past year and a half, prompting conversations on the subject.
July 2019: Dennis Chew and Preetipls
An ad by electronic payment provider Nets featuring brown-faced actor Dennis Chew with darkened skin to portray an Indian man drew strong criticism from the public. It was also composed as a Malay woman in Tudung and a Chinese woman.
The agencies behind the ad were teased by regulators for producing a tacky ad and offending minorities.
The announcement prompted YouTube personality Preeti Nair, better known as Preetipls, and her musician brother Subhas to release an expletive-laden music video that highlighted issues of racial stereotypes, discrimination and representation.
But the Minister of Law and Home Affairs, K. Shanmugam, said the video had crossed the line. The brothers had every right to speak out about racism, he said, but they had gone the wrong way.
Authorities withdrew the video for reasons of public interest and national harmony, and then the police issued a two-year conditional warning to the brothers, warning that allowing such videos would lead to “more racism, more racial tensions, and eventually violence.”
The “Preetipls incident” triggered and continues to be part of deeper discussions about race.
Analysts see it as a benchmark for young Singaporeans who disagree with the government’s approach to those asking tough questions on the subject.
April-June 2020: Migrant Workers and Nimbyism
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in April, a forum letter in the Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao blamed the outbreak in migrant workers’ bedrooms on their personal hygiene and lifestyle habits, prompting K. Shanmugam to criticize exposed “racism”.
A week earlier, socialite Jamie Chua was also criticized for social media posts describing a “haunting nightmare” she had of Indian workers rushing into her home.
In June, when the government unveiled plans to build new temporary and permanent housing for workers, it urged Singaporeans to reject the “not in my backyard” (Nimby) mentality, given the inevitability of dormitories being located near residential areas. However, the announcement sparked a wave of negative comments online in protest.
June 2020: Old photo of RI students in black
Poet and playwright Alfian Sa’at posted on Facebook a 2016 photo of Chinese students at the Raffles Institution, their faces painted black or covered in black masks as part of a birthday celebration for an Indian schoolmate.
The then Minister of Education, Ong Ye Kung, said that young Singaporeans were right to condemn such callousness, but reminded them that Singapore’s past and present racial context was not the same as in the United States, which was in the middle of the protests from Black Lives Matter at the time.
June 2020: Tan Wu Meng’s opinion piece on Alfian Sa’at
In an opinion piece published on the People’s Action Party (PAP) website, then-Chief Parliamentary Secretary Tan Wu Meng questioned the support of the head of the Workers’ Party (WP), Pritam Singh, for Mr. Alfian Sa’at, citing the latter’s critical comments on Singapore, and writing that Singapore had given the latter “an education and a livelihood … denied to many minorities in the region.”
Observers criticized what they saw as a condescending description of Mr. Alfian as an ungrateful member of minorities, and after the election, noted that the article may have contributed to voter dissatisfaction.
July 2020: Raeesah Khan’s Comments
Old Facebook posts by WP candidate for Sengkang GRC Raeesah Khan came to light, and were the subject of police reports, in the lead up to this year’s general election. In one, he wrote about foreigners breaking safe distancing rules, asking if the law was different for “rich Chinese or whites.”
Ms. Raeesah apologized, saying that she did not intend to cause social division and that she only wanted to raise awareness about minority issues. The PAP called her comments “highly derogatory” and questioned whether she was fit to be a deputy.
Analysts have frequently cited these events as a possible factor in WP’s winning Sengkang GRC. Later, the police gave him a stern warning for promoting enmity between groups.
August 2020: Indian PMET Goals
Singaporean investment firm Temasek condemned what it described as racist, divisive, hateful and false Facebook posts that targeted its Indian employees.
DBS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank were also targeted in similar positions, all of whom falsely accused the companies of hiring foreigners to the detriment of locals. A viral post asked netizens to “find a Singaporean or Chinese” in a photo of DBS employees, which was taken at the bank’s Hyderabad, India branch.
Speaking, Temasek CEO Ho Ching said: “Let us not be fooled by anyone trying to provoke the racial prejudice that lurks beneath us all. There is a very short distance between hating a nationality and a race, and very soon, whichever is different. “
October 2020: Preferential Treatment Claims in Orchard Towers Murder Case
Social media users claimed that those charged with a murder at Orchard Towers received preferential treatment due to their Chinese ethnicity; and that minority races would have received harsher sentences.
The Attorney General’s Office criticized the “false and unsubstantiated” allegations as having the “potential to disrupt racial harmony in Singapore and cause irreversible divisions in our communities.”
Subsequently, the police opened investigations against two women behind the posts.
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