Singapore – Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Sunday condemned racist and xenophobic comments that surfaced online targeting the Indian community, days after the Nepal-Tibet flash floods disaster and the Singapore Airlines-Air India partnership sparked anti-Indian abuse. “We can and should have robust debates. But we should never use seemingly legitimate arguments as a cover to fuel prejudice against any community or hostility towards foreigners,” Mr. Wong said, as quoted by Channel News Asia.
The Prime Minister’s remarks came a day after Senior Minister K. Shanmugam said police are investigating “shameful” and “totally unacceptable” racist comments. In a Facebook post, Mr. Wong said an “uglier side” had emerged in online discussions, with racist comments targeting some of the nine Singaporeans missing in the Nepal-Tibet disaster, while questions about SIA’s investment in Air India were “accompanied by anti-Indian abuse.” He stressed that such views do not represent Singapore and should not be dismissed as “harmless online chatter.”
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“If such behaviour goes unchecked, it can become normalised, deepen mistrust between communities, and pull us apart,” Mr. Wong said, adding that he had discussed the issue with his Cabinet colleagues. Singapore has an overall population of over six million, with about 9% Indians. The city-state has encountered similar tensions before, including during the COVID-19 pandemic and debates over the Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. Former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also called on Singaporeans to “stand by one another regardless of race, language or religion,” describing the racist comments as “deeply troubling.”
