Shanmugam on racist comments amid Nepal floods, funding for Air India: 'These people should be unmasked and dealt with'

Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam has decried the racist comments made online regarding both the floods in Nepal as well as announcements regarding the funding of Air India.

In a doorstop on Saturday (Sep 5), he said: "We are seeing some very nasty, racist comments online - after the Nepal floods, as well as the SIA (Singapore Airlines) - Air India relationship." 

Over 1,200 people have been killed in the flash floods in the China-Nepal border last Wednesday (Aug 26), with over 5,000 missing, including nine Singaporeans.

Singapore recently handed over a humanitarian aid package worth over $560,000, on top of sending a team of officers from the Singapore Police Force to assist.

Despite the country's support for Nepal, some do not share the sentiment, said Senior Minister Shanmugam, who is also the Coordinating Minister for National Security.

@asiaone Senior Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said he has asked the police to look into the comments, which he described as "shameful, nasty, totally unacceptable". #sgnews #Singapore #Nepal #Floods #SocialMedia ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

"Online, you see some comments… about the missing Singaporeans, saying, 'No, they are not our own. I only see Indian faces here.'"

While he isn't sure if all the comments were made by Singaporeans, he stressed that they are "shameful, nasty and totally unacceptable".

"I have asked police to look into these comments,"  he said.

Air India's funding

Separately, Air India has reportedly sought an additional $1.5 billion in fresh equity from its owners, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.

This has similarly resulted in anti-Indian sentiment online, with even the chief executive officer of Temasek Holdings Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara and senior management becoming targets of negative comments online.

"(They) have also been attacked for their ethnicity in vile, nasty terms," SM Shanmugam said.

"It has been said that because the CEO is of Indian ethnicity, he would pay Air India. In the eyes of these people, the CEO's sin is that he is of Indian ethnicity, even though he is as Singaporean as any of us."

@asiaone Senior Minister K Shanmugam pointed to investment returns made public on Temasek's own website, which states that India is its best-performing geography over the last 10 years - with billions in returns. The police has also been asked to consider if there are any offences in some of the "vile, nasty comments" made online. #sgnews #Singapore #SocialMedia #SingaporeAirlines #AirIndia ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

He highlighted that Temasek's website states that India is its best-performing geography over the last decade, and that Temasek has made billions in investment, better than most in the world.

"But for this online mob, however, all of (those) facts don't matter. What matters is their racism and their own prejudices," he explained.

"If we allow this, in future, everyone can be attacked for their decisions based on their ethnicities.

"I think these people should be unmasked and dealt with, rather than be allowed to hide behind online anonymity."

SM Shanmugam also added that he will ask the police to look into these comments to determine if any offences have been committed, while the Ministry of Digital Development and Information works to ask platforms to take such comments down.

'This is not who we are as Singaporeans'

He stressed the importance of taking a tough stance against racism, sharing the knock-on effect where a minority's racist views can gradually become normalised and even become mainstream.

When this happens, public discourse is then debased, social harmony becomes affected, and violence against people of a different skin colour or religion can become acceptable, he warned.

Singapore is a small, multiracial and multiethnic country, he said, adding: "If we are divided along racial or religious lines, we will lose the unity that has made Singapore strong.

"There will be feelings of ill-will, suspicion, and we will all suffer. We should not tolerate this. This is not who we are as Singaporeans."

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