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Arrest of three youths for posting “racist” remarks on Facebook: Who is a greater threat to social harmony?
February 6, 2010 by admin
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OPINION
OPINION
The arrest of three Chinese youths aged between 17 and 18 for posting “racist” remarks on Facebook by the Singapore police is another over-kill by an increasingly insecure and paranoid regime.
They are likely to be charged under the Sedition Act, under which anyone found guilty of promoting feelings of ill will and hostility between different races or classes of the Singapore population shall be liable, on conviction for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.
Commander of Bedok Police Division and Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Teo Chun Ching said:
“Police take a very stern view of acts that could threaten the social harmony in Singapore. The Internet may be a convenient medium to express one’s views but members of the public should bear in mind that they are no less accountable for their actions online.”
While the exact “racist” remarks were not published, they are highly unlikely to stir any racial unrest in Singapore. The “racist” Facebook has been around for quite sometime and nobody has taken notice of it till a police report was lodged last week.
A more appropriate and sensible response would be to send the three youths for counselling and let them off with a stern warning rather than to ruin their futures altogether with a conviction – the potential threat to social harmony in Singapore is so low that it doesn’t warrant criminalizing it.
In all likelihood, the arrests is probably a scare-tactic used to intimidate online critics of the ruling party who have claimed a few “casualties” lately in the protracted flame war between YPAP and the rest of Singapore’s blogosphere, thereby damaging the reputation of the former.
There is a fine line between blatant, dangerous and bigoted racism which will affect the larger society than the mild form of “racism” pervasive in some internet chatrooms amounting to no more than mere exchange of jokes between netizens.
The authorities should be discerning enough to decide when action is warranted instead of jumping at every single whiff of “racism”. The three Chinese youth are unlikely to have any influence on the rest of society other than their own inner circle of “converts”.
After fifty years of nation-building, most Singaporeans have come to see themselves more as Singaporeans than ethnic Chinese, Indians or Malays. We are Singaporeans first and ethnicity comes a distant second.
Though the PAP government must be credited with maintaining social, racial and religious harmony in Singapore, recent public comments made by some leaders may have a polarizing effect among the different races in Singapore.
The words of these leaders carry far greater weight than the three Singapore youth and therefore the threat of posed by their words on social harmony is greater.
Some policies are also deemed discriminatory to the ethnic minorities and can well sow the seeds of distrust among them. For example, the influx of large number of new immigrants from mainland China who cannot speak English may cause some discomfort to our fellow Malay and Indian Singaporeans.
Being a small multi-cultural society, Singapore cannot take racial harmony for granted. The authorities should focus more on cleaning up their own backyard rather than to make a mountain out of a molehill of isolated cases as such.
The real threat to social harmony in Singapore stems from the words and actions of its leaders and not the childish antics of a few immature, disgruntled and ignorant netizens.
February 6, 2010 by admin
Leave a comment
OPINION
OPINION
The arrest of three Chinese youths aged between 17 and 18 for posting “racist” remarks on Facebook by the Singapore police is another over-kill by an increasingly insecure and paranoid regime.
They are likely to be charged under the Sedition Act, under which anyone found guilty of promoting feelings of ill will and hostility between different races or classes of the Singapore population shall be liable, on conviction for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or both.
Commander of Bedok Police Division and Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Teo Chun Ching said:
“Police take a very stern view of acts that could threaten the social harmony in Singapore. The Internet may be a convenient medium to express one’s views but members of the public should bear in mind that they are no less accountable for their actions online.”
While the exact “racist” remarks were not published, they are highly unlikely to stir any racial unrest in Singapore. The “racist” Facebook has been around for quite sometime and nobody has taken notice of it till a police report was lodged last week.
A more appropriate and sensible response would be to send the three youths for counselling and let them off with a stern warning rather than to ruin their futures altogether with a conviction – the potential threat to social harmony in Singapore is so low that it doesn’t warrant criminalizing it.
In all likelihood, the arrests is probably a scare-tactic used to intimidate online critics of the ruling party who have claimed a few “casualties” lately in the protracted flame war between YPAP and the rest of Singapore’s blogosphere, thereby damaging the reputation of the former.
There is a fine line between blatant, dangerous and bigoted racism which will affect the larger society than the mild form of “racism” pervasive in some internet chatrooms amounting to no more than mere exchange of jokes between netizens.
The authorities should be discerning enough to decide when action is warranted instead of jumping at every single whiff of “racism”. The three Chinese youth are unlikely to have any influence on the rest of society other than their own inner circle of “converts”.
After fifty years of nation-building, most Singaporeans have come to see themselves more as Singaporeans than ethnic Chinese, Indians or Malays. We are Singaporeans first and ethnicity comes a distant second.
Though the PAP government must be credited with maintaining social, racial and religious harmony in Singapore, recent public comments made by some leaders may have a polarizing effect among the different races in Singapore.
The words of these leaders carry far greater weight than the three Singapore youth and therefore the threat of posed by their words on social harmony is greater.
Some policies are also deemed discriminatory to the ethnic minorities and can well sow the seeds of distrust among them. For example, the influx of large number of new immigrants from mainland China who cannot speak English may cause some discomfort to our fellow Malay and Indian Singaporeans.
Being a small multi-cultural society, Singapore cannot take racial harmony for granted. The authorities should focus more on cleaning up their own backyard rather than to make a mountain out of a molehill of isolated cases as such.
The real threat to social harmony in Singapore stems from the words and actions of its leaders and not the childish antics of a few immature, disgruntled and ignorant netizens.
