WP's Kenneth Tiong condemns racist comments on Nepal flood victims, says questions on Air India were 'purely commercial'

Workers' Party (WP) MP Kenneth Tiong on Saturday (Sept 5) stated his position on racism, saying he condemns such comments.

Earlier talking to reporters, Senior Minister K Shanmugam said he had asked the police to look into racist and xenophobic online comments about the Nepal-Tibet disaster and Singapore Airlines' (SIA) investment in Air India .

"I will say this — the comments are shameful, nasty, totally unacceptable," added Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs.

In a Facebook post published at 7pm on Saturday, Tiong said that he "wholeheartedly agrees" with the Senior Minister that racism has no place in Singapore's society.

"The comments about the Singaporeans missing in Nepal are shameful, and so are the attacks on anyone's motives because of their ethnicity. I condemn them without reservation. Our hearts go out to the victims of the Nepal disaster and to the families waiting for news."

Other than derogatory comments made about the missing Singaporeans, Shanmugam pointed out that anti-Indian sentiment had also developed after Air India reportedly sought an additional $1.5 billion in fresh equity from its owners , Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.

"(They) have also been attacked for their ethnicity in vile, nasty terms," 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...That is nasty and libellous."

Turning to his statement on Air India, Tiong said that with citizenship binding Singaporeans to the country, they must be able to discuss questions of national interest without fear or favour.

He added that it is "unfortunate" that his questions about the Air India deal had became entangled with racist comments that Tiong said he condemned.

"My concerns were, and are, purely commercial."

On Tiong's views regarding the national carrier's investment , Shanmugam said the MP is entitled to his views, like any other Singaporean.

"But neither his views, nor that of any minister, or any other MP, should substitute for the commercial judgment of Singapore Airlines' (SIA) management and board of directors — boards which have knowledgeable and independent members, and management which has professionals whose primary responsibility is to consider and make these decisions."

He was then asked by a reporter whether Tiong's post had crossed the racist or xenophobic lines.

"I think you'd best ask him. You'd have to ask him what he intended and what he meant," Shanmugam replied.

He also said this of Tiong's statement that no one "owes Air India a living": "I think he ought to do his homework and look at SIA's letter and the facts that I put out today, and ask if he is being responsible."

Only prudent for Singaporeans to ask: Tiong

The first-term Aljunied MP pointed to SIA's share of loss of over $800 million as the Indian carrier lost more than $3.5 billion.

He acknowledged that SIA's financial position and Temasek's backing meant the national carrier could afford to contribute the fresh equity, but that the question lies in how many more of such requests would be made — and what happens when SIA can no longer do so.

Tiong also noted that Temasek had backstopped SIA's recapitalisation during Covid-19 and that Parliament went on to approve "hundreds of millions in wages and aviation support".

"That was the right call then. But it means the line between SIA's money and Singaporeans' money holds only until SIA runs out of it."

Summarising his response, Tiong said that it is therefore only prudent for Singaporeans to ask what happens if the Air India deal goes bad.

"Asking whether the reserves will underwrite a loss is not directing an investment. It is what Parliament exists to do," he stated.

Tiong had on Aug 24 filed a parliamentary question on the matter.

"Singaporeans are best served when we can hold two things at once: zero tolerance for racism, and hard questions about money. We should not let the two get mixed up. If we do, both causes suffer," he added.

工人党议员张建宗周六（9月5日）就种族主义问题表明立场，称他谴责此类言论。

早些时候，高级部长尚穆根在接受记者采访时表示，他已要求警方调查有关尼泊尔-西藏空难和新加坡航空公司（新航）投资印度航空的种族主义和仇外网络言论。

“我要说的是——这些言论令人羞耻、恶毒、完全不可接受，”尚穆根补充道，他同时也是国家安全统筹部长和内政部长。

周六晚上 7 点，张志贤在 Facebook 上发帖称，他“完全同意”高级部长的观点，即种族主义在新加坡社会没有立足之地。

“针对在尼泊尔失踪的新加坡公民的评论令人羞耻，因种族原因而攻击他人动机的行为同样令人不齿。我对此予以毫不保留的谴责。我们向尼泊尔灾难的受害者及其家属致以最深切的慰问。”

除了对失踪新加坡人发表贬损性言论外，尚穆根还指出，据报道，印度航空向其所有者塔塔集团和新加坡航空公司寻求额外 15 亿美元的新股权后，反印情绪也随之滋生。

“（他们）还因为自己的种族而遭到恶毒、卑鄙的攻击，”尚穆根说。

“有人说，因为首席执行官是印度裔，所以他会向印度航空付款。在这些人眼里，首席执行官的罪过就在于他是印度裔，尽管他和我们一样都是新加坡人……这种说法既恶毒又诽谤。”

谈到他对印度航空的声明时，张先生表示，由于公民身份将新加坡人与国家联系起来，他们必须能够无所畏惧、不偏不倚地讨论国家利益问题。

他还补充说，他关于印度航空交易的问题与Tiong谴责的种族主义言论纠缠在一起，这“令人遗憾”。

“我过去和现在都只关心商业问题。”

针对张志贤对国家航空公司投资的看法，尚穆根表示，这位议员和其他新加坡人一样，有权发表自己的观点。

“但是，无论是他的观点，还是任何部长或任何其他国会议员的观点，都不能取代新加坡航空公司（新航）管理层和董事会的商业判断——董事会成员知识渊博且独立，管理层由专业人士组成，他们的主要职责是考虑和做出这些决定。”

随后，一名记者问他，Tiong 的帖子是否越过了种族主义或仇外心理的界限。

“我觉得你最好去问他。你得问问他他的意图和意思是什么，”尚穆根回答道。

他还就张志贤关于“没有人有义务让印度航空养活自己”的言论发表了如下评论：“我认为他应该好好做做功课，看看新加坡航空的信函和我今天公布的事实，然后问问自己是否尽到了责任。”

只有新加坡人才会谨慎地询问：Tiong

这位来自阿裕尼的第一任国会议员指出，由于这家印度航空公司亏损超过 35 亿美元，新加坡航空公司也承担了超过 8 亿美元的损失。

他承认，新加坡航空的财务状况和淡马锡的支持意味着这家国家航空公司有能力注入新的股权，但问题在于还会提出多少次这样的请求——以及当新加坡航空无法再这样做时会发生什么。

张先生还指出，淡马锡在新冠疫情期间为新加坡航空公司的资本重组提供了支持，国会随后批准了“数亿新元的工资和航空业支持”。

“当时的决定是正确的。但这也就意味着，新航的资金和新加坡人的资金之间的界限，只有在新航的资金耗尽之前才能维持。”

Tiong总结他的回应时表示，因此，新加坡人有理由问问，如果印度航空的交易失败了会发生什么。

他表示：“询问储备金是否足以弥补损失，并不等于指导投资。这正是议会的职责所在。”

8月24日，Tiong就此事向国会提交了一份质询。

“新加坡人只有在能够同时做到两件事时才能获得最佳利益：对种族主义零容忍，以及对金钱问题进行严肃的探讨。我们不应该让这两件事混淆在一起。如果我们混淆了，两件事都会受到影响，”他补充道。