‘Race will always be a fault line’: Singapore Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong warns against hatred after anti-Indian abuse

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore condemned the racist abuse directed at the Indian community following the Nepal flood tragedy, emphasizing that racial divisions remain challenging societal fault lines.

In his Facebook post, he urged Singaporeans to confront and reject hatred, advocating for compassion and unity during tragedies.

Senior Minister K Shanmugam echoed these sentiments, highlighting the need to address racist and xenophobic online posts, while authorities are working with social media platforms to remove offensive content.

Lee's comments underscore the ongoing struggle against racial prejudices in Singapore and the importance of continued efforts to maintain racial harmony.

SINGAPORE, Sept 6 — Singapore will never be entirely insulated from racial division, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong has warned, as he condemned racist abuse directed at the Indian community following the Nepal flood tragedy and urged Singaporeans to “reject hatred”.

In a Facebook post today, Lee said the episode was a reminder that race and religion remained enduring fault lines even in a society that had spent decades trying to foster tolerance and mutual respect.

“Human beings are not race blind, and race and religion will always be a fault line in society,” he said.

Lee described the hateful remarks that emerged after the disaster as “deeply troubling”, saying moments of tragedy should instead bring out compassion and solidarity.

Singaporeans should stand by one another regardless of race, language or religion, he said, warning that the country would remain vulnerable to “visceral and divisive pulls”, including the temptation to stir racial prejudices and animosities.

The response, Lee said, had to go beyond simply hoping such sentiments would fade.

“When incidents like this happen, leaders must speak up with force and conviction, to call out what is happening, condemn the manipulation of base emotions, and call on all Singaporeans to stand together,” he said.

His comments followed remarks a day earlier by Senior Minister K Shanmugam, who said police were looking into racist and xenophobic online posts linked to both the Nepal floods and Singapore Airlines’ investment in Air India, The Straits Times reported.

Shanmugam said some of the comments had been “shameful, nasty and totally unacceptable”, including references to snakes, curry, prata and black magic.

He said such behaviour had to be challenged before it became normalised and further degraded public discourse.

Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information would also ask social media platforms to remove comments found to breach their guidelines, he said.

The abuse had also extended to Temasek chief executive Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara after reports that Air India was seeking about US$1.5 billion (RM4.5 billion) in fresh funding from shareholders, including Singapore Airlines.

Shanmugam described some of those attacks as “vile”, including “nasty and libellous” claims that Pillay would favour Air India because of his Indian ethnicity.

Lee said Singapore had faced similar moments before.

As prime minister in 2021, he spoke out against anti-Indian sentiment that surfaced during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also pointed to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s intervention during the 2025 general election against attempts to use religion to mobilise Muslim voters against the government.

Such episodes showed why racial harmony could never be taken for granted, Lee said.

“It is at times like this that we realise the full meaning of the words of the National Pledge, and how important it is for us to make every effort to live up to these ideals,” he said.

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新加坡高级部长李显龙谴责尼泊尔洪灾后针对印度社群的种族歧视行为，并强调种族分裂仍然是社会断层线上的一大挑战。

他在脸书帖子中敦促新加坡人直面并摒弃仇恨，倡导在悲剧发生时展现同情心和团结精神。

高级部长尚穆根也表达了类似的观点，强调需要解决网上存在的种族主义和仇外言论，同时当局正在与社交媒体平台合作，删除冒犯性内容。

李显龙的言论凸显了新加坡在消除种族偏见方面持续存在的斗争，以及继续努力维护种族和谐的重要性。

新加坡，9月6日——新加坡高级部长李显龙警告说，新加坡永远无法完全免受种族分裂的影响。他谴责了尼泊尔洪灾后针对印度社区的种族主义辱骂，并敦促新加坡人“拒绝仇恨”。

李在今天发布的一条 Facebook 帖子中表示，这一事件提醒人们，即使在一个几十年来一直努力培养宽容和相互尊重的社会中，种族和宗教仍然是难以消除的断层线。

他说：“人类并非对种族视而不见，种族和宗教永远是社会的一条分界线。”

李将灾难发生后出现的仇恨言论描述为“令人深感不安”，并表示悲剧时刻应该唤起人们的同情和团结。

他表示，新加坡人应该不分种族、语言或宗教互相支持，并警告说，该国仍容易受到“本能的、分裂性的拉扯”，包括煽动种族偏见和敌意的诱惑。

李说，应对措施不能仅仅寄希望于这种情绪会逐渐消退。

他说：“当此类事件发生时，领导人必须坚定有力地发声，谴责正在发生的事情，谴责对低级情绪的操纵，并呼吁所有新加坡人团结一致。”

据《海峡时报》报道，此前一天，高级部长尚穆根发表讲话，称警方正在调查与尼泊尔洪水和新加坡航空公司投资印度航空有关的种族主义和仇外网络帖子。

尚穆根表示，其中一些评论“可耻、恶劣且完全不可接受”，包括提及蛇、咖喱、印度煎饼和黑魔法。

他表示，必须对这种行为提出质疑，以免它变得正常化，进一步败坏公共话语。

他还表示，新加坡数码发展及新闻部也将要求社交媒体平台删除违反其准则的评论。

有报道称，印度航空正在向包括新加坡航空公司在内的股东寻求约 15 亿美元（45 亿令吉）的新资金，此后，这种滥用行为也蔓延到了淡马锡首席执行官迪尔汉·皮莱·桑德拉塞加拉身上。

尚穆加姆将其中一些攻击描述为“卑鄙的”，包括“恶毒的诽谤性”言论，称皮莱会因为他的印度血统而偏袒印度航空。

李显龙表示，新加坡此前也曾面临过类似的时刻。

2021年担任总理期间，他曾公开反对新冠疫情期间出现的反印情绪。他还提到，时任总理黄循财在2025年大选期间曾介入，反对利用宗教煽动穆斯林选民反对政府。

李说，这些事件表明，种族和谐永远不能被视为理所当然。

他说：“正是在这样的时刻，我们才真正理解了《国家誓词》的全部含义，以及我们尽一切努力践行这些理想是多么重要。”

新加坡总理黄循财警告称，种族歧视行为若不加以制止，可能会加深不信任感，并“撕裂我们”。

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