Shanmugam on racist comments amid Nepal floods, funding for Air India: 'These people should be unmasked and dealt with'沙穆加姆就尼泊尔洪灾期间的种族主义言论以及对印度航空的资助问题表示：“这些人应该被揭露并受到惩罚。”
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...
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.
"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.
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. He was born here, studied here."
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."
khooyihang@asiaone.com
内政部长尚穆根谴责了网上针对尼泊尔洪灾和印度航空融资公告发表的种族主义言论。
他在周六（9 月 5 日）的一份声明中说：“在尼泊尔洪水之后，以及新加坡航空公司（SIA）与印度航空公司（Air India）的关系之后，我们看到网上出现了一些非常恶劣的种族主义言论。”
上周三（8月26日），中国-尼泊尔边境发生山洪暴发，造成1200多人死亡，5000多人失踪，其中包括9名新加坡人。
新加坡最近提供了价值超过 56 万美元的人道主义援助物资，并派遣了一支新加坡警察部队的警员队伍前往协助。
尽管该国支持尼泊尔，但有些人并不认同这种观点，国家安全统筹部长兼高级部长尚穆根表示。
“在网上，你会看到一些关于失踪新加坡人的评论……说，‘不，他们不是我们自己人。我在这里看到的只有印度人的面孔。’”
虽然他不确定所有评论是否都是新加坡人发表的，但他强调这些评论“可耻、恶劣且完全不可接受”。
他说：“我已经要求警方调查这些言论。”
另据报道，印度航空已向其所有者塔塔集团和新加坡航空公司寻求额外 15 亿美元的新股权投资。
这也同样导致了网络上的反印度情绪，甚至淡马锡控股首席执行官迪尔汉·皮莱·桑德拉塞加拉和高级管理人员也成为了网络上负面评论的目标。
“（他们）还因为自己的种族而遭到恶毒、卑鄙的攻击，”SM Shanmugam说道。
“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。他出生在这里，也在这里求学。”
他强调，淡马锡的网站显示，印度是其过去十年表现最好的地区，淡马锡在印度的投资额高达数十亿美元，比世界上大多数公司都要高。
“但对于这群网络暴民来说，所有这些事实都不重要。重要的是他们的种族主义和他们自身的偏见，”他解释道。
“如果我们允许这种情况发生，将来每个人都可能因为自己的种族而受到攻击。”
“我认为应该揭露这些人的身份并予以惩处，而不是允许他们躲在网络匿名背后。”
SM Shanmugam 还表示，他将要求警方调查这些评论，以确定是否构成任何违法行为，同时数字发展和信息部也在努力要求平台删除此类评论。
“这并非我们新加坡人的形象。”
他强调了对种族主义采取强硬立场的重要性，并指出少数群体的种族主义观点可能会逐渐被正常化，甚至成为主流，从而产生连锁反应。
他警告说，当这种情况发生时，公共话语就会堕落，社会和谐就会受到影响，针对不同肤色或宗教信仰的人的暴力行为可能会变得可以接受。
他说，新加坡是一个面积小、多种族、多民族的国家，并补充道：“如果我们沿着种族或宗教界限分裂，我们将失去使新加坡强大的团结。”
“人们会心怀恶意，互相猜忌，我们都会因此受苦。我们绝不能容忍这种情况。这不符合我们新加坡人的价值观。”
khooyihang@asiaone.com