SINGAPORE: Rapper Subhas Nair began serving a six-week prison sentence on Wednesday (Feb 5) after his High Court appeal was dismissed, said his lawyer, Too Xing Ji. Nair, 32, was sentenced on Sept 5, 2023, after being convicted of attempting to promote ill will between different groups on grounds of religion and race through his online posts between 2019 and 2021.

The rapper, whose full name is Subhas Govin Prabhakar Nair, appealed against his conviction and sentence in 2024.

However, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said on Feb 5 that she agreed with the lower court’s decision. She said, “In light of the magnitude of potential harm which may result, the dominant consideration of deterrence applies with even more force today, especially given the delicate nature of religious and racial issues.”

She added that the sentence was neither “disproportionate” nor “crushing”.

The charges against Subhas

The rapper was first charged over a July 2019 video he made together with his sister and fellow artist, Preeti Nair. It was in response to an ad that showed a Chinese actor, Dennis Chew, in brownface portraying people of different races, including a Malay woman and an Indian man. In August of that year, police gave the two artists a 24-month conditional warning for their rap video.

See also  Man deletes company files after getting fired with 1-day's notice even though he had resigned earlier

“We wanted to end brownface in Singapore,” Nair was quoted in TIME as saying, explaining why they made the video. “The goal is that no one should ever have to see this again.”

In July 2020, Nair posted comments on social media, responding to a video of Chinese Christians who had made hateful comments against another community.

A few months later, on Oct 15, he commented on the July 2019 murder of an Indian man at Orchard Towers, saying that one of the accused, a Chinese, was treated leniently because of his race.

Finally, in March 2021, the rapper showed a cartoon drawing of his Oct 15 social media post during a stage performance, whereby he again reportedly attempted to promote feelings of ill will between Chinese and Indians.

CNA reported: In making the case for Nair’s appeal, his lawyer said the rapper’s intention had been “primarily to address perceived social injustices, and criticise (the) government, media, and societal shortcomings, without any aim to incite public disorder or violence”. /TISG

See also  Grace Fu says she personally did not find anything problematic with "brownface" ad given the context

Read related: 6 weeks’ jail given to Subhas Nair for ‘attempting to promote ill will’ among races & religions; rapper intends to appeal conviction