Singapore — An Indian-origin man who made racist remarks to a family from India last May was given a stern warning by the police.
A video of the exchange between the man and the expatriate family, which can be viewed here, was reported to have occurred on May 2, at about 6 pm at Pasir Ris Beach Park.
It was then featured on Mothership.sg on May 10, after the family handed in footage of the incident.
Police told CNA on Tuesday (Aug 17) that the man was investigated for public nuisance and uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the racial feelings of others.
In the video submitted by the family, a man in a grey shirt is seen addressing the family of four, consisting of a husband and wife, both aged 42, their son, 11 and daughter, 7.
The wife had written to Mothership.sg to share the “traumatising” incident, noting that it was the first time they had been subjected to “racial comments” in the ten years they’ve lived in Singapore.
The man in is said to have shouted in their direction, “Bloody Indians, go back, spreading virus here.”
He allegedly repeated this statement before the husband walked up to him and said he couldn’t call them “bloody Indians” because “it’s a slang.”
After this occurred, the wife began recording the incident.
Eventually, the man in the grey shirt changed his point to turn it into a mask issue, as the husband did not have his face mask on when he needed to drink water; however, the taunts were clear, said the wife.
In the video, the man in grey can be heard identifying himself as a Singaporean and an NSman. He also questioned the husband about where he served his NS.
According to the police, the family had got alarmed when the man made such comments including as “back off” and “maintain your distance.”
The police added, “The investigations also revealed that the man stopped his behaviour after intervention from a member of the public without any further escalation.”
After they ended the investigation and consulted with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the man was given a stern warning on Jun 22 for an offence of causing alarm under Section 4(2) of the Protection from Harassment Act.
A person found guilty of public nuisance could be made to pay a fine of $2,000, be jailed for up to three months, or both.
As for the offence of uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the racial feelings of any person, a person found guilty could be made to pay a fine of $5,000, be jailed for as long as three years, or both. /TISG
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