The Singapore government has pledged to take action against a wave of racist and xenophobic abuse directed at Indians online in connection with the Nepal-Tibet floods and Singapore Airlines' (SIA) investment in Air India. Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam have both cautioned that allowing such rhetoric to go unchecked could normalise racial prejudice and undermine the city-state's carefully maintained multiracial harmony.
PM Wong said on Sunday (September 6) that Singapore "must never allow prejudice against any community to become accepted or normalised", after online discussions surrounding the two issues took what he described as "an uglier side".
The Prime Minister's comments came a day after Home Minister Shanmugam, who is of Indian origin, said police were investigating "shameful, nasty, totally unacceptable" racist and xenophobic posts.
The statements from Wong and Shanmugam followed a wave of hateful comments targeting Indians after the August 26 flash floods in Nepal, in which nine Singaporeans went missing, as well as reports that Air India had sought about $1.5 billion from its shareholders, including SIA.
Shanmugam cited several online comments targeting the missing Singaporeans, including "No they are not our own" and remarks suggesting that rescue efforts should be withheld because some of those affected appeared to be Indian. He also pointed out that "ABNN", used in one of the posts, is a derogatory term for Indians.
In Singapore's predominantly Chinese-origin society, Indians face racial discrimination in everyday life. According to a research paper by Selvaraj Velayutham of Macquarie University, one major factor behind anti-Indian sentiment is the perception that Indians have a relatively high socio-economic standing compared with their population size, making them appear as a prosperous and successful community in Singapore.
MUST NEVER ALLOW PREJUDICE AGAINST ANY COMMUNITY: SINGAPORE PM
Singapore PM Wong said on Sunday that Singapore "must never allow prejudice against any community to become accepted or normalised".
"We can and should have robust debates. But we should never use seemingly legitimate arguments as a cover to fuel prejudice against any community or hostility towards foreigners," Wong said, according to Singapore-based broadcaster Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
The Prime Minister said racist remarks had surfaced during discussions about the nine Singaporeans who remain missing after the devastating Nepal floods. He added that questions over SIA's investment in Air India had similarly been accompanied by anti-Indian abuse.
Wong stressed that such views were not representative of Singapore as a whole, but warned that they could not simply be brushed aside as harmless online comments.
"If such behaviour goes unchecked, it can become normalised, deepen mistrust between communities, and pull us apart," he said, adding that he had discussed the developments with his Cabinet colleagues.
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Wong's remarks came a day after Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said police were investigating the "shameful, nasty, totally unacceptable" racist and xenophobic comments.
Shanmugam, who also serves as Singapore's Coordinating Minister for National Security, told reporters on Saturday (September 5) that he had instructed police to investigate the posts. The Ministry of Digital Development and Information will also approach social media platforms to seek the removal of comments that breach their guidelines, CNA reported.
The comments emerged as the Nepal floods had killed more than a thousand people and left nine Singaporeans unaccounted for.
Singapore has a population of more than six million. Ethnic Chinese account for about 75% of the population, Malays around 15% and Indians approximately 9%, along with other communities.
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A separate wave of online abuse centred on Singapore Airlines' (SIA) investment in Air India. Questions regarding Air India's fundraising and SIA's involvement were accompanied by what Shanmugam described as "anti-Indian, racist ranting".
He said some posts referred to "snakes, curry, prata, black magic" and other racial stereotypes. The backlash also targeted Temasek, SIA's majority shareholder, and its CEO Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara.
Shanmugam said some social media users had claimed that Pillay, who is of Indian ethnicity, would favour Air India because of his background. Singapore's Home Affairs Minister rejected the claim as racist and libellous, emphasising that Pillay is "as Singaporean as any of us".
The minister warned that allowing ethnicity to become a reason for attacking individuals over corporate or government decisions could have implications far beyond the Air India deal.
"If we allow this, in future, everyone can be attacked for their decisions based on their ethnicities," he said. Shanmugam added that those responsible should be identified and dealt with instead of being allowed to conceal themselves behind online anonymity.
Singapore's media has also taken measures to curb the abuse. CNA's social-media moderation policy restricts users who post hate speech, racist material or offensive comments. The broadcaster said it had removed several comments and, on some posts related to the Nepal-Tibet disaster, disabled comments entirely because of the scale and continued nature of the offensive content.
RACIST ATTACKS ON INDIAN ETHNICITY, NOT NEW IN SINGAPORE
Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged the country's leaders to speak "with force and conviction" when incidents involving racial hatred occur.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Lee recalled similar anti-Indian sentiment during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, saying fears surrounding the virus had turned into hostility towards Indians. Lee, who served as Singapore's Prime Minister for 20 years, also mentioned the 2025 General Election, when Wong had to deal with attempts to use religion to influence Muslim voters against the government.
He called on Singaporeans to reject hatred and stand in solidarity with those grieving the victims of the Nepal disaster, irrespective of race, language or religion.
The Singapore government's response to both incidents reflects its wider approach to racial and religious harmony. Singapore considers such harmony not simply a social ideal but a fundamental part of national stability. For PM Wong and his Cabinet, the challenge is therefore not only to remove offensive posts, but also to ensure that online prejudice against a community — in this case, Indians — does not become accepted as part of Singapore's public discourse.
