Singapore police question 5 over 'racist comments' linked to Nepal floods and Air India

Singapore police have questioned five people over alleged racist and xenophobic comments posted online in connection with the Nepal-Tibet floods and Singapore Airlines' (SIA) investment in Air India.

The development comes after Senior Minister K Shanmugam said police were examining what he described as "shameful" online remarks linked to the two issues.

Five people questioned

According to Channel News Asia, police said on Wednesday that they had received reports about online comments concerning both matters and had begun investigations.

Five people aged between 29 and 66 have been identified and interviewed, police said.

"We will continue to investigate and identify those responsible for these online comments."

Police said they take such conduct seriously, particularly when online remarks could hurt racial sentiments or encourage hostility and ill will between different racial groups.

With the investigation still underway, authorities said they could not provide further details about individual cases.

Shanmugam cites racist posts

Shanmugam, who is also Home Affairs Minister, had on Saturday highlighted several comments posted online about missing Singaporeans amid the Nepal-Tibet floods.

Among the remarks he cited were "No they are not our own", "I only see Indian faces here. Skip. Rescue cut", and "All ABNNs look the same, how to AI?"

Shanmugam said "ABNN" is a derogatory term used against Indians. He said more than a thousand people had died in the disaster and Singaporeans remained unaccounted for, yet such comments continued to appear online.

Air India investment also triggers backlash

A separate wave of what Shanmugam described as "anti-Indian, racist ranting" followed reports that Air India was seeking fresh equity from its shareholders, including SIA.

SIA holds a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India through its partnership with the Tata Group.

Shanmugam said the Ministry of Digital Development and Information would approach social media platforms to seek removal of comments that violate their guidelines.

"The media tells me that they had to remove several comments because they were so nasty. I don't know if all the comments are all made by Singaporeans. But, I will say this – the comments are shameful, nasty, totally unacceptable,” added Shanmugam.

PM Wong warns against normalising prejudice

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also addressed the issue, saying Singapore should not allow prejudice against any community to become 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 on Sunday.