A 29-year-old man, Subhas Nair will be charged on 1 November 2021 with four counts of attempting to promote feelings of ill-will between different groups on grounds of religion and race, under Section 298A(a) of the Penal Code.
On 25 July 2020, Mr Nair posted comments on his social media account in response to a video of Chinese Christians who had made hateful comments against another community. He allegedly commented that Malay Muslims who make the same hateful comments would be treated differently by the authorities compared to the Chinese Christians.
On 15 October 2020, in relation to the alleged murder at Orchard Towers on 2 July 2019, Mr Nair is alleged to have attempted to promote feelings of ill-will between Chinese and Indians by claiming that one of the Chinese accused persons involved in the murder of an Indian man received lenient treatment by the authorities by virtue of his race.
On 11 March 2021, while already under Police investigations relating to the 15 October 2020 social media post, Mr Nair allegedly attempted, during an indoor stage performance, to promote feelings of ill-will between Chinese and Indians by exhibiting a cartoon drawing of his 15 October 2020 social media post.
On 29 July 2019, Mr Nair is alleged to have published a racially-charged rap video, which he had produced, on the Internet. The video attempted to promote feelings of ill-will between Chinese and other races. For this incident, he was given a 24-month conditional warning by the Police on 14 August 2019. One of the terms of the warning stipulates that if he reoffends, he may be prosecuted for the offence for which he was warned, in addition to prosecution for the alleged fresh offences. As he breached the conditions of this warning by allegedly committing the offences on 25 July 2020, 15 October 2020, and 11 March 2021, he is now being charged for this 29 July 2019 offence.
The offence of attempting to promote feelings of ill-will between different groups on grounds of religion or race, under Section 298A(a) of the Penal Code, carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, or a fine, or both.
Allegations that the law or law enforcement agencies accord differential treatment based on religion or race are baseless and have the potential to damage religious and racial harmony in Singapore and erode public trust in our law enforcement agencies. The Police will not hesitate to take action against those who make such baseless allegations.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
28 October 2021 @ 9:00 PM