Ho Ching Called Out People Who Made Racist Posts, Said It’s a ‘Cowardly Act of Hate’

Several netizens have been accusing local companies of unfair hiring practices in the last few weeks.

One of them was Temasek, the investment company owned by the government of Singapore.

In these posts, netizens alleged that these companies hired more Indian citizens than Singaporeans, implying that they had a biased hiring process. Some posts also shared screenshots of the LinkedIn profiles of their Indian workers, with their faces and names visible.

On 14 Aug 2020, Temasek released a media statement in response to the posts, calling them “divisive” and accusing its authors of racism and “hate speech”.

Now, their CEO has something to say about the matter.

Ho Ching Called Out People Who Made Racist Posts, Said It’s a ‘Cowardly Act of Hate’

Ho Ching has slammed netizens who doxxed her staff and accused Temasek of unfair hiring practices without evidence to support their claims.

In a Facebook post on Sunday (16 Aug), Ho called the campaign against her Indian workers a “cowardly act of hate”, one that “stirs up racial biases”.

She said that while it’s acceptable to complain about unfair hiring practices if it’s based on facts and not hearsay, it’s unreasonable and improper to “tarnish individuals” and dox them based on false claims.

“… let’s not put up photos of innocent folks to dox them just bcos we don’t like their race or nationality, as a way to stir hate and hatred”, she wrote.

Ho also urged people who are dissatisfied with a company’s hiring practices to register their complaints with the authorities instead of venting their frustrations online, at the expense of her Indian employees.

She warned that their xenophobic sentiments could very easily devolve into racist ones.

“It’s a very short distance between hating one nationality to one race, and very soon, anyone who is different.”

Instead of crying foul online, Ho encouraged Singaporeans to acquire the necessary skills to stay relevant in a competitive workforce.

“Better still, let’s reskill, upskill, to remain relevant in a fast changing world.”

Ho added that the country’s prosperity is in part attributable to the skills and ideas we have gained from workers from other countries, and that we should view our diversity as a strength.

“We have made our living connecting and interconnecting with the world and the region. We have always found a place at the table serving the region and the world.” she wrote.

“That are skills and ideas we can offer to the world, just as we can pick up skills and ideas from others in the world”.

Foreign Workers Aiding Singapore’s Fight Against Covid-19

In a subsequent post published a couple of hours later, Ho said that 400 of her staff stepped forward to help the country battle the coronavirus outbreak, and that “no one checked their race, religion, or passports”.

She said her volunteers have entered migrant worker dormitories to help with swabbing and sorting operations, volunteered in trials to assess the accuracy of Covid-19 test kits, and worked in the development of drugs and medical equipment, among other things.

Ho says that her volunteers are from all over the globe, and that the country couldn’t battle this pandemic on its own.

“Our volunteer staff in Singapore come from India, China, Thailand, France, and a host of other countries besides Singapore.”

“We didn’t work alone by ourselves”, she said.