For some inexplicable reason, some people enjoy blaming citizens of a country where COVID-19 has been rampant.
These xenophobes don’t take into account nuances like government action or virus behaviour, things that can have a significant impact on a coronavirus outbreak.
When the virus first emerged in China, for instance, Chinese people all over the world were getting racially abused.
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And now that the disease happens to be ravaging India, Indians are bearing the brunt of this abuse.
Man Allegedly Uttered Racist Remarks at Indian Family at Pasir Ris Beach
A video of a man yelling at and accusing an Indian expatriate family of spreading the coronavirus has made its way online.
The incident took place at Pasir Ris Beach Park on 2 May just after 6pm. The video of the incident was shared by Mothership on on 7 May.
In the video, a belligerent man in grey can be seen shouting at another man in pink. The man in grey constantly accuses the other of not wearing a mask and “challenging” him.
For reasons no one knows, the man in grey keeps repeating the fact that he served national service here and even named the unit he was in.
“Where did you serve your NS?” he asked the other man.
“This is my country. Back off. Maintain your distance.”
“You are coming here. You are spreading the virus,” the man in grey said.
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The man in grey claims that it was the family that started the argument, but according to the family, this wasn’t the case.
Allegedly Said “Bloody Indians Go Back”
According to the expatriate woman who shared the video with Mothership, the man had carefully avoided making xenophobic comments on the video as he knew he was being recorded.
Her husband – the man in pink in the video – and her two children were with her at the time of the incident. The two children were off-camera.
The woman claimed that it all started when the man in grey allegedly shouted in their direction, “Bloody Indians go back, spreading virus here,” when they walked past him while he was seated on a bench.
The family ignored the man’s comments at first, but when he repeated his taunts after they walked past him again, the woman’s husband finally confronted the man.
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The husband told him that he “cannot call us as bloody Indian” as “it’s a slang”.
It’s at this point that the man in grey took out his phone to record the family and began his rant.
The woman said her family were at the park for two hours and wore their masks the whole time. The only time they removed their masks was to have a drink, and this is when the man in grey accused them of not wearing their masks.
Throughout the video, the man in pink kept asking the other a simple question: “Why did you say ‘Bloody Indians’?”
But he got no answer.
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Police Investigating Incident
The man in grey will have to answer to the police, however, as he’s now being investigated for public nuisance and uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the racial feelings of others.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that on May 2, 2021, at about 6pm, the man had allegedly uttered offensive remarks towards an Indian family and confronted a male member of the family for not wearing his mask at Pasir Ris Beach Park,” the police said.
If convicted of causing public nuisance, the man faces up to three months in jail, a fine of up to S$2,000, or both.
Offenders who utter words with deliberate intent to wound the racial feelings of any person can be imprisoned for up to three years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
The police said they take a serious view of acts that have the potential to threaten racial harmony in Singapore.
Shocked By Incident
Speaking to Mothership, the woman said her family was shocked that something like this has happened in Singapore, having been here for the last decade.
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Before this incident, they had never had any “racial comments” directed towards them.
Her children have been most affected by the incident, with her daughter saying: “I am born in Singapore and I am Singaporean — how can he call me bloody Indian?'”
That’s not the point, of course. Using racist or xenophobic language towards anyone, regardless of whether they are citizens of your country, is wrong.
While the family has tried to shake this off as a “one-off” incident with a “crazy guy”, they were deeply hurt by the man’s comments, given how devastating the COVID-19 outbreak has been in India.
“While India is gasping for life, these taunts stung as very hurtful comments,” she said.
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Featured Image: Google Maps
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