Deepali Kalia –
Zainal Abidin Shaiful Bahari, a 35 year old senior executive at a software company in Singapore and a Malay, who had made racially offensive tweets in April of last year which included condemning Indians immigrants about COVID 19 and saying slurs to them, had pleaded guilty to two charges each associated with committing acts which he knew to be prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different racial groups in Singapore.
Consequently, on 8th June he was given imprisonment for duration of 3 weeks.
District Judge S Jennifer Marie stated that since religion and race are very sensitive issues ,careless remarks regarding them can cause disorder in the society.
The Judge also added that racial tensions have intensified amid the ongoing pandemic, therefore it is significant that an example be set and a strong deterrent signal be sent.
“Further, when such remarks are published with the medium of the Internet, they have the ubiquitous reach and therefore amplify the potential and irreversible harm that could be caused to peace and racial harmony.” The Judge stated.
It was further remarked by the Judge that,“If you had really valued racial and cultural diversity, you should have appreciated all the more the need to preserve sensitivities given the multi-cultural fabric of Singapore.”
Police in April 2020 was called by a member of the public informing them that a tweet by the user ‘sharonliew86’ was condemning Indian immigrants about COVID 19.
Zainal used a pseudonym “Sharon Liew “and had sole control over the account.
Zainal’s lawyer in his defense stated that his client’s actions must be seen in the proper context and since Zainal is married to a Chinese woman and has many racially diverse friends, “He’s not a racist, obviously.”
The account was a parody account and Zainal had “Overstepped the mark” while “Trying to be funny”. His lawyer further contended.
Zainal could have been given imprisonment for up to 3 years, fined or both for each charge of committing an act prejudicial to racial harmony.