British expat Anton Casey on anti-Singaporean Facebook posts: Please forgive me
A private wealth manager in Singapore who sparked outrage online for referring to public transport commuters as "poor people" has apologised.
In a statement issued through Fulford Public Relations on Tuesday, British national Anton Casey said, "I deeply regret having offended and disrespected the people of Singapore. I have the highest respect and regard for Singapore and the good people of Singapore; this is my home."
Several of Casey's comments caused public outrage when screengrabs of his Facebook posts surfaced on various Singapore websites and forums on Monday.
In one post showing a photo of his son seated on an MRT train, Casey said, "Daddy where is your car & who are all these poor people?"
Of another photo showing his son in his Porsche, he said in a post, "Ahhhhhhhhh reunited with my baby. Normal service can resume, once I have washed the stench of public transport off me...!"
In another post, he called a Singapore male cabbie a "retard" for wearing arm warmers and mittens and having a towel on his lap.
"After 11 years of residency, I am still trying to understand THESE people!" he added.
Casey, who is believed to be staying in Sentosa Cove and is married to 2003 Miss Singapore Universe pageant winner Bernice Wong, said that due to a "security breach" of his personal Facebook page and the misuse of an old video by unknown sources, his family, especially his five-year-old son, "suffered extreme emotional and verbal abuse online".
Many people who saw the posts and video reacted negatively, with many calling the expatriate "arrogant" and urging him and his family to get out of Singapore.
"It must be made extremely clear that a YouTube video of me, with my son in the background, was not posted in response to any recent events. This video was made weeks prior and has been misused to portray me as unreprentant," he said.
Casey added that police investigations were ongoing into the matter, including death threats his family have received.
He also urged people to forgive him and give him a second chance, noting that his five-year-old son "is an innocent party to this unfortunate and extremely stressful situation".
"I wish for nothing more than to be forgiven for my poor judgement and given a second chance to rebuild the trust people have had in me as a resident of this wonderful Country," he concluded.
One male expatriate who got to know Casey and his family over the past several months told Yahoo Singapore that the wealth manager had a very British sense of humour, which can be very scathing, "but it can cross lines and it did cross lines".
"I had to defriend him on Facebook because I couldn't stand the rubbish he was writing about all sorts of people," the expat said, adding that Casey's wife and son though were "sweet".
Here is a video of Anton being interviewed about Singapore's private wealth industry in 2010.
