Blog editor under investigation for racist posting
An editor for a commentary blog is currently being investigated for allegedly publishing a racially offensive post on the Internet.
Donaldson Tan, the editor of New Asia Republic, re-posted a photo of a pig atop the Islamic sacred site Kaaba with the comment, "This is a flame bait. YOU ARE WARNED."
When Yahoo! Singapore spoke to Tan, he explained that he re-posted the photo to alert others that it was a flame bait being circulated on Facebook.
"If I were a Muslim, the Muslim community would have thanked me for being civic-minded. However, being a non-Muslim, my actions were interpreted as anti-Islamic and this has led to an outrage among a faction of concerned netizens, particularly religious vigilantes," said Tan.
Tan's post is the third in a week to be reported as racist. Earlier last week, Young PAP member Jason Neo and National Serviceman Christian Eliab Ratnam had their online postings reported to the police as well.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement the police is investigating several complaints of offensive postings on religion on the Internet. MHA also said that the public should let the investigations take their course and refrain from adding comments that may further inflame the situation.
"The right to free speech does not extend to making remarks that incite racial and religious friction and conflict," MHA said in a statement.
"The authorities take a very serious view of all instances of racial and religious incitement," the ministry added.
