Tan Tock Seng Hospital dismisses Filipino nurse for offensive comments
[UPDATE 9 January 2015, 9:45pm: Tan Tock Seng Hospital dismisses nurse for offensive comments made on social media.]
Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has dismissed Filipino nurse Ello Ed Mundsel Bello with immediate effect, "for his offensive online comments made in 2014 while in our hospital’s employment", it said in a post on its Facebook page on Friday evening.
TTSH said, "Mr Bello had joined us in October 2014 and had been under probation.
"In the course of our investigations, we were alerted to and reviewed three earlier online posts made by Mr Bello in 2014 that touched on race and religion:
i) An offensive Facebook comment on Singapore;
ii) Two offensive comments on religion on his Google Plus page
"Mr Bello has confirmed that he had made these three posts.
"These comments were highly irresponsible and offensive to Singapore and religion. They have distressed members of the public and our hospital staff. His conduct goes against our staff values of respect, professionalism and social responsibility. As a public healthcare institution, we take a very serious view and have zero tolerance on conduct that is offensive and detrimental to multi-cultural harmony in Singapore."
TTSH added that its decision for dismissal is independent of the ongoing police investigation of the more recent alleged posts made in January 2015. "We are still in full cooperation with the police on the alleged comments," the hospital added.
The police are investigating what the nurse has reported as a hack into his Facebook account, which was used to post anti-Singapore sentiments.
“Dear all, the staff concerned is one of our nurses. He has reported to the police that his Facebook account has been hacked. We are cooperating with the police on the investigation. Thank you for the alerts and concern,” TTSH had said in a statement on its Facebook page on Sunday.
The post which started going viral on Saturday was made from the Filipino male nurse's Facebook account and it called Singaporeans “losers” and said Filipinos will “take their jobs, their future, their women” and evict Singaporeans from their own country.
Reactions to the post were mostly of disbelief, with some questioning the authenticity of the post, while others flooded the hospital's Facebook page with complaints questioning why such a staff was employed by the hospital.
In 2014, British expatriate Anton Casey made headlines in Singapore for his Facebook post saying that people who took public transport were poor and smelly. His comments enraged many, prompting death threats and online harassment. The Briton eventually left his job and flew to Perth with his family.
