Singapore: A senior ex-lecturer of Chinese origin has been penalised with five weeks' jail and a fine of SGD 6,000 here on Thursday for making racist remarks against a half-Indian origin man and his half-Chinese origin girlfriend in June last year. Tan Boon Lee, 61, pleaded guilty last month to two charges of wounding a person's racial feelings and possessing obscene films, Channel News Asia reported.
Tan was penalised with five weeks in jail and a fine of SGD 6,000 (USD 4,450), the report added. Tan made the remarks to an interracial couple-- Dave Parkash, a 26-year-old half-India and half-Filipino, and his girlfriend Jacqueline Ho who is half-Singaporean Chinese and half-Thai.
A video of Tan's remarks against the interracial couple went viral on social media last year. Tan made humiliating remarks calling their relationship-- "such a disgrace, an Indian man with a Chinese girl". The ensuing confrontation was recorded by Ho and the video went viral on social media after Dave shared it saying that he "feel embarrassed, humiliated, and hurt by how he was treated by another fellow Singaporean."
In the video, Tan is seen to be addressing Dave saying, "Chinese don't like it" when "you're preying on a Chinese girl", adding, "If you are proud of your own race, you marry somebody Indian. Tan admitted to making the racist remarks with no remorse. He said he felt that interracial relationships were "taboo", "predatory" and something that "no Chinese parents would want for their daughters".
According to him, it was racist for Indian males to pursue girls of lighter skin tones and they were deliberately inciting social disharmony by doing so. He also felt that it was Parkash who was trying to stir hatred by posting about the incident online. During investigations, the police also found 64 obscene videos on Tan's phone.
In Singapore, the penalties for deliberately hurting the religious or racial feelings of a person include a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both, while those who possess obscene films may be fined up to SGD 40,000 (nearly USD 2,97,00) or jailed for up to a year, or both. Two other charges of committing acts that he knew were prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious groups and which were likely to disturb public tranquillity were taken into consideration.
District Judge Victor Yeo called Tan's behaviour "outrageous" and "openly hostile", the report said. While Tan's daughter ran away from home with her Indian boyfriend due to familial issues, it cannot be an excuse or justification for Tan's offensive and hurtful behaviour, said the judge. (PTI)
