Singapore must never allow prejudice against any community to become accepted or normalised, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said as he addressed a wave of anti-Indian comments that emerged online following the devastating floods in Nepal, in which nine Singaporeans remain missing.
In a Facebook post on Sep 6, Wong said Singapore had held together because it had consistently rejected attempts to divide the country along racial or religious lines and had instead chosen to recognise one another as fellow Singaporeans. He urged citizens to continue making that choice and to hold fast to the ideals of the National Pledge, “regardless of race, language or religion”.
Wong acknowledged that people would always seek to exploit Singapore’s differences, but said how the country responded remained a choice for Singaporeans. While not every hateful comment posted online could be stopped, he said society could reject such views and refuse to give them “more space or legitimacy”.
His remarks came after anti-Indian comments surfaced online in connection with the Nepal floods and also in discussions surrounding SIA’s investment in Air India. The comments prompted a broader response from Singapore’s political leadership, amid concerns that racist and xenophobic views could gain wider acceptance if left unchecked.
Singapore, Wong said, should continue to allow robust debate. However, he warned that apparently legitimate arguments should not be used as a cover for prejudice against any community or hostility towards foreigners. “We should be clear about the distinction,” he said.
“These views do not represent Singapore,” Wong said, while cautioning against dismissing them as harmless online chatter. If such behaviour went unchecked, he said, it could become normalised, deepen mistrust between communities and pull Singaporeans apart.
Wong said he had discussed the developments with his Cabinet colleagues, after Senior Minister K Shanmugam spoke about the issue on Sep 5. Shanmugam said the police were looking into the racist and xenophobic comments, some of which he described as “shameful, nasty and totally unacceptable”. The remarks included references to snakes, curry, prata, black magic and other racist stereotypes.
The Ministry of Digital Development and Information would also ask online platforms to remove such comments because they breached guidelines, Shanmugam said.
Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong also spoke out against the comments on Sep 6, describing them as deeply troubling and urging Singaporeans to “reject hatred”. The statements from the country’s senior political figures placed racial and religious cohesion at the centre of the response to the online backlash.
Wong noted that the emergence of such comments was not a new phenomenon. Anti-foreigner and racial sentiments had also been stirred during the Covid-19 pandemic and in debates over the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between Singapore and India. Similar sentiments surfaced during the 2025 General Election, when Wong spoke out against attempts to bring race and religion into politics.
For Wong, the issue ultimately concerns how Singapore defines itself. The country’s identity, he said, must remain open and inclusive.
“Whatever our background, if we embrace our values and way of life, we are part of this nation. This is what our National Pledge stands for, and I believe the vast majority of Singaporeans share this view,” he said.
