‘Shameful, nasty’: Singapore minister slams racist comments on Indians, police step in

Shanmugam, who is coordinating minister for national security, said he had decided to call out those posting such comments so that the behaviour is not normalised—which, he warned, would debase public discourse and damage social harmony.

“These people should be unmasked and dealt with, rather than be allowed to hide behind online anonymity,” he said.

Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information will also ask platforms to take the comments down, as they breach guidelines, he added.

9 Singaporeans missing in Nepal

The floods, triggered by a glacier collapse in the Himalayas, have killed more than 1,200 people in Nepal. Shanmugam singled out posts suggesting that the missing Singaporeans were “not our own” and one that used ABNN, a derogatory term for Indians. He asked what kind of person would say such things about people who are missing.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs later circulated 20 examples of racist comments it had come across, most of them from the comments sections of local news outlets’ social media pages. Among the slurs used was the phrase “CECA faces”—a reference to the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, the India-Singapore free trade pact signed in June 2005 that has long been a lightning rod in Singapore’s debate over foreign workers.

The Air India flashpoint

Shanmugam also flagged online attacks on Temasek chief executive Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara and the state investor’s senior management, including claims that he would favour Air India because he is ethnically Indian. The minister called the attacks “vile”, and said the suggestion was nasty and libellous. Temasek is the majority shareholder in Singapore Airlines.

Singapore Airlines holds a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India, with Tata Sons owning the rest. Reuters reported last month that the airline had asked both shareholders for roughly 1.5 billion dollars in fresh equity. Air India and Air India Express together posted losses of about 2.33 billion dollars in the financial year ending March 2026, weighing on Singapore Airlines’ earnings.