A former Ngee Ann Polytechnic senior lecturer was sentenced to five weeks in prison and a $6,000 fine on Thursday for making racist comments to an interethnic couple in a widely shared video from 2021.
Tan Boon Lee, 61, had previously pled guilty to two charges: one count of injuring a person's racial feelings, for which he was sentenced to prison, and another count of having obscene films, for which he was fined.
His punishment took into account an additional two counts of performing activities that he knew would be damaging to the preservation of religious harmony.
In sentencing him, Chief District Judge Victor Yeo stated that Tan's words were "very disturbing" since they implied that there was anything wrong with belonging to a specific race and may thus threaten racial peace in Singapore.
"I cannot disregard (the couple's) shame and pain, as well as the resulting public unrest. "He had crossed the line," the court declared.
On June 5, 2021, Tan, who was a lecturer in the engineering department at Ngee Ann Polytechnic at the time, made racial remarks to Mr. Dave Parkash, 26, in the vicinity of Angullia Park on Orchard Road.
Ms. Jacqueline Ho was dating Mr. Parkash, a Singaporean who is half-Indian and half-Filipino at the time.
Tan encountered the pair as they were headed towards a parking lot on Orchard Boulevard and remarked, "What a shame, an Indian man with a Chinese woman!"
Ms. Ho, who is half-Thai and half-Singaporean Chinese, filmed the subsequent conflict, and Mr. Parkash uploaded the nine-minute clip to Facebook.
Tan accused Mr. Parkash in the letter of "preying on a Chinese girl." He also stated that a Chinese woman and an Indian guy should not be together.
Tan said, "The only issue is that the Chinese do not appreciate it when you prey on Chinese girls."
Additionally, he urged Mr. Parkash, "If you are proud of your own race, you should marry an Indian."
Tan then stated that the parents of Mr. Parkash's girlfriend would be ashamed since she was dating an Indian man.
He said, "You never see a Chinese man courting an Indian woman. There is a motive. There is an issue with the race, and there is an issue with the color. If she is Native American, you may dislike her. (Your girlfriend) is of Chinese descent."
Tan offered an official apology on Facebook around one month after his outburst.
In June 2021, police discovered 64 pornographic movies on Tan's phone.
These movies depicted women engaging in sexual behaviors; he got them from online sources or received them from his buddies for his own gratification.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yeow Xuan requested that Tan serve at least four weeks in jail, stating that his racial statements were "vile and persistent."
Eugene Thuraisingam, the defense attorney, sought a community-based punishment for his client. In November, he told the court that his client had taught at Ngee Ann Polytechnic for almost three decades and had never discriminated on the basis of race or religion.
In addition, he stated that Tan's daughter ran away with her Indian lover, which weighed heavily on his client's thoughts when he spotted the pair.
The court stated on Thursday that despite Tan's belief that Mr. Parkash was attempting to disrupt racial peace by sharing the video, it was Tan who approached the couple and conveyed his displeasure at them. Although he was aware that Ms. Ho was recording the whole episode, he continued to make racist and cruel statements.
The court remarked that it was to the couple's credit that they remained reasonably cool despite Tan's constant harassment, as the situation might have easily escalated into the use of profanity or physical force.
The judge stated that the amount of police complaints containing racial or religious tension has increased over the years, and that the courts must deal with such offenses harshly.
Those who intentionally injure the religious or racial emotions of a person face up to three years in prison, a fine, or both.
Possession of obscene videos may result in a fine of up to $40,000, a year in prison, or both.
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