"I hope you learn to stop being a racist"
An Indian-origin man was subjected to racist abuse in Singapore for dating a Chinese woman.
The incident happened on June 5, 2021, near Far East Shopping Centre.
Footage of the incident was shared on social media.
Dave Parkash and his girlfriend were confronted by a Singaporean man who told them that they should only date people from their own race.
In the video, the man accused Dave of “preying on a Chinese girl”.
The man then said that the woman should not be with an Indian man, questioning if her parents would be proud of her for doing so.
Dave told the man that he had crossed the line.
Dave later said in the video that he is half-Indian and half-Filipino while his girlfriend is half-Singaporean Chinese and half-Thai.
He said: “We both are of mixed race but we are proud to be Singaporeans.”
He revealed that he felt “embarrassed, humiliated and hurt” by the way he and his girlfriend were treated.
Dave said of the man: “He called himself a racist and even blamed us for being racist just because (we) are from different races.
“Love is love. Love has no race, love has no religion.
“You and I should be able to love whoever we wanna love. Let’s not become like this man in the video.”
He added: “To this man who may end up watching this, I hope you learn to stop being a racist and let us all live in harmony.”
The video went viral and netizens called for the authorities to take action against the man.
One user praised Dave for staying calm throughout the incident:
“You guys are a beautiful couple. Keep the love strong and ignore this self-entitled caveman.”
Another said: “The behaviour of the guy in red is disgusting. I would have called the cops on him.”
Lawyer and activist Amrin Amin said: “What a bigot! I hope there’s a better explanation for his racist rant.
“I’m concerned by this and other recent incidents of racism. I’m very worried with what I see.
“Even more by what’s not said and heard. Such racist outbursts are usually just the tip of the iceberg.”
“I remember during dialogues on Elected Presidency a few had shared that Singapore is post-race and race does not matter as much it was a scare tactic that had no basis. I’m not so sure.
“Base instincts are hard to erase. There’s more to do to combat racism.
“For a start, we should call out racists and reject the views they brazenly exhibit as a disgrace and affront to our values.”
The matter also attracted the government’s attention, with Home Minister K Shanmugam describing the incident as “very worrying”.
He said that although the video’s details are yet to be verified, it looks to have been a “horrible” thing to have happened.
Shanmugam said: “It seems like more people are finding it acceptable, to make ‘in your face’ racist statements openly.
“And some try to explain away, each time something like this happens.”
He added that it was “quite unacceptable” and “very worrying”.
“I used to believe that Singapore was moving in the right direction on racial tolerance and harmony. Based on recent events, I am not so sure anymore.”
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