A member of the public has posted a query with the Singapore Police Force (SPF) over a four-year old incident involving a former Young PAP (YPAP) member.
Mr Paul Chen, posting on the SPF’s Facebook page on Tuesday, was referring to the incident involving then YPAP member, Jason Neo, in 2011.
Mr Neo had posted online a photo he had taken of a school bus with Malay children from Huda Kindergarten, in Woodlands. The children were dressed in their uniform which includes traditional Malay headwear.
Mr Neo captioned the photo: “Bus filled with young terrorist trainees?”
His post went viral and caused a huge uproar of protests from many Singaporeans and members of the public.
Two PAP Members of Parliament who were also YPAP leaders had to later tender their apologies personally to the school.
Under public pressure, Mr Neo later resigned from the YPAP altogether.
He had also issued an “unreserved apology” to the Muslim community.
At least three police reports were made against Mr Neo then, and the police were reported to be investigating the incident.
However, as Mr Chen pointed out, it has been four years since and no updates from the authorities on the investigations seem to have been provided.
Mr Chen’s query with the SPF compared Mr Neo’s case with that of the more recent one involving 16-year old Amos Yee, who was charged on Tuesday for a video criticising Christianity and ridiculing former Singapore Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.
“I would like to applaud SPF for the swift action against Amos Yee who made insensitive remarks against the religious in his youtube video which he posted some days ago,” Mr Yee told the police. “I understood that one of the charges he faced is section 298 of penal code…”
“I do understand the rationale behind this charge,” Mr Chen said. “However, there is another case which happened more than 3 years ago which involved a former YPAP member who made a racist remark on Muslim kids. I am sure his remarks hurt a lot of Muslim feelings. A few police reports were made against Jason Neo the person who made the remarks but as of now, there is no feed back from the I/O.”
He was referring to the police officer in charge of the Neo case.
“My question is, how come the time taken by the SPF to take action against these two persons [Yee and Neo] is so much different considering both of them committed the same crime under section 298 penal code (if i understand the penal code correctly)?”
Mr Chen concluded:
“I believe in the professionalism of SPF in carry out their duties fairly and equally regardless of who committed the crime. Looking forward to your reply soon.”
You can read his post on the SPF Facebook page here.
“If Amos Yee is being charged under section 298 penal code, then I am sure all the more Jason Neo should be charged under this code too,” Mr Chen told The Online Citizen (TOC).
“Jason Neo racist remarks are worse than what Amos has said.”
Another case in 2013 involved former NTUC assistant director of membership, Amy Cheong, who was an Australian citizen and a Singapore permanent resident.
Ms Cheong had posted a racist rant online where she disparaged Malays for what she perceived to be their low-cost and lengthy void-deck weddings, and also mocked their divorce rate.
She was eventually issued a “stern warning” by the authorities.
Ms Cheong has since returned to Australia.
