SINGAPORE: Rapper Subhas Nair on Wednesday (Feb 5) began his six-week jail term for attempting to promote ill will among racial and religious groups through online posts after a High Court dismissed his appeals.
The 32-year-old Singaporean, whose full name is Subhas Govin Prabhakar Nair, appealed against his conviction and sentence before Justice Hoo Sheau Peng over two days starting last year.
Dressed in a plain black shirt, Nair arrived at the High Court accompanied by his sister Preeti Nair on Wednesday.
In a brief oral decision, Justice Hoo said she agreed with the lower court's decision on conviction and sentence, adding that the six-week jail term was "not disproportionate or crushing".
Nair was found guilty of four charges by a district court in 2023 after a trial. The charges were over racially-charged statements he made between July 2019 and March 2021.
They relate to a YouTube video where he and Preeti performed a song containing the lyrics: "Chinese people always out here f***ing it up".
While Nair was given a two-year conditional warning by the police for the video, he reoffended by posting comments on social media.
He commented on a viral video by two Christians who linked the gay pride movement to Satan, and wrote: "If two Malay Muslims made a video promoting Islam and saying the kinds of hateful things these Chinese Christians said, ISD (Internal Security Department) would have been at the door before they even hit 'upload'."
In another incident, Nair made an Instagram post referring to a media interview of Chan Jia Xing, who was given a conditional warning for a reduced charge of consorting with a person who had a weapon. Chan was one of seven who were originally charged with murdering a man at Orchard Towers.
Nair wrote that "calling out racism and Chinese privilege" equalled a two-year conditional warning and "smear campaign in the media", while "actually conspiring to murder an Indian man" equalled half the sentence and a question of "you're having a baby soon right? Boy or girl" from the media.
Nair later performed a stage play where he displayed a hand-drawn replica of the comments related to Chan Jia Xing.
A District Judge eventually sentenced Nair to the prosecution's proposed jail term of six weeks in September 2023, resulting in the present appeal.
Among other arguments, Nair's lawyer Too Xing Ji sought to prove that his client's charges were not made out, as they required a malicious intent to promote racial hostility.
He said that Nair's first post suggested unequal policing between Chinese-Christians and the Malay-Muslims, while his second post was also a plea for equality on behalf of minority races and a call for justice, rather than an attempt to promote hatred.
Against this, the prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutors Jordon Li and Vincent Leow, argued that there was no need for proof of deliberate malicious intent to promote racial hostility.
Justice Hoo determined that the charge did not require malicious intent to promote racial hostility, and that Nair's comments went beyond "unequal policing".
The judge agreed with the lower court that Nair was "aiming to portray the ISD as affording preferential treatment to the Chinese-Christian community".
"Although the appellant claims that his words simply suggested unequal policing of Chinese-Christians and Malay-Muslims, I find this to be a self-serving interpretation unsupported by the objective text of his post."
She said that Nair's words suggested that ISD was "targeting" Malay-Muslims.
Nair was essentially alleging that Chinese-Christians were given "favourable, lenient treatment by the state", while Malay-Muslims were discriminated against, noted the judge.
"While valid criticism against the government is permitted and, indeed, a core tenet of a democratic society, one cannot hide behind the veil of governmental criticism to mask their attempts at stirring hatred between different groups in society," Justice Hoo said in her judgment.
In respect of the charge which involved Nair's comments on the case of Chan Jia Xing, Justice Hoo said she was not persuaded by his argument that he merely sought to highlight the unequal treatment of the racial groups.
She called the arguments "disingenuous attempts" to explain his conduct.
"In these circumstances, it cannot be doubted that feelings of ill will between the Chinese and the Indian communities would tend to arise from the second post."
Mr Too had also argued for a fine of not more than S$5,600 (US$4,142) or, if the court found a jail term was warranted, not more than five days' jail and a fine.
Justice Hoo agreed with the lower court's approach in sentencing.
"The instantaneous, widespread and, for the most part, unregulated nature of social media has allowed any and all individuals to freely express and communicate their views online," said Justice Hoo.
"However this has simultaneously provided a platform for irresponsible, false, and as this case demonstrates, denigrating speech."
Justice Hoo noted that while social media could help foster social connection, it also enabled harmful speech to "be propagated instantaneously to countless individuals on a worldwide scale".
In light of the magnitude of potential harm, deterrence as a dominant sentencing consideration should apply with "even more force", she added.
Justice Hoo also agreed with the District Judge that Nair had shown a "clear disregard for the law" as Nair had made the comments even after being given a conditional warning for the rap video.
Mr Too indicated that his client will begin his sentence on Wednesday.
For attempting to promote feelings of ill will between racial or religious groups, Nair could have been jailed up to three years, fined or both.
Continue reading...
The 32-year-old Singaporean, whose full name is Subhas Govin Prabhakar Nair, appealed against his conviction and sentence before Justice Hoo Sheau Peng over two days starting last year.
Dressed in a plain black shirt, Nair arrived at the High Court accompanied by his sister Preeti Nair on Wednesday.
In a brief oral decision, Justice Hoo said she agreed with the lower court's decision on conviction and sentence, adding that the six-week jail term was "not disproportionate or crushing".
Nair was found guilty of four charges by a district court in 2023 after a trial. The charges were over racially-charged statements he made between July 2019 and March 2021.
They relate to a YouTube video where he and Preeti performed a song containing the lyrics: "Chinese people always out here f***ing it up".
While Nair was given a two-year conditional warning by the police for the video, he reoffended by posting comments on social media.
He commented on a viral video by two Christians who linked the gay pride movement to Satan, and wrote: "If two Malay Muslims made a video promoting Islam and saying the kinds of hateful things these Chinese Christians said, ISD (Internal Security Department) would have been at the door before they even hit 'upload'."
In another incident, Nair made an Instagram post referring to a media interview of Chan Jia Xing, who was given a conditional warning for a reduced charge of consorting with a person who had a weapon. Chan was one of seven who were originally charged with murdering a man at Orchard Towers.
Nair wrote that "calling out racism and Chinese privilege" equalled a two-year conditional warning and "smear campaign in the media", while "actually conspiring to murder an Indian man" equalled half the sentence and a question of "you're having a baby soon right? Boy or girl" from the media.
Nair later performed a stage play where he displayed a hand-drawn replica of the comments related to Chan Jia Xing.
A District Judge eventually sentenced Nair to the prosecution's proposed jail term of six weeks in September 2023, resulting in the present appeal.
NAIR'S ARGUMENTS DISINGENUOUS: HIGH COURT JUDGE
Among other arguments, Nair's lawyer Too Xing Ji sought to prove that his client's charges were not made out, as they required a malicious intent to promote racial hostility.
He said that Nair's first post suggested unequal policing between Chinese-Christians and the Malay-Muslims, while his second post was also a plea for equality on behalf of minority races and a call for justice, rather than an attempt to promote hatred.
Against this, the prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutors Jordon Li and Vincent Leow, argued that there was no need for proof of deliberate malicious intent to promote racial hostility.
Justice Hoo determined that the charge did not require malicious intent to promote racial hostility, and that Nair's comments went beyond "unequal policing".
The judge agreed with the lower court that Nair was "aiming to portray the ISD as affording preferential treatment to the Chinese-Christian community".
"Although the appellant claims that his words simply suggested unequal policing of Chinese-Christians and Malay-Muslims, I find this to be a self-serving interpretation unsupported by the objective text of his post."
She said that Nair's words suggested that ISD was "targeting" Malay-Muslims.
Nair was essentially alleging that Chinese-Christians were given "favourable, lenient treatment by the state", while Malay-Muslims were discriminated against, noted the judge.
"While valid criticism against the government is permitted and, indeed, a core tenet of a democratic society, one cannot hide behind the veil of governmental criticism to mask their attempts at stirring hatred between different groups in society," Justice Hoo said in her judgment.
In respect of the charge which involved Nair's comments on the case of Chan Jia Xing, Justice Hoo said she was not persuaded by his argument that he merely sought to highlight the unequal treatment of the racial groups.
She called the arguments "disingenuous attempts" to explain his conduct.
"In these circumstances, it cannot be doubted that feelings of ill will between the Chinese and the Indian communities would tend to arise from the second post."
Mr Too had also argued for a fine of not more than S$5,600 (US$4,142) or, if the court found a jail term was warranted, not more than five days' jail and a fine.
Justice Hoo agreed with the lower court's approach in sentencing.
"The instantaneous, widespread and, for the most part, unregulated nature of social media has allowed any and all individuals to freely express and communicate their views online," said Justice Hoo.
"However this has simultaneously provided a platform for irresponsible, false, and as this case demonstrates, denigrating speech."
Justice Hoo noted that while social media could help foster social connection, it also enabled harmful speech to "be propagated instantaneously to countless individuals on a worldwide scale".
In light of the magnitude of potential harm, deterrence as a dominant sentencing consideration should apply with "even more force", she added.
Justice Hoo also agreed with the District Judge that Nair had shown a "clear disregard for the law" as Nair had made the comments even after being given a conditional warning for the rap video.
Mr Too indicated that his client will begin his sentence on Wednesday.
For attempting to promote feelings of ill will between racial or religious groups, Nair could have been jailed up to three years, fined or both.
Continue reading...