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Subhas Nair to be charged for 2019 ‘racially-charged rap video’ and 3 other incidents

Subhas Nair. (SCREENSHOT: Preetipls/Facebook)
Subhas Nair (SCREENSHOT: Preetipls/Facebook)

SINGAPORE — A man who has breached the conditions of a warning issued to him for a “racially-charged rap video” in 2019 will be charged for the incident after he allegedly committed three subsequent similar offences.

Subhas Nair, 29, will be charged next Monday (1 November) with four counts of attempting to promote feelings of ill-will between different groups on grounds of religion and race, the police said in a statement on Thursday.

On 29 July 2019, Nair is alleged to have published online a racially-charged rap video, which he had produced. The video attempted to promote feelings of ill-will between Chinese and other races.

For this incident, he was given a two-year conditional warning by the police on 14 August 2019. Nair’s sister social media personality Preetipls was also involved in the video and given a two-year conditional warning on the same day.

The siblings had apologised twice over the video, the second of which came after they were criticised by the Ministry of Home Affairs for their original “insincere” apology.

One of the terms of the warning against Nair states that if he reoffends, he may be prosecuted for the offence for which he was warned, in addition to prosecution for the alleged later offences.

Among them, on 25 July last year, Nair posted comments on his social media account in response to a video of Chinese Christians who had made hateful comments against another community. “He allegedly commented that Malay Muslims who make the same hateful comments would be treated differently by the authorities compared to the Chinese Christians,” the police said.

On 15 October 2020, in relation to the alleged murder at Orchard Towers on 2 July 2019, Nair is alleged to have attempted to promote feelings of ill-will between Chinese and Indians by claiming that one of the Chinese accused persons involved in the murder of an Indian man received lenient treatment by the authorities due to his race.

On 11 March this year, Nair allegedly attempted, during an indoor stage performance, to promote feelings of ill-will between Chinese and Indians by exhibiting a cartoon drawing of his 15 October 2020 social media post.

A person who is convicted of the offence of attempting to promote feelings of ill-will between different groups on grounds of religion or race faces a jail term of up to three years, or a fine, or both.

The police said, “Allegations that the law or law enforcement agencies accord differential treatment based on religion or race are baseless and have the potential to damage religious and racial harmony in Singapore and erode public trust in our law enforcement agencies.”

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