TL; DR – The insensitive acts of the student comes after the false bomb threat incident at Evergreen Secondary School.
A male student from Yishun-Innova Junior College (YIJC) is under police investigation for his racially insensitive behaviour — reenacting execution and bombing scenes that reinforces negative stereotypes involving races and religions.
If my father were reading this, he would confirm say, study until “brain got water” (in hokkien).
This incident came amidst a false bomb scare in Evergreen Secondary School on 21 July, which saw students being asked to stay home, and students on campus were asked to return home as the police did a complete sweep of the school to ensure the safety of our students.
MOE aware of incident
MOE has said that it was aware of this incident, and that the student is cooperating with police investigations. The video of the reenactment was widely shared on Reddit, TikTok and Instagram.
The student involved in the incident was wearing the traditional attire for Arab men, with a headgear called the kufiyah. The video depicted the student dragging another student on the floor and sliding his right hand across the chest of another student with a black hood over the head, which resembled the kind of execution done by terrorist groups.
Perpetuating racial and religious stereotypes
The student did not stop there — the video continued and depicted the student dropping a black backpack and running away. This resembled the bomb threats made by terrorist groups.
Worse still, it was done on Racial Harmony Day, which is celebrated on 21 July every year in Singapore, were Singaporeans celebrate the diversity and the peaceful coexistence of every race and religion here in Singapore.
Insensitive student counselled by school
YIJC reflected that it has spoken to the student to help him understand the gravity of his actions, which was inappropriate and unacceptable in Singapore’s multiracial and multireligious context.
Although schools are a place for students to experiment and make mistakes and learn from them, this is unacceptable. While some might say it is the wrong time and place, I would go further to condemn that this is a wrong act that should never been done.
Let us hope that our youths do not further emulate such insensitive acts and be positive contributors of the Singapore society.