To fight fake news, build character and critical thinking skills

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Fake news sparking unrest in multiracial and multi-religious Singapore is a real possibility. Racial riots spread to Singapore from Malaysia in 1969, in part because of false rumours about Chinese being ill-treated by the Malays in Malaysia.

In 2015, "news" website The Real Singapore published an article reporting falsely that a Filipino family had complained about the playing of musical instruments during the Thaipusam procession, which led to a fracas between some participants and the police.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 01, 2018, with the headline To fight fake news, build character and critical thinking skills. Subscribe