Call out prejudice and hate speech

The xenophobia arising from the coronavirus outbreak must be stopped and parents can show the way

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If Lucifer Morningstar found himself in Singapore (yes, I'm a raving-mad junkie of Netflix's Lucifer) to ask us all, "What is it you truly desire?", many replies would include safety for family or, perhaps, to live without fear.

Surely the Covid-19 crisis has shown a side of ourselves that might play out better in Lucifer's hell - hoarding of rice, instant noodles, toilet paper, masks and even condoms, along with the spreading of third-hand, fake information, including a conspiracy theory centring on the virus as an engineered biological weapon, and those whispers, swelling in volume, of our need to stay away from all things and people Chinese.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on March 15, 2020, with the headline Call out prejudice and hate speech. Subscribe