In a disturbing turn of events, unprovoked racist attacks have been reported here this past week. An Indian Singaporean woman was assaulted after being shouted at for not wearing her mask while brisk walking. This is despite her explaining that she was exercising. Another reported incident involved a man yelling at a family of Indian expatriates and accusing them of spreading the coronavirus. The pandemic has stoked an irrational fear that people of certain races and nationalities are responsible for bringing in and spreading Covid-19. Fears of job losses have exacerbated such anti-foreigner sentiments worldwide.

There had been previous reports of Asians in other countries being targeted in violent hate crimes. According to some studies in the United States, hate crimes there against Asians surged by 169 per cent from the first quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year. The range of abuse included verbal harassment, shunning and physical assault.