SINGAPORE - Making any remarks which hurt the religious or racial feelings of any community is uncalled for even if done privately, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli said on Saturday (Feb 8).
Referring to the recent online posts by religious teacher Abdul Halim Abdul Karim, which have been slammed as xenophobic, Mr Masagos told The Straits Times the Government is serious in dealing with hate speech.
Mr Abdul Halim wrote in a Facebook post on Jan 29 that the coronavirus was retribution by Allah against the Chinese for their oppressive treatment of Muslim Uighurs in China's Xinjiang province.
He followed up in a separate post that Chinese people are not as hygienic as Muslims.
The religious teacher has since apologised on Facebook for his remarks, which he said was never intended to be made public, even as the Ministry of Home Affairs and Muis are investigating the matter.
Mr Masagos was speaking to The Straits Times after delivering the opening speech at the inaugural M3 Forum held at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The forum was organised by Mendaki, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) and the People's Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council to discuss ways to improve on services to the Malay/Muslim community.
Mr Masagos, who is also Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, also told ST that enhanced measures have been taken by the National Environment Agency (NEA) after the outbreak alert status was raised to orange.
"Ultimately, maintaining cleanliness and hygiene is everyone's responsibility," Mr Masagos said. "We should not just be maintaining good hygiene standards in a crisis."
At a separate event at the National Library on Saturday, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung told reporters that while enhanced measures at schools may have an impact on learning, online resources and smaller classes might be used to make up for any shortfall.
On Friday, MOE announced measures such as suspending inter-school activities and external activities until the end of the March school holidays.
