A man who doesn’t seem to like South Asians disappeared from Facebook today after being savaged for using a National Day photo featuring an Indian family to air racist views.
Andrew Lee’s account appeared to be deactivated after he took a photo out of context to slander an entire racial group. The derogatory comments by Lee and his friends were attached to a family featured on a banner hung in the Tanjong Pagar constituency that featured members of parliament and residents.
“Blatant disregard how our taxpayers feel to use our tax money to feed the black south asian,” Lee wrote.
He may not have known that he was maligning the family of Singapore athlete Thiruben Thana Rajan, who appears in the photo.
“That’s my family in a National Day poster,” the runner wrote on Instagram yesterday with a screenshot of Lee’s post. He said they were invited by the town council to represent the different races and religions of the community.
Without being dragged into the mud, Thana Rajan clarified that he and his family were “born and bred” Singapore citizens.
“[I] myself have been representing [S]ingapore in athletics since i was 15 years old. [I] don’t think i have to say much more than that,” he added.
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The town council also shared photos of all the banners online amid the kerfuffle but made no mention of the episode. They featured photos of other families and friendly neighbors gathering.
Lee had added a green arrow pointing at Thana Rajan’s family in his post. While the caption only said the photo had been forwarded to him, he and his friends expressed their disdain for South Asians in the comments.
Other vile comments included: “It’s a very dark year,” and “Probably it’s time to sing, ‘Count On Me India.’”
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