A couple days ago, freelance actor Shrey Bhargava took to Facebook to talk about his experience in the audition room of Ah Boys to Men 4. To recap, he was asked to portray a caricature of his ethnicity, to go from “playing a soldier with a Singaporean accent who spoke in colloquial Singlish” to making the character “a full blown Indian man” in the name of comedy.
In light of the casting controversy, many Singaporeans threw in their two cents’ worth on the audition saga, with commenters on both sides passionately defending their stance — to the point where some people actually lodged police reports over Shrey’s viral Facebook post that started it all.
On Wednesday (May 31), the 21-year-old met with officers at the Tanglin Police Division to be questioned on “the intentions behind [his] post”, according to TODAY.
“Yes, I was called by the [police] for questioning. I was informed there that there were police reports made. I was not informed for what or by whom, that was kept confidential,” Shrey told TODAY.
He revealed that the police told him he had done nothing wrong and need not worry about anything, but they also advised him to be careful about online posts, as misinterpretations could happen. The officers suggested he get in touch if the hate speech against him intensified.
“The Investigation Officer and I agreed that I am absolutely against racial violence of any sort and, instead, was only seeking a healthy and productive discussion for the betterment of Singapore’s media landscape and society. Specifically, I wanted Singaporeans to engage in dialogue regarding the inclusion of minorities in the media, as well as to tackle the issue of casual racism in order to create a more inclusive and harmonious Singapore,” Shrey explained.
He also acknowledged the police questioning was a standard protocol follow up after someone made a report, and clarified in response to a comment on Facebook — where more negative comments poured in regarding him being questioned by the police — that he wasn’t in trouble.
