In his remarks, District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan said that a deterrent sentence was paramount in this case.
“In the context of Singapore’s multiracial and multireligious society, racial and/or religious intolerance and hostility can have very dire consequences to our peace, security and safety,” he said.
“As a society, we must prevent and discourage in the strongest term any attempt at normalising racist behaviour.”
Judge Shaiffudin also said that the defence’s submission seemed to have ignored the psychological harm caused to the victim by the attack.
“In this case, there is evidence of actual psychological harm. This is not surprising given that a racial attack humiliates, dehumanises and goes to the heart of a person’s identity and dignity,” he said.
The penalty for voluntarily causing hurt is a maximum jail term of three years, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both. If the offence is racially aggravated, the punishment may be harsher.
The penalty for deliberately wounding a person’s racial feelings is a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both.