Man behind racially offensive tweets from 'sharonliew86 ...

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Man behind racially offensive tweets from 'sharonliew86' account gets 3 weeks' jail ... Zainal Abidin Shaiful Bahari was charged in court on July ... Skiptomaincontent Advertisement Advertisement Manbehindraciallyoffensivetweetsfrom‘sharonliew86’accountgets3weeks’jail SINGAPORE—A35-year-oldSingaporeanmanwhopostedmultipleraciallyinsensitivetweetsunderthepseudonym“SharonLiew”wassentencedtothreeweeks’jailonTuesday(June8). CNA ZainalAbidinShaifulBahariwaschargedincourtonJuly2,2020overstokingracialtensionsonlineunderthepseudonym"SharonLiew". By LouisaTang By LouisaTang PublishedJune8,2021 UpdatedJune8,2021 Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn ZainalAbidinShaifulBahariwaschargedoverfourtweetshepostedbetweenOctober2019andAprillastyear HeusedaracialsluragainstIndiansintwoseparatetweets,inrelationtotheCovid-19pandemic Hislawyerssaidhethoughthisfollowersunderstoodtheintendedsatiricalandhumourousnatureofhistweets  Butajudgesaidhiscommentswereclearlycalculatedtoprovokeracialsentiments  SINGAPORE—A35-year-oldSingaporeanmanwhopostedmultipleraciallyinsensitivetweetsunderthepseudonym“SharonLiew”wassentencedtothreeweeks’jailonTuesday(June8).ZainalAbidinShaifulBahari,whousedtheTwitterhandle@sharonliew86,postedoffensivecontentagainstIndianmigrantworkersduringthecircuitbreakerperiodlastyear,whenthenumberofCovid-19casesindormitorieswasontherise.HestartedtheTwitteraccountwithtwofriendsin2018andtheyconceptualiseditasanaccounttosatiriseraciallyinsensitiveSingaporeans.Zainalwassolelyinchargeoftheaccountwhenhisfriendsstoppedpostinginearly2019.OnTuesday,hepleadedguiltytotwochargesofcommittingactspromotingenmitybetweendifferentgroupsongroundsofreligionorraceanddoingactsprejudicialtomaintenanceofharmony,underSection298A(b)ofthePenalCode.DeputyPresidingJudgeJenniferSMarieconsideredanothertwosuchchargesinsentencinghim.Hebeganservinghissentenceimmediately.Thecourtheardthathewasaseniordirectoratacomputersoftwarecompanyatthetimeofhisoffences.Thefictitiousname“SharonLiew”wasconceivedbyZainal’sfriends,whoalsochoseaphotographofanunknownChineseSingaporeanwomanonlinetouseastheprofilepicture.TheTwitteraccounthadattractedmorethan5,000followersbythetimehisfriendshadstoppedpostinginearly2019.THEOFFENSIVETWEETSOnOct11,2019,ZainalpublishedatweetstatingthatMalaystudentsinthedifferentacademicstreamswerenotonthesamelevelastheirChinesecounterparts.ThesametweetalsomentionedSingapore'slatefoundingprimeministerLeeKuanYew'sbook,LeeKuanYew:HardTruthstoKeepSingaporeGoingasthebasisofthetweet.Threedayslater,threepeoplefiledapolicereportoverraciallyoffensivetweetsby“SharonLiew”.InatweetonMarch25lastyear,ZainalusedaracialsluragainstIndiansaboutsafedistancinginMRTtrains. HerepeatedthisracialsluragainstIndiansonApril17. ThiswasspecificallyinreferencetoanewsarticleontherisingnumberofCovid-19casesamongforeignworkerslivingindormitories,asubstantialnumberofwhomwereIndianandBangladeshi,DeputyPublicProsecutor(DPP)SenthilkumaranSabapathytoldthecourt.Zainaltookdownthetweetabout30minuteslaterafterrealisingitwasgoingviralonlineandgettingnegativeattentionfromthepublic.Then,thefollowingday,hepostedatweetreferringtoIndiansasshootingtargets,usingaderogatoryreferencetothebindisthatHinduswearontheirforeheadsZainalpostedthisinresponsetoaquestionfromanunknownTwitteruseronwhy“SharonLiew”hadrecentlytargetedIndianusers.Amemberofthepublicthencalledthepoliceonthesamedayandreportedthetweet.‘CLEARLYCALCULATED’:JUDGEDPPSabapathy,whosoughtfourweeks’jail,citedtheelementofpublicinterestinthiscaseduetothecurrentclimate,where“tensionsinthecommunityhavebeenheightenedandstrainedbytheexceptionalcircumstancesofthepandemic”.TheprosecutoraddedthatZainalhadsentthetweetsunderanassumedidentitywhichmeanthecouldonlybefoundafterconsiderableeffortsbythepolice.Inmitigation,Zainal’slawyers—MrSunilSudheesanandMsDianaNgiam—toldthecourtthatZainalthoughthisfollowersunderstoodtheintendedsatiricalandhumourousnatureofthetweets.MrSuniladded:“Ultimately,thepersonbeforeyouissincerelycontrite…Unfortunately,intryingtobefunny,heoversteppedthemarkonthesefewoccasionsandheacceptsresponsibilityforthat.” HislawyersaddedintheirwrittenmitigationthatZainalvaluesculturaldiversityandismarriedtoaChinesewomanandhasraciallydiversefriends.Inresponse,DPPSabapathysaid:“Itwasnotparodyorsatiricalbehaviour,simplytheactionsofanonlinetrollprovokingothersonracialissuesforhisownamusement.”DPPSabapathyalsoarguedthatthebehaviourofonlinetrollscouldbeseenasmoreculpablethanthosewhomakebigotedcommentsinmomentsofanger,astheircommentsare“calculatedandcraftedtoprovoke”.InsentencingZainal,DistrictJudgeMarie,whoagreedwithhislawyer’sargumentforthreeweeks’jail,cautionedthatsuchremarkshaveaubiquitousreachand“amplifyirreversibleharmtopeaceandharmonyinSingapore”.“Ifyouhadindeedvaluedracialandculturaldiversity,youshouldhaveappreciatedallthemoretheneedtoobserveracialsensitivity,giventhemultiracialfabricofSingapore.“YourconductontheTwitteraccount,regardlessofwhetheritwasatrollaccountmadefortheamusementofothers,wasclearlycalculatedtoprovokeracialsentiments,”thejudgeadded.Foreachcharge,Zainalcouldhavebeenjailedforuptothreeyearsorfined,orpunishedwithboth.Inastatement,theAGCsaidit“takesaseriousviewofwordsorconductwhichwoundtheracialfeelingsofanypersonorprejudicesourracialharmonyandcommunityrelations”.Itadded:“Offenderswhocommitsuchactswillbedealtwithfirmly.” Relatedtopics court crime racism twitter Readmoreofthelatestin Singapore Explorenow Advertisement Popular Contentisloading... 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