Man posing as 'sharonliew86' gets 3 weeks' jail for racist ...

Singapore—A Singaporean hiding behind the name “sharonliew86” on Twitter was given a three-week jail sentence for several racially offensive ... TheIndependentSingapore HomeNews IntheHouse IntheHood LettertotheEditor Opinion SenseAndNonsense TheWayWeSeeIt SGPolitics Entertainment Celebrity Business&Economy SGEconomy Lifestyle International AsiaPacific USA Contact AboutUs JoinUs PrivacyPolicy ContactUs Signin Welcome!Logintoyouraccount yourusername yourpassword Forgotyourpassword? PrivacyPolicy Passwordrecovery Recoveryourpassword youremail Search TheIndependentSingaporeNews TheIndependentSingapore HomeNews IntheHouse IntheHood LettertotheEditor Opinion SenseAndNonsense TheWayWeSeeIt SGPolitics Entertainment Celebrity Business&Economy SGEconomy Lifestyle International AsiaPacific USA Contact AboutUs JoinUs PrivacyPolicy ContactUs HomeNewsManposingas‘sharonliew86’gets3weeks’jailforracisttweetsagainst... Manposingas‘sharonliew86’gets3weeks’jailforracisttweetsagainstMalays,Indians FBscreengrab 'Anonlinetrollwhoderivesperverseentertainmentbyintentionallyinflamingtheemotionsofothers' Share WhatsApp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Telegram ReddIt June8,2021 ByAnnaMariaRomeroFollowusonInstagramandTelegram -Advertisement- Singapore—ASingaporeanhidingbehindthename“sharonliew86”onTwitterwasgivenathree-weekjailsentenceforseveralraciallyoffensivetweetshepostedin2019and2020. Thirty-five-year-oldZainalAbidinShaifulBahari,aseniordirectorofacomputersoftwarecompany,startedthe“sharonliew86”TwitteraccountwithacoupleofhisfriendsnearlythreeyearsagoasaparodyaccountofSingaporeanswhoareraciallyinsensitive. Theaccountquicklygainedthousandsoffollowers.Byearly2019,withhistwofriendsnolongeractivelytweeting,Zainalbecamesolelyresponsibleforitspost. ThetweetssentfromtheaccountcausedZainaltorunafoulofthelaw,astheircontentgrewtobecomemoreandmoreraciallyoffensive. Inonesuchpost,publishedinOct2019,“sharonliew86”allegedthatMalaystudents’academicprowesswasinferiortotheirChinesepeers. InMarchandAprilof2020,heusedaracialslurwhenreferringtoIndiansintwoposts. Inanotherpostlastyear,ZainalmadefunofthecoloureddotwhichiswornontheforeheadbysomewhopractiseHinduism. LawandHomeAffairsMinisterKShanmugamevenwroteinaFacebookpostinMay2020that“nastyposts”fromthe“sharonliew86”accounthadbeenwritten“deliberatelytostokeanger,unhappiness(and)racialtensions”. AtTheTime,theministerwroteThat“Policehaveinvestigated,foundtheperson–aman,notafemalenamedSharonLiew,andthemanisnotChinese”. OnTuesday(June8),Zainalenteredaguiltypleatotwochargesinvolvingactsagainstracialharmony,withtwoadditionalchargesofasimilarnaturealsotakenintoconsiderationforhissentencing. DeputyPublicProsecutorSenthilkumaranSabapathytoldDeputyPresidingJudgeSJenniferMariethatthetweetslastyearcontainingtheracialsluragainstIndianshadbeenpostedasaresponsetothenewsofgrowingCovid-19casesamongmigrantworkerslivingindormitories. “TheApril17tweetwaswidelycirculatedontheinternet…Theaccusedtookdownthe…tweetabout30minutesafteritwaspostedafterrealisingthatthetweethadgoneviralandwasgettingsubstantialnegativeattentiononlinefrommembersofthepublic,”addedtheDPP. InAprillastyear,thepolicelearnedaboutZainal’sracisttweetsafteranetizenreportedthe“sharonliew86”account,andhisidentitywasdeterminedbytheofficersfromBedokPoliceDivisionshortlyafterwards. ZainalwaschargedincourtonJuly2,2020,afterheadmittedtothepolicethathewastheauthoroftheraciallyoffensivetweetsonthe“sharonliew86”account. TheDPPaskedthatZainalbejailedforatleastfourweeks,ashisactionswere“entirelytypicalofan‘onlinetroll’whoderivesperverseentertainmentbyintentionallyinflamingtheemotionsofothers”. Healsosaid,“Hewassimplyactingforhisownamusementbyintentionallyprovokingtheracialfeelingsandemotionsofothers.” ButZainal’slawyer,MrSunilSudheesan,claimedthathisclientis“sincerelycontrite”andthatheisnotracist.Zainalhadonlytriedtocomeoffashumorous,but“oversteppedthemark”. TheAttorney-General’sChamberssaidinastatementonJune8thattheAGCtakesaseriousviewof“wordsorconductwhichwoundtheracialfeelingsofanypersonorprejudicesourracialharmonyandcommunityrelations”. /TISG Readalso:Theconvenientracist Theconvenientracist FollowusonSocialMedia [email protected]  -Advertisement- FollowusonInstagramandTelegram Share WhatsApp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Telegram ReddIt ReadMore Opinion OPINION|Singapore,standupfortheSchoolingfamily;Josephdefinitelymeritstruesupport IfirmlygoonrecordtosaythatIstandbytheSchoolingfamily.Absolutelyandunconditionally. They'rearemarkableSingaporefamilywho'veputusontheglobalmaptoshowthatwithfearlessheartsoflionsanddeterminednever-say-die... 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They'rearemarkable...Readmore HomeNewsStoriesyoumight’vemissed,Aug31JosephSchoolingcaughtfortakingcannabisoverseas;callsita“momentofweaknessaftergoingthroughaverytough...Readmore HomeNewsOtterwithfishhookinitspawneedshelp;ifyouseeher,lettheOtterWatchcommunityknowThelocalOtterWatchcommunitysaidinaWednesday(Aug31)Facebookpostthatmembersofthepublichavedrawn...Readmore FeaturedNewsConcernedresidentstalktoPritamSinghaboutrisingprices ofHDBresaleflatsWhileonavisittotheCompassvalewardinSengkangGRCthisweek,residentsspoketoWorkers’Partychief...Readmore FollowusonSocialMedia [email protected]  ABOUTUSFoundedin2013,TheIndependentNews&MediaisaSingaporebasednewsmediacompany.Contactus:[email protected] AboutUs JoinUs ContactUs PrivacyPolicy InternationalEdition SingaporeEdition ©TheIndependentNews&MediaPteLtd,Singapore