This story will remind you about the importance of using social media responsibly.
Recently, a Filipino nurse in Singapore has been arrested and sentenced with 4-month imprisonment after posting a malicious post on Facebook against Singaporeans.
Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, 29 years old, has received a lot of negative feedback for his racist Facebook post.
Last January 2, Bello wrote:
“Singaporeans are loosers (sic) in their own country, we take their jobs, their future, their women and soon we will evict all SG loosers (sic) out of their own country hahaha.”
He further added:
“We will kick out all the Singaporeans and SG will be the new Filipino state”.
Furious netizens from across the globe slammed Bello for his irresponsible post. It, however, has reached even the authorities.
Siva Shanmugam, State Courts Judge, released a statement saying:
“In a nation whose only resource are its people, we simply cannot afford to condone any act which poses a threat to our social stability and security.”
The judge also added:
“The accused’s provocative conduct, if left unchecked, could possibly result in discrimination against the innocent and law-abiding minority Filipino residents in Singapore.”
As a result of what he did, he will be serving 3 months of jail time for sedition plus an additional 1-month for lying to the police.
When he was being investigated, he claimed to the police that it wasn’t him who originally posted that because his account was hacked. However, he later admitted it was indeed him that wrote the scathing remarks.
So yes, posting such negative comments online is punishable by the law if you are in Singapore. Actually, even local Singaporeans who make racist posts against others are prosecuted as well.
Also, it is worth nothing that there are over 170,000 Filipinos working in Singapore right now. Statistics likewise confirm that about 40% of population in Singapore’s 5.5 million are foreigners.