A SINGAPOREAN Facebook user who implied that he wanted to “open fire” on a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) event because he wanted to “protect my nation” will be investigated after several police reports were lodged against him.
The investigation comes just two days after 49 people were tragically killed in a popular gay nightclub by gunman Omar Mateen in Orlando, Florida. Mateen was shot dead by police after a three-hour stand-off.
Bryan Lim, a regional performance consultant for Canon Singapore, made the comments on a Facebook page titled ‘We are against Pinkdot in Singapore’, an anti-LGBT group that protests against the presence of the non-profit organization Pink Dot SG.
Lim responded to a post referring to news that the government told foreign brands such as Facebook and Google to stop sponsoring Pink Dot SG’s event, the Singaporean equivalent of the pro-LGBT pride movement, which was held on June 4.
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According to local newspaper, Today, he wrote in a June 4 post: “I am a Singaporean citizen. I am a NSman. I am a father. And I swore to protect my nation. Give me permission to open fire. I would like to see these £@€$^*s die for their causes.”
His comments, which have been interpreted as violent hate speech against the LGBT community, raised concern among other netizens.
Several Facebook users flagged Lim’s comments to the Singapore Police Force, which said Lim is not a police national serviceman, as he appears to claim, and that investigations are ongoing.
According to Yahoo Singapore, Lim has since apologized for the “misunderstanding” and deleted his Facebook account.
He wrote on Monday that he was referring to “Bloomberg and foreign intervention in local matters”.
“My words were strong. I did not mean anyone… This was taken out of context. I hope this clears the air,” he said. “I did not mean physical bullets nor physical death. I mean open fire on debate and remove them from Singapore domestic matters.”
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A spokesman for Pink Dot SG, Paerin Choa, said in a statement: “Recent horrific acts of hate underscore the discrimination that continues to be directed at the LGBT community.
“The presence of individuals who harbour such thoughts and who publicly perpetuate intolerance based on their narrow perspectives of the world deeply saddens and concerns us.
“This clearly shows we should never take what we have for granted and continue to seek dialogue and opportunities to highlight to others the dangers of discrimination and intolerance.”
Lim’s employer, Canon Singapore, also responded to the furore around his comments. In a Facebook post, Canon said it does “not condone violence in any form” and will be looking into the matter.
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