Singapore introduces new racial harmony bill

PETALING JAYA: Singapore’s Parliament today introduced a new bill to consolidate and strengthen the government’s powers to maintain racial harmony.

According to the Straits Times, the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Bill will designate clan and business associations linked to the Chinese, Malay and Indian races as “race-based entities” and subject them to measures to curb foreign influence.

The report quoted the ministry of home affairs (MHA) as estimating the bill would potentially affect over 300 such entities in Singapore.

Race-based entities will have to disclose foreign affiliations, foreign donations and anonymous donations, as well as leadership composition.

They will also have to ensure more than half of the members of their governing body are Singapore citizens, and that their responsible officers are either citizens or permanent residents.

MHA said the new bill closely referenced the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (MRHA), and would similarly enable the home affairs minister to make restraining orders against those involved in communicating, producing or distributing content prejudicial to racial harmony.

Such an order could be used to stop a person from addressing an audience on a specified subject; communicating or distributing certain information or material; printing, editing, assisting or contributing to a publication; or holding office at a publication.

Those who violate the order could be jailed for up to two years, and/or fined up to S$10,000 (RM33,037).

The proposed law covers all race-related Penal Code offences, with updates such as the replacement of the term “wound racial feelings” with “insults, vilifies, denigrates, threatens or abuses on the basis of race”.

According to the ministry, the change provides “clarity and does not substantively expand the scope of conduct that would make out an offence today”.

It said the maximum jail term for such offences would be raised from three years to five, to better align penalties with similar offences already found in the MRHA.

Like the MRHA, the new laws will also apply to offences occurring overseas, as long as the offence is directed towards a person or group in Singapore.

The ministry said this signalled its “commitment to protect our racial harmony, even when the threat originates from overseas, via social media, for example”.