19 Sep 2017
Mr President,
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in their statement of 23 August 2017 on developments in Charlottesville called on the US government, inter alia, to provide necessary guarantees so that the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly are not misused to promote racist hate speech and racist crimes.
We adopt a similar approach in multi-racial and multi-religious Singapore.
We experienced religious and racial riots in the 1950s and 1960s.
Since then, the social harmony we have enjoyed for the past 5 decades did not happen by chance, but by deliberate choices and policies.
Singaporeans have a constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech and expression.
However, these rights must be exercised responsibly in accordance with the law, within the context of broader societal priorities and with mutual respect to preserve a harmonious society.
We take a firm stance against racial and religious chauvinists, and do not allow anyone to exploit freedom of expression to denigrate other religions or ethnic groups. We make it clear that our fight is against intolerance and violence, and not against any particular race or religion.
Our different communities have lived together and accommodated others in the context of a multi-racial and multi-religious society without insisting on the primacy of their respective race, religion, language or culture.
Norms and trust between communities take a generation or two to build up, but can be eroded in a relatively short time.
We believe that there has to be sensible boundaries drawn to prevent hate speech and protect institutions, so that people can live free from harm, racism and hate.
Thank you, Mr President.
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