In S'pore: Shooting themselves in the foot

Singapore has had its share of individuals who paid the price for insensitive posts.

Sun Xu, 28

Who he is: A National University of Singapore graduate in mechanical engineering from China.

What he did: On Feb 18, 2012, he posted on the Chinese website Weibo that "there were more dogs than people in Singapore".

What he got: The university fined him $3,000, made him pay back the last tranche of his scholarship award of about $8,200, and made him do three months of community service.

Reuben Wang, 20

LWho he is: A former St Andrew's Junior College student.

What he did: In May 2012, after attending a pre-university seminar in which Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean spoke, he blogged, with expletives, that Mr Teo had dodged difficult questions. He blogged a second time on this, then removed both posts and e-mailed an apology to Mr Teo.

What he got: Mr Teo invited him, his father and his teacher for a 30-minute chat, after which Mr Teo gave him a book on economics.

Amy Cheong, 40

Who she is: A Malaysian-born Australian citizen and Singapore permanent resident, she was an assistant director of membership at the National Trades Union Congress.

What she did: In October 2012, on her Facebook page, she ranted about having her sleep disturbed by a Malay wedding at the void deck opposite her block. Her expletive-loaded post also said Malays should "pay for a real wedding". She later apologised.

What she got: She was sacked and she fled to Australia. In March 2013, police in Singapore issued her a stern warning.

Anton Casey, 40

Who he is: A Briton and Singapore permanent resident.

What he did: In January last year, the former wealth manager posted on Facebook two pictures of his son on the MRT and in a silver Porsche. The captions referred to poor people on trains and his need to wash "the stench of public transport off me".

The posts went viral.

What he got: He was sacked and his family fled to Australia. He said they received death threats.

This article was first published on April 11, 2015.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.