NUS investigating student over racist remarks in viral Telegram videos

SINGAPORE - A National University of Singapore (NUS) student is being investigated by the school and has stepped down from her student leadership position after videos of her making racist remarks went viral online.

NUS told The Straits Times on April 24 that it began the probe when the videos first surfaced in early April.

An online petition was later started on April 19, calling on the university to take "serious disciplinary action" against the student. It has garnered more than 700 signatures as at noon on April 24.

In the first video where the student made the offensive remarks, which appeared to be sent on messaging platform Telegram, she introduced herself as the recruitment head of an orientation programme and said she was residing at a hostel in NUS.

She went on to make comments targeting a specific race and playing up racial stereotypes, and ended the video by saying "I'm not racist".

The video was later reposted on Instagram on April 2 along with a second Telegram video that featured her.

In that second video, she listed her "pet peeves" against international students from specific countries, claiming that she could not understand the way they spoke.

The videos have since been reposted on various social media platforms, including TikTok and discussion forum Reddit.

@asiaone The female student, who is purportedly the recruitment head of an orientation programme, listed her "pet peeves" against international students from specific countries, claiming that she could not understand the way they spoke. #sgnews #Singapore #University #Students #Harmony ♬ original sound - AsiaOne

In a comment to one of the reposted videos, a user named themiarita said: "You could've just called out bad behaviour, but you chose to bring race into it and that says a lot about you."

The user added: "Not everyone has English as their first language. Maybe be a bit more understanding. Don't need to generalise an entire race just to make the point."

The student later made another video to apologise, which was forwarded to a Telegram channel on April 19 created specifically for that purpose. The video was viewed over 12,000 times as at April 24.

In this video, the student apologised for "sending out… the introduction bubble".

"I understand that it may have offended a few people," she said. "But it was not my intention on doing so."

NUS said on April 24 it would "take all necessary disciplinary action", and added that it is "committed to the principles of respect and dignity".

"Clause 7 of the NUS Code of Student Conduct states that conduct which 'insults, abuses, denigrates, victimises, demeans, embarrasses or disparages others' is not acceptable to the University," a university spokesperson said.

NUS added that the student has stepped down from the student committee and is no longer residing on campus.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.