- Joined
- Mar 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,160
- Points
- 0
Van with graffiti abandoned at MUIS
05:55 AM Jan 15, 2011
SINGAPORE - A "Middle Eastern-looking" man - a description given by the police - drove a van to Braddell Road, parked it outside the Singapore Islamic Hub, home of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), and promptly disappeared.
His actions shortly before 5pm on Friday led to a huge police presence at the usually-quiet neighbourhood.
And as officers cordoned off the area surrounding the vehicle, they took another step: Covering up parts of the van.
The reason: Words had been sprayed on its exterior that could be offensive to the Malay-Muslim community. These included expletives in Malay.
MUIS, in a statement to the media, said that the "suspicious" van was found near the entrance to its building at around 5pm.
The Government statutory board did not know whose van it was and noticed the spray-painted vulgarities. The police were then alerted.
When contacted, a police spokesman said on Friday: "Police were alerted to a van with offensive writings parked along Braddell Road outside the Singapore Islamic Hub at about 5.15pm. Investigations are ongoing, and preliminary checks showed the van was driven to the location by a Middle Eastern-looking man around 50 years old." Some eye-witnesses said that the suspect could have been Malay.
The police are investigating. "We view such incidents seriously," said the spokesman. "Any person who is found to have deliberately incited anti-racial or anti-religious feelings will be firmly dealt with under the law."
At press time, the search was still on for the suspect. Meanwhile, the van has been towed away.
05:55 AM Jan 15, 2011
SINGAPORE - A "Middle Eastern-looking" man - a description given by the police - drove a van to Braddell Road, parked it outside the Singapore Islamic Hub, home of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), and promptly disappeared.
His actions shortly before 5pm on Friday led to a huge police presence at the usually-quiet neighbourhood.
And as officers cordoned off the area surrounding the vehicle, they took another step: Covering up parts of the van.
The reason: Words had been sprayed on its exterior that could be offensive to the Malay-Muslim community. These included expletives in Malay.
MUIS, in a statement to the media, said that the "suspicious" van was found near the entrance to its building at around 5pm.
The Government statutory board did not know whose van it was and noticed the spray-painted vulgarities. The police were then alerted.
When contacted, a police spokesman said on Friday: "Police were alerted to a van with offensive writings parked along Braddell Road outside the Singapore Islamic Hub at about 5.15pm. Investigations are ongoing, and preliminary checks showed the van was driven to the location by a Middle Eastern-looking man around 50 years old." Some eye-witnesses said that the suspect could have been Malay.
The police are investigating. "We view such incidents seriously," said the spokesman. "Any person who is found to have deliberately incited anti-racial or anti-religious feelings will be firmly dealt with under the law."
At press time, the search was still on for the suspect. Meanwhile, the van has been towed away.
