AN online rant about a stranger on an MRT train has turned ugly for a local blogger.

The police have arrested the 24-year-old for a post he allegedly wrote on his blog that contained offensive comments targeted at a racial group.

A police statement issued late last night said the Chinese man was arrested at his Paya Lebar Way home around 9.45pm for posting contents in his blog which may wound the feelings of a person of another race.

A computer, believed to be used to post the suspect's blog, was seized for investigations, which are ongoing.

The police had received two reports on Monday complaining of the alleged post.

IRKED BY MRT RIDER

The post was apparently sparked off by the suspect seeing a man of another race sitting on the floor of an MRT train.

'There he sat, unaffected by his surroundings, smelling like he didn't showered (sic) in years and wore some really scary dirty clothes,' he wrote.

He went on to make allegedly offensive comments about that racial group in his tirade.

His post has drawn flak from local netizens, who labelled him a racist.

In 2005, a 27-year-old man became the first since 1966 to be jailed under the Sedition Act after he posted racist comments online.

In an interview with The New Paper yesterday before his arrest, the blogger said he was sorry for what he had written and would be more mindful of what he writes in future.

He was shocked by the furore over his blog entry, which he said was only intended for his close friends.

'I am a very expressive person - my style of writing is over the top. I write this way to make my entries more punchy and exciting,' he said.

The suspect, who said he is an undergraduate, denied being a racist and maintained he didn't harbour any ill will towards the racial group he wrote about.

'I may have come from a school which was not very culturally diverse, but I have many friends (of that race),' he said.

He added he was surprised that the entry, which was written two months ago, began circulating only days ago.

'I'm quite sure that my blog has a small readership - I usually get about 20 hits per day,' said the suspect, who routinely tracks the number of hits on his blog.

He has removed the post and password-protected his blog.

He said he started blogging as a way to share snippets of his life with his family members and close friends, and also to improve his writing skills.

The blogger said he was unaware of the flurry of online discussions about his blog until a friend told him about it.

He said: 'I don't frequent online forums, but my friend does. I was shocked when he told me that people were talking about my blog.'

He added that he was relatively open about sharing day-to-day experiences, but practised self-censorship about more personal details.

'But sometimes I like to write things in a way which makes it jump out at the reader,' he said.

He added that he was in a particularly bad mood the day he wrote the blog entry, but declined to say why.

'I meant what I wrote in a different way. If people read it in another way, there is nothing much I can do,' he said, adding that he planned to write an online apology for his comments.

His blog post, featured on blog aggregator Tomorrow.sg and linked to several popular online forums, incensed netizens.

One forum user wrote: 'Stupidity has nothing to do with race at all. Just look to that blogger for proof that stupidity transcends all races.'

Added another: 'Some things, once said, cannot be retracted. Don't even make such stupid remarks in the first place.'

Other online vigilantes dug up personal information about him and re-posted them on forums.

SLAMMED

The issue has also been discussed by bloggers watching the saga unfold.

Blogger Alvinology wrote yesterday: 'Unless your blog is set as a private blog, publishing content on your blog is publishing for the world to see.

'Some people still do not seem to grasp this and have to learn it the hardway.'

Another blogger, Anonymous X, expressed concern that the blogger did not seem to realise the severity of his action.

He wrote: 'People should learn very soon that while it's fun to watch a movie that makes fun of races or racism, they should not try to emulate that in real life.'

The deputy commander of Central Police Division, Superintendent Lee Ping Yue, stressed that the police take a serious view of irresponsible blog postings in a multi-racial society like Singapore and will track down the perpetrators.

Under Section 298 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, any person who deliberately wounds the religious or racial feelings of any person can be jailed up to three years and/or fined.

This story was first published in The New Paper on 21 May 2008.