Russians in Singapore see varying degrees of hostility, bracing themselves to face even worse hostilities

[The_King]

 

Anna, the director of the Russian Singapore Amateur Chekhov Theatre, has been based here for 14 years. Yet only in recent weeks she began experiencing anti-Russian sentiment for the first time.

The 44-year-old mother of three said that she has seen people on her social media feed post offensive memes and hate speech about Russians, which has made her feel unwelcome here.

These displays of hostility, as well as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, affected her so much that she cancelled three shows between March 3 and 5.

“The performance was supposed to be a funny show featuring a comedian, but we decided to cancel because it is hard to smile now,” said Anna, who declined to provide her full name as she was worried about being a target of harassment.

Like Anna, members of the Russian community in Singapore have seen varying degrees of hostility here, particularly online, since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in Ukraine on Feb 24.

There are about 4,000 Russians living in Singapore, said Mr Aleksandr Solovev, First Secretary of the Russian Embassy here.
Some are bracing themselves for the worst as they hear reports of xenophobic behaviours towards Russians in other parts of the world.

Mr Vadim Zoubovski, who runs a family-owned restaurant selling Russian and Ukrainian cuisine here, had also seen his business receiving online flak since the conflict escalated.

The Singapore permanent resident, who still has family members in Ukraine, was prompted to put up a post on Facebook on March 1 to ask the public to be “kinder in their words and refrain from leaving further hate speech”.

In the post, the restaurant, Dumplings.ru, also announced that it would donate 10 per cent of its proceeds from online orders to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Mr Zoubovski, 51, said that since then, things have turned for the better, with his business seeing more orders.

When TODAY visited the restaurant's main branch at Maxwell Chambers at 2pm on Sunday, the restaurant was full, with a handful of people seen waiting outside, half an hour before it was due to close.
While he still sees a small number of negative comments on social media, Mr Zoubovski said he was thankful for the support he had received both in terms of patronage and encouraging words.

[socrates469bc]

smelly peasants love gardenia price increase deep deep.

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/singapore-adopting-multi-pronged-approach-to-manage-rising-inflation-alvin-tan

 

[XianGe]

Dun tink sinkies will hate larssians here since notch their choice their premier attack Ukraine

[Londonchocolateroll]

Whats there to brace? Singaporeans are more concerned about shopee vouchers rather than what is happening thousands of kilometres away

[Huat Zai]

10 minutes ago, Londonchocolateroll said:

Whats there to brace? Singaporeans are more concerned about shopee vouchers rather than what is happening thousands of kilometres away

Name 5 sg MPs. You can't?, I can't either. Knn, we're not even concerned about locally politics, screw Russia.

Edited March 7, 2022 by Huat Zai

[Londonchocolateroll]

38 minutes ago, Huat Zai said:

Name 5 sg MPs. You can't?, I can't either. Knn, we're not even concerned about locally politics, screw Russia.

 

5 to 10 I sure can because majority will be workers party. 15 will be a stretch

[ODACHEK]

Moi think a lot of Russian ballet teachers here as well...