On Friday (21 July), news of the demise of a police officer who was found lying motionless at the foot of a Yishun block rocked Singapore.
In light of the tragic news, a heartbreaking Facebook post the officer had penned before his passing began circulating online.
The deceased, 36-year-old Uvaraja S/O Gopal, wrote that he was the victim of racial discrimination and bullying in the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
Both the SPF and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam have responded to the claims, assuring the public that there will be a thorough investigation into the allegations.
Before his passing, Mr Uvaraja had apparently written a Facebook post that has since gone viral online.
The post, which is no longer accessible, relates his alleged experiences with racial discrimination, toxic work culture and bullying in the SPF.
Source: Facebook
Having harboured the dream of pursuing a career in the uniformed service, Mr Uvaraja enlisted in the SPF. His motivation at that time partly came from a positive experience in National Service (NS) with a “great” Commanding Officer (CO) and team members.
However, as years passed, he claimed that the workplace culture grew “toxic”, with “team members playing each other out” and “backstabbing for promotion”.
During a subsequent stint at a Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC), Mr Uvaraja alleged that his teammates often bullied him, calling him derogatory terms like “keleng kia”, “black” and “smelly”.
He also claimed that senior officers never recognised his work performance, leaving him “stuck” in his rank.
In contrast, “those who came to work just to sleep and do nothing got their ranks”.
Source: Facebook
Mr Uvaraja additionally accused his CO of “killing his (my) ranking multiple times”.
In 2019, he purportedly secured a job posting in the SPF. Unfortunately, the same CO allegedly halted the move, citing manpower issues.
That same year, an Inspector allegedly shredded Mr Uvaraja’s leave forms because he was unhappy that the latter applied for extra off hours to attend prayer.
When Mr Uvaraja raised the issue, he claimed his CO said that “the buck stopped with him”. The officer allegedly even threatened to charge him if he went further up the chain of command.
Despite the alleged mistreatment, Mr Uvaraja stayed on with the force through the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2021, he claimed to come across officers “blatantly smoking vapes” in the office and informed the management.
However, he alleged that internal investigators “covered up” the incident. Mr Uvaraja eventually brought it up to the CPIB but said he received hate “for doing the right thing”.
Source: Facebook
He subsequently received a new posting at a different NPC. Sadly, things were no better there as colleagues allegedly “pushed [him] around” and treated him like an “outcast”.
The officer allegedly faced his “worst superior” in 2023, who “repeatedly humiliated” him and “shouted at him (me) without humanity”.
Without delving into specifics, Mr Uvaraja said he was “shunned” wherever he went to seek help.
He also accused his superiors of treating him like an “accused” and the “lowest life form”.
When he asked for his side of the story to be heard, Mr Uvaraja claimed that he was always turned away.
With no one to turn to, he called various helplines but was allegedly scolded for doing so.
However, Mr Uvaraja said the “biggest betrayal” happened a few days before his passing, from within his own family. Again, he stopped short of the details.
Ending his post, the 36-year-old said that he was “prepared for enemies” when he joined the police, but never from “within the force”.
Despite all the alleged incidents he faced over the years, Mr Uvaraja said he still loved the uniform, but not the “toxic work culture” in the SPF.
He ended the post by proclaiming that he was ‘”signing out” and dying with “his (my) integrity, pride and dignity”.
In their statement on Friday (21 July) night, the SPF said that they were aware of the work challenges that Mr Uvaraja had highlighted in his Facebook post and had provided “various assistance” to him.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
Nonetheless, they promised to conduct a thorough investigation and will look into the issues raised in the post.
Within the same hour, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam issued a similar statement acknowledging the allegations.
Source: K Shanmugam on Facebook
He declared that he had instructed the SPF to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter, assuring members of the public that they will get to the bottom of it.
Mr Shanmugam also highlighted SPF’s commitment against discrimination and said all officers are entitled to fair treatment.
MS News extends our heartfelt condolences to Mr Uvaraja’s family during this difficult time. May he rest in peace.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and Reddit.
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