A Chinese man, 24 years of age was arrested on Tuesday in Singapore, charged with posting racist comments on his blog, according to the Singapore Police Force.

He only indended the remark to be read by his close friends and was shocked by the furore caused by his blog entry.

The comments were directed at a passenger he encountered on Singapore’s train system, reported the local media.

The blogger allegedly wrote, according to The New Paper,
“There he sat, unaffected by his surroundings, smelling like he didn’t showered (sic) in years and wore some really scary dirty clothes.” The report said the blogger made “offensive” comments about the man’s race.

Commments made with the “deliberate intention of wounding the religious or racial feelings of any person” can, under Singaporean law, land an individual with a jail term of up to three years plus a fine.

The Singaporean government is quick to clamp down on any public comments that could cause tension between the country’s ethnic groups. Tensions between the Chinese and Malay communities erupted into riots in 1964 leaving 36 dead and hundreds injured.

The man plans to make an apology online, according to the report.

Photo credit: Flickr’s filipe ferreira