It’s ironic that the Straits Times condemns racist young bloggers, yet posts a splashy headline that reads: "Little Africa takes root in Little India."

This demeaning, front page article of Singapore’s most widely read English paper discusses the negative implication of a growing number of African patrons to Little India’s hawker stalls: fights, declining customers, etc. The article relies on quotes from furious hawker stall owners who accuse the growing number of African patrons of driving customers away and creating fear and ruckus.

I’ll be the last to call myself politically correct, but stories like these in the national paper— read by Singapore’s most educated group of people— can only provoke more racism. After all, the greatest enemy to world peace isn’t your herd of foreign criminals, it’s the xenophobic scholars who lead them.

I think the scariest part is that the article makes minor attempts to sound objective, such as devoting 20% of its space to quotes from disgruntled African expats, but the overall message is obvious. It’s like an educated analysis that concludes: All Africans are troublemakers!