Is Korean-bashing legitimate response to alleged racism or mere extension of unruly ‘pendatang’ narrative?

 

Letter to editor

SCORING brownie points means gaining imaginary credit, praise or approval from someone by doing a helpful or pleasing deed. People often use the term when someone tries to impress a boss, parent, or partner. 

This is precisely what DAP lawmaker Syarleena Abdul Aziz seemed to be doing when she joined the fray in condemning alleged incidents of racism aimed at locals by expat South Koreans living in the Mont Kiara enclave. 

The current furore was apparently sparked by a Threader who groused that she was physically assaulted with a phone for merely pushing a lift button. 

Though the post has been deleted, it has not stopped scores of netizens from expressing their displeasure, including the former ADUN for Seri Delima.

In a brief clip poster on Threads, the 45-year-old Bukit Bendera MP declared that “Mont Kiara belongs to Malaysians”.

“This is the problem when you have an overwhelming concentration of foreigners in one locale. They become rude, arrogant and racist when in fact they are pendatang (outsiders) who come here as our guests,” decried the non-plussed Convent Green Lane alumni.

Doubling down on her views that Malaysians were getting the short end of the stick, the DAP parliamentarian argued that locals were fully supportive of Korean films, TV shows, music and cuisine but were rewarded with racist attitudes instead. 

Advising Malaysians to report incidents of racism to the police, Syerleena was adamant that Malaysia not go down the route experienced by locals in popular tourist spots such as Bali (Indonesia) and Phuket (Thailand).

Editor’s Note: Recent trends in popular tourist spots such as Bali and Phuket have shown a rise in racial profiling among locals due to alleged rude and racist behaviour from foreign tourists. 

Brewing regional hatred against Koreans

Note that the DAP’s contingent of Malay MPs, members and supporters are regularly tarred and labelled as “traitors to the race and religion” for daring to put their weight behind the Rocket. 

Although DAP is secular and membership is not restricted by ethnicity, the perception remains that it is dominantly a Chinese party. 

Thus, it is surprising to note that the language used by Syerleena in the brief clip was very similar to that brandished by the very same rightists.

The tone was clear with words such as “pendatang”, “biadap” (rude/despicable) and “angkuh” (arrogant) peppered the disgruntled missive, thus serving as a warning to Korean expats not to overstep their boundaries.

This reflects the belief that Koreans are the latest to behave badly in Malaysia and by extension, feeds the narrative that Malaysians are being treated shoddily in their homeland. 

Such sentiment is not exactly new and has been brewing for awhile. It is not just limited to Malaysia but tensions have been reported across ASEAN.

The (since deleted) post alleging the lift assault has obviously led to a lot of anger and resentment.

A post on Threads by Farah Lya (@farahqays_) who issued a gentle reminder to all Koreans who have been allowed to “eat, sleep and get pregnant in Malaysia, please don’t be rude to Malaysians” is a perfect reflection of this sentiment.

While there is every possibility that the Korean agitator(s) were indeed guilty of racist behaviour in Malaysia, the uncomfortable issue that needs to be raised is that the same language used to criticise the Koreans is exactly the same as the type aimed by rightists at local non-Bumiputera.

Just replace “Korean” with “Indian” or “Chinese” in Syerleena’s message or @farahquays post on Threads (or any similar social media postings) and the pattern becomes clear.

The DAP politician may feel it was an opportune time to strike a hardline tone that may appeal to rightists without upsetting voters, after all, expat Koreans can’t vote here, but the language used was disconcerting to say the least.

As the adage goes, two wrongs don’t make a right.

Former Hyundai Owner
Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.

- Focus Malaysia.