Tensions are high in Singapore following the uproar where Dennis Chew, an actor of Chinese origin, was featured as four different characters on an advertisement featured all over the island nation. The problem with the ad?
Two out of the four characters were racially offensive as Dennis Chew was showcased in brownface as an Indian man and in a headscarf as a Malay lady.
Source: SCMP
Though many were enraged over the incident, it seemed to have blown over quickly, until recently, when things escalated further.
Sibling duo, Subhas and Preeti Nair, had decided to produce and publish a rap video slamming people of Chinese ethnicity over the racial saga. The video, titled ‘K. Muthusamy’ (after Dennis Chew’s Indian character in the ad) showcased Preeti wearing a T-shirt that says, “Yes, it’s because you’re chinese”.
Throughout the entire video, the brown faced print ad can be seen littered everywhere at the location they had shot in, showcasing how easily the advert was distributed throughout the country.
The video opens to the chorus, which basically pinpoints how Chinese people ‘f**k it up’, and in the lyrics at the bottom of the screen, the word ‘racist’ is bracketed before the word ‘Chinese’, highlighting that the song is only meant to target those within the community who probably supported the racial brownface campaign.
Other lyrics that caught the attention of the masses were, “How can a man wear brown and wear a tudung, two wrongs don’t make a right,” as well as “You should have cast a Mak Cik, you should have called her.”
Just in case the entire video needed a reminder, Preeti clearly explains at the end that, “Not all Chinese people are racist, only the racist ones.”
What do you guys think? Were they right to speak out on the brown face incident? Did they go too far? Let us know in the comments section!
Also read: Singapore Banned Durians From Their Malaysia Fest 2019 So FAMA Brought Along Petai Instead
