THE outbreak of the deadly coronavirus has also created a fertile ground for bigots to spew racist messages.
Social media has become a cesspit filled with racially fuelled memes drawing comedic relationship betweeen the virus and Chinese people.
Social activist Nur Qyira shared an experience on how a Grab driver allegedly rejected all requests from people with Chinese names “in order to avoid coronavirus”.
My @GrabMY driver today was a Malaysian Chinese. He told me that he rejected all grab requests from people with Chinese names today because he thinks he can avoid the coronavirus.
— Nur Qyira (@takterqyira) January 30, 2020
....I am half Chinese but I have a Malay name.
In a Twitter post, Qyira said the driver allegedly informed her that he had rejected almost 20 rides, even if it meant his ratings get affected, as “he wanted to be safe”.
Grab Malaysia has promptly responded to the tweet, requesting further details from the Qyira to investigate further.
Xenophobic attacks worldwide targeting the Chinese community has been on the rise following the outbreak of the deadly virus.
According to Financial Times (FT) there has been a rise in “instances of racial abuse and discrimination against people of Chinese citizenship and descent as well as those of other east or south-east Asian heritages.”
“In Paris, a Taiwanese woman complains about people moving away from her on a train because she is wearing a mask. In Hungary, Vietnamese shop owners put up signs saying that they are not Chinese. In South Korea, more than half a million people have petitioned the president to stop Chinese people from entering the country,“ said FT in a report yesterday.
