Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Several videos have gone viral over social media yesterday, showing foreign workers relaxing in KLCC mall.
The sheer number of workers spending their break in KLCC during the Chinese New Year public holiday has caught many netizens off guard, prompting sarcastic comments such as:
“POV: You’re holidaying in Bangladesh” and “(Chinese New Year) is so festive with all the tourists around!” – an obvious diss at the large number of Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and other nationalities in the mall.
A shameful display of racist remarks from netizens
Image via Tiktok
“Why are they all wearing bluetooth earphones? Like they’re super busy and have people to call.”
“Imagine the stink,” said another commenter.
Screenshots via Tiktok
One commenter said, “I feel like a tourist in my own country,” to which another replied, “Just hold your breath a lot.”
Other Malaysians called out the ignorant comments
While many netizens laughed at the racist jokes made at the expense of the foreign workers, a few commenters attempted to educate the comments section. One said,
“If I never saw this post and comment section, I would have never known how racist Malaysians are! This is next level racism against people of Bangladesh. Even though there are people from multiple countries enjoying the night in KLCC, Malaysians chose to focus on Bangladeshis.”
“Those who are saying that Bangladeshis are smelly, I would recommend you to work as a construction worker 8-14 hours a day, tying bars, concrete, wall plastering, brickwork, scaffolding, roof tiles and much more. Working this type of job, you can’t expect them to smell like fragrance.”
Another commenter said,
“The racism in these comments are unbelievable. These guys are doing the heavy lifting, doing the jobs Malaysians don’t want to do.”
“When I was in manufacturing, out of the thousands of factory employees, there are like 4 Malaysians. Do you know why? Because nobody applies for these jobs. Even when they do, they quit in like a week.”
What it was like at KLCC
Since there were some who harbor sentiments of alarm at the number of Bangladeshis in Malaysia, IRL interviewed two students from IIUM who were out that evening, Serazum and Nusrat to get an idea of the atmosphere on the ground. Here’s what they had to say:
“It was very lively and they decorated the streets with colourful lights. We had street food and later roamed around taking pictures. We saw a lot of international people, mostly Bangladeshis but others as well. There was a random guy who gave us flowers and asked which country we were from. He went on to ask for our numbers and try to take a selfie with us, which was a bit uncomfortable. But aside from that isolated case, it was a great experience, ” shared Nusrat.
The students shared that the presence of foreign workers didn’t give them cause for alarm, as they minded their own business, talking to families back in their home country, and taking pictures of the Twin Towers.
Malaysia’s third world mentality has got to change
To the ignorant commenters, what you may not realise is that if you were working overseas, you wouldn’t like to be treated this way by that country’s locals either.
Honestly, who are we to think we’re better than these hardworking foreign workers? These foreign workers are literally building Malaysia from the ground up with their own hands, doing the work that we anak Malaysia are too privileged to do.
To those who harbour such sentiments, it’s a moment for introspection. It’s time to advocate for appreciation and respect towards every individual, regardless of their background or nationality.
Before judging others, take a good look at yourself. What have you done to contribute to this nation?
What do you think of this story?
Tell us in the comments!
Email us at hello@inreallife.my to be featured on In Real Life Malaysia.
Read also: I Paid RM12,000 To Move To Malaysia Only To Become a Dishwasher at a Mamak
I Paid RM12,000 To Move To Malaysia Only To Become a Dishwasher at a Mamak
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