MasterChef Australia Contestant Called Radio DJ Racist After She Was Greeted with ‘Ni Hao Ma’

The world is in an absolute mess under the severe abuse of the Year 2020.

One of the more recent tragedies is, of course, the murder of George Floyd which shook the world and reminded everyone the prominence of ongoing racism.

This then sparked the #BlackLivesMatter campaign and protests, which not only asks for a change in the US but also urged us all to look into possible racism in our countries.

With the world carefully tiptoeing about any matters related to race to not make any mistakes, one radio host in Australia may have done just that.

Radio Host Greeted Chinese-Ethnic MasterChef Contestant In Mandarin

Sarah Tiong, a MasterChef Australia contestant and cookbook author, was alleged met with racism when on the Australian radio show Triple M Sunraysia.

When on the radio show, the host apparently greeted her with “Ni Hao Ma?”, which is a form of greeting in Mandarin Chinese.

To make things worse, he then tried to use “Lei Ho Ma” instead, which is the same greeting in the Cantonese dialect.

Deeply offended, Sarah Tiong then took to her Instagram, sharing her outrage on her Instagram Stories.

She claimed that she felt “uncomfortable and shocked”, and that “this is racism” and the radio host was being “insensitive” and “tone-deaf”.

To further iterate her point, she says that it is “privileged and ignorant” to assume that she speaks Asian languages simply based on the colour of her skin, claiming it to be “dehumanising”.

Sarah Tiong has Malaysian Chinese roots but was otherwise born in Australia.

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Public Opinion

This case has since hit the news, and many people have shared their opinions on the matter.

She has received support from MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong, who claims this to be “racial toxicity” and a “daily occurrence for many POC”.

However, when turning to normal Netizens, it is apparent that most do not share her sentiments.

Most thought that she was being oversensitive and making a “mountain out of a molehill”.

There were others who also thought that she was simply “banking in on the racism issue” due to recent wave of racism incidents as stated in the beginning.

That tied into another comment which stated that she had used her Chinese roots and culture to market her restaurant and suit her needs but pleaded racism when a person greets her in Chinese, calling it “twisting her privilege” and called her a hypocrite.

And one last comment appeared to have summed up the opinions of many those opposed to her feelings.

Is it then racist to speak English to someone you assume is a native English speaker?

However, regardless of public opinion, a spokesperson from the radio station Triple M Sunrayasia has “unreservedly apologised” for the offence.

What do you think of this issue? Is her outrage justified?