No one should feel embarrassed for what their race is.
However, Korean YouTuber Tzuyang did otherwise, which earned her viewers’ ire.
In a YouTube Mukbang Video on January 28, Tzuyang is seen in a restaurant with her “Pinoy guest” named Ni Tong claimed to be one of Tzuyang’s Filipino subscribers. When it was Ni Tong’s time to speak and introduce herself, she was speaking in broken Korean with a thick Filipino accent, translating to, “Hello. I am Ni Tong, and I have a beautiful smile. I was formerly the wife of a farmer, but now I am a comedian,” in English.
However, it was found that Ni Tong was not Pinoy and the real name of the guest in the vlog is Kim Ji Young, a South Korean comedian pretending to be a Filipino and mocking the Pinoy accent, which is a clear racial mockery to Filipinos.
FILIPINO REACTIONS TO TZUYANG’S RACIAL MOCKERY
This revelation caused Tzuyang to receive numerous criticisms, especially from her Filipinos, whether subscribers or nonsubscribers.
Netizens aired their disappointment for poking fun at the Filipino accent, which should not be done in the first place.
“As a Filipino, I [felt] so proud at first when I saw that she is a Filipino. But the moment that it is revealed that she is not and she is copying or mocking Filipino accent, it made me bothered. Our accent is not a joke and should never be laughed at. Hope you all understand my point, thank you,”
VIDEO TAKEN DOWN AND TZUYANG’S APOLOGY
The mukbang YouTube video, originally “[Philippine Flag Emoji] The Philippine Subscriber (?) was surprised [laughing emoji] Beef tripe rice noodles,” uploaded on January 28 was changed a week after in February to “Vietnamese restaurant where you eat in line [smiling emoji] Beef Gopchang Rice Noodles Mukbang,” after receiving heavy criticisms from Netizens. Sooner, the Mukbang Video was set to private.
Except for taking the Video down, Tzuyang also issued a public apology statement in three different languages (Filipino, English, and Korean).
“I want to extend my sincere apologies to our Filipino viewers and subscribers for any concerns caused by the video uploaded on January 28th with a Korean comedian,” she began.
“I hold great respect for the Philippines and feel genuinely grateful to the many viewers in the Philippines who enjoy my videos. However, it was a huge oversight on my part not to realize that the content we produced might unintentionally cause emotional pain, which was not our intention,” she continued.
