Kumar publicly responds to woman who invoked her name to justify racist remarks

“I do race-based jokes but I am not racist”.

Kumar, Singapore’s most beloved and recognisable comedian, has publicly responded to Praise Wong.

To briefly recapitulate, Praise Wong made racist remarks directed at a Grab driver that allegedly cheated her, and the Malay community at large. When Praise was called out for racism, she not only doubled down on her racism, she also pointed to Kumar in a bid to justify her remarks.

“I am not a racist” – Kumar

It did not take long for Kumar to respond. Within 2 hours of the publication of the initial story, Kumar responded to Praise with 4 points:

I do race-based jokes but I am not a racist.

Malay people got money. Just go to Kembangan and see for yourself.

The drivers don’t control the rates.

Please be sensitive to other races. I love all my Singaporean brothers and sisters – regardless of race language or religion

Netizens did not like comparisons with Kumar

The comparisons to Kumar did not sit well with some Instagram users, who said that the difference between Kumar and Praise was that the former is actually funny.

References were also made to intersectionality, power dynamics, and systemic racism.

Incident with Grab Driver

According to Praise, her grab driver, one Abdul Aziz Bin Ahtam, charge her an additional $7 from the listed price because the vehicle was a large one. She claimed that she took a GrabXL the day prior and she was not charged extra.

In calling out her grab driver, she made some racist and incendiary remarks:

The rate grab quoted me was $13+ but the fucking malay driver (bro I know you poor but don’t need to resort to lying and deceit if you want me to tip you lmk?)

She went on to claim that the driver insulted her, and called her a “cheapo” when she informed the driver that she intends to dispute the charge. She characterised this remark as “libel” and said the man does not “deserve to earn this income”.

Eventually, Grab provided her a full refund. A strike was also recorded on the driver’s account for unfairly charging extra for the ride. A representative from Grab, Nurul, told Praise that “as a loyal customer, this should not have happened to you in the first place.”

Praise commended Grab’s response to the incident, and called for “more checks and balances to keep companies on their toes“.

Racist Remarks

Despite advocating for checks and balances, Praise did not appear to take it too well when her friends and followers called her out for her racist remarks.

When Natalya told Praise that there was no need to highlight the man’s race, Praise referred to herself as an “angry bitch” and argued that her remarks were “highly justified“.

Another follower, pernordparry, also called Praise out for her racism. Praise responded by saying that racism was “highly subjective” and that she was only describing her aggressor in detail. She added that if the driver had been Indian or Chinese, she’d “prolly call him out too“. She also went on to tag Pernod’s employers with a series of unrelated allegations.

She then gave examples of racist jokes directed at Indians and Chinese people.

She justified her racist remarks by pointing to Kumar the comedian.

Further Racist Remarks

A few days after the incident, she continued making racist remarks directed at the Malay community. This time, Praise said that “if they can’t be earning good money they are criminals“. Her latest story is visible in her Instagram highlight titled “Policy 4 Future“.

She claims to have “deep concern for the malays“, but we find that very hard to believe in light of her highly prejudiced views.

We agree wholeheartedly with Natalya, there was no need for Praise to have brought up the man’s race when calling the scam out. Her subsequent racist remarks were also entirely unjustified.

This post was first published in Wake Up Singapore