Actress who asked Filipinas if she looked like a domestic helper issues apology, takes down video

SINGAPORE: After backlash online, actress Charmaine Kumar has issued an apology, explaining that she had never meant to disrespect Filipino domestic helpers.

Last month, Ms Kumar posted a video on TikTok wherein, while she was preparing for a role as a Filipino domestic helper in a play called “Radin Mas, Who?”, she visited Lucky Plaza.

She wanted to know if her Filipino accent would pass and said she would speak to Filipinos there to see if she sounded like them.

However, at first, she asked some Filipino women if she looked like a domestic helper.

The women answered no, with one saying that the actress “looked so classy” and another telling her that she looked Chinese.

“So smart!” Ms Kumar exclaimed in obvious delight.

She then read a couple of lines from the play to see if her accent was accurate. The first line was a list of duties that domestic helpers usually carry out, which the women told her did not sound authentic.

However, for the next line, “Ma’am is really very good to me,” a Filipina said the actress’s accent was “okay.”

Ms Kumar then went on to explain that what was happening is called outgroup homogeneity bias, which is the tendency to see the members of a group one does not belong to as similar and undifferentiated, and to see the members of a group one belongs to as unique and diverse.

While the play the actress was in actually ran in November, the backlash against her began when her video was shared on TikTok and Reddit. Some netizens, upset with what they perceived as Ms Kumar’s condescending attitude toward the Filipino domestic helpers, called her out.

@soobinsunoo

Filipino Domestic Helper ginagawang katatawanan??? 🙄 I cannot imagine a social worker being racist. what the hell does “dog dog walk walk even mean?” #chermainekumar #racist #philippines #pinoy

♬ original sound – TikTok User –

“This is very hard to watch,” a TikTok user wrote, while another chimed in with “as a Singaporean… I’m seriously ashamed.”

One wrote, “It wasn’t your intention to hurt, but you INTENTIONALLY read AND made everyone read out a line that was entirely rooted in harmful racial stereotypes + the point of your vid was too see if your MIMICKED filipino accent is passable (which in of itself is disrespectful enough), but you just HAD to start the video off asking if you looked like a domestic helper? In no way, shape, or form can that be seen as a casual joke when it reinforces discrimination.”

On Dec 18, the actress posted the following statement:

“I acknowledge the feedback and hurt many have expressed regarding the video.

My intention was never to mock or appear condescending towards Filipino domestic helpers, a community I have respect for.

That said, I understand that regardless of intent, the format and framing of my video could still reinforce harmful stereotypes. For that, I apologise for the impact it had and am sorry to those who had felt hurt. It is a lesson for me to be more mindful about how such conversations are approached in the future.

I have taken down the video, and I appreciate those of you who shared your perspectives respectfully.”

Comments on Ms Kumar’s post have been turned off. /TISG

Read also: Filipina domestic helper who shielded 3-month-old baby during deadly Hong Kong fire hailed as a hero