SINGAPORE: In a TikTok video that has gotten traction, a woman opined that the Chinese in Singapore have “forgotten their roots” and that they “hate it when people say they are Chinese.”
The video, which was posted on the @whyliddatsg TikTok account on Thursday (Mar 30), has been viewed almost 30,000 times.
@whyliddatsg why she liddat say Singapore? (Source: 欢姐唠出国)
In it, the woman says that when Chinese people who newly move to Singapore “who feel that Singaporeans and Chinese are one,” casually remark, “aren’t we fellow Chinese, we should look out for one another,” they reportedly receive negative replies.
They’re usually told, “I am a Singaporean. I am not from China,” she said, adding, “After that, they will never dare to tell Singaporeans they are fellow Chinese.”
She added that “Singaporeans don’t like to be called Chinese or China-origin. They want other people to recognize them as Singaporeans. It’s been too long. They forgot that they should identify with Chinese culture. They forgot about their roots.”
The video has received many comments disagreeing with the woman’s opinions, both on TikTok and Reddit, where it was shared on r/SingaporeRaw.
Many insisted that their “roots are in Singapore.”
“我的根，不是你的那个根.. to put it in a sense, we are different yet similar. And yes, I am Chinese by race. But my nationality is Singaporean,” one chimed in.
Another wrote, “Erm… I am already 4th generation Singaporean… My kids are 5th generation Singaporean. My roots and shoots are Singaporean. I am Singaporean first, Chinese second.
I will side with a Singaporean of a different race before I will side with a Chinese of a different nationality. Paiseh ah, that is now we roll here.”
One Reddit user even wrote, “My ancestral roots are from Africa, according to scientists.”
/TISG
China to see ‘exodus of wealth’ to Singapore after Xi Jinping’s crackdowns, Covid shutdowns