Singapore — Even days after Seah Kian Peng posted on Facebook that “Kamala’s name spelt backwards is Alamak”, netizens are still reacting to it, angrily.
For those who don’t know, Alamak is an expression to display dismay, shock or alarm as one would with “Oh, no!”.
In a viral TikTok video, @prabhmeetk.o posted a reactionary video to the incident.
She said: “Like legit, I only see Chinese people finding it funny though. And I just want to say like, we have a sizeable Indian population in Singapore, and a number of women are named Kamala as well, so is this joke really new?”
“Have you all not met other Kamalas in your life? It’s not funny making fun of people’s names like that,” she said. She added that she could not bring herself to laugh at it.
“Y’all Chinese people also got so many funny names out there, okay, don’t let me start with your Koks. What Kok Leong, Kok this and that. But where the c**k (kok) be, ain’t nobody see it though,” she added as a crude joke.
Her TikTok video went viral on social media and WhatsApp messenger. The issue started when on the evening of Aug 23, Member of Parliament and CEO of NTUC Fairprice Seah Kian Peng wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post: “As we know, VP of USA, Ms Kamala Harris chose Singapore for her first stop of her Asia tour”.
He continued: “And with it, a friend pointed out to me that Kamala’s name spelt backwards is Alamak … what a coincidence !”
In response to media queries, Mr Seah said that he took down the post and explained why he decided to remove it. He said: “Yes, I did post this on my FB page last evening just before I went for my MPS. Midway through my MPS, a friend ping me and as I reflected on it, I agree it was not appropriate and decided to take down the posting”.
Adding that he was not able to meet her during her trip here, he hoped that “there will be an opportunity for me to do so in the future”.
“Singapore has had a long and strong relationship with the USA, China and many other countries. VP Kamala Harris’s visit to Singapore and making Singapore the first stop of her Asia tour reinforces this relationship between our two countries,” Mr Seah said. /TISG