Sabina-Leah Fernandez (www.sabinafernandez.com) is a Singaporean editor-turned-yoga teacher now living in Sri Lanka. Read more of her writing on her blog www.ahippieinheels.com
Our writer speaks with Dawn Ho, and she has a message for all of us: She hopes this does not turn into an issue about race.
Last night the news broke that local singer Dawn Ho was given a bloody nose on Sunday night following an incident with a man named Aaron Jeremiejczyk.
According a her Facebook post, the man the punch to her face occurred after Ho told Jeremiejcyzk off for speaking rudely to a limousine driver.
Tenuous stuff. After Anton Casey, now this?
Meanwhile the rest of social media starts exploding with accusations of injustice. The post received almost 700 shares overnight. And the story was quickly picked up by online media. Unfortunately, some blogs went straight for the race card.
Like this one:
And also this one:
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Wow. Colonial Crass, “F-trash.” There’s a contraction we didn’t know existed. And hey Rilek 1 Corner, the perpertrator’s ethnicity is not headline-worthy.
Don’t get me wrong, it is by NO MEANS acceptable to punch a defenseless woman in the face. Anyone who’s seen Ho perform can attest to the fact that she’s tiny (maybe 1.55m), in no way did she pose a threat to a fully grown man. She was sitting inside a car for heaven’s sake! Aaron was out of control and out of line.
He acted like an assh*le. And an assh*le is an assh*le regardless of race, language or religion. His demographic had nothing to do with his actions. White, black, brown yellow or purple, how he behaved was deplorable.
But internet commenters did not see it that way. Responses to Dawn’s post grew nasty very quickly. Angry Singaporeans zoomed in on Aaron being a foreigner. It got so bad that Dawn stepped in, and followed up with another post.
“There were so many racial comments on foreign talents even though I never mentioned anything regarding race in my first post,” Dawn told Five Stars And A Moon. “So I thought I better clarify and also help pacify the angry people and try to not make this like another Anton Casey case. I don’t want people to look at this from the wrong angle, it shouldn’t get spun out of context,” she said.
Come on, people, let’s not make this an issue about colour.
Aaron had since been suspended from work. A police report has been made and investigations are underway. Justice will be served and we should leave the investigative process to the authorities.
There are thousands of expats living in Singapore who are polite, hard-working, humble and contribute to the landscape of our country. And they are likely embarrassed and annoyed by the Anton Caseys and Aaron Jeremiejczyks of this world.
Dawn, meanwhile, is fine.
Although she says it hurts a little when she signs “certain registers”, she’s back on stage, feeling positive and performing at Mosaic Music Festival tonight. What a trooper!
[plinker]