During the CNY weekend, those who celebrated were mostly away in their hometown for a reunion with family members. If you were in KL, you would probably notice that parts of the town were filled with foreigners, particularly Bangladeshis who were also on their holiday.
And there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Some Malaysians, however, were not happy with what they saw, and some even claimed they felt like tourists in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The videos were trending on social media over the weekend, and a Malaysian food vlogger took to his TikTok post @rifdiamri and voiced out against the negative perception towards foreigners.
“I don’t see you all doing the same to Westerners or Koreans”
Rifdi said the foreigners were merely enjoying their day off on CNY, and we have no right to stop them from doing so.
“Who are we to stop them? They can go anywhere they please. It was their holiday. Why the need to insult them, say they smell bad and all?”
The food vlogger also clarified that he was not trying to defend the foreigners, but he couldn’t understand the need to criticise them for just being out there to spend time. He added that the situation would have been different if the crowd in KL were not the Bangladeshis, but other foreigners.
“If those were Westerners or Koreans, you guys would’ve been happy. I don’t understand you guys,” Rifdi sighed.
Now, let’s change the perspective a little.
Rifdi then spoke about Malaysians who work abroad, such as fruit pickers and factory workers, and “invited” netizens to think from another perspective – how we’re being viewed abroad by the locals.
“Do you think the locals there don’t look down on Malaysians when we are there as foreign workers?”
Near the end of his video, Rifdi reminded everyone to stop seeing themselves as superior to foreigners.
Watch on TikTok
Regardless of who the crowds are, as long as they do not violate the laws, they have every right to be where they want to be.
