Racism surrounding the Covid-19 virus is still rampant all around the world, especially in non-Asian countries where Chinese people are assaulted for fear that they may be infected with the virus.
This morning (3rd March), a Singaporean student who has been living in London for two years wrote about his horrifying experience with a group of men who attacked him over Covid-19.
According to Straits Times, Facebook user Jonathan Mok shared on Facebook that he was attacked at about 9.15pm on 24th February while walking past a group of young men in Oxford Street.
“I walked past a group of young men, when I saw one of them look at me and said something to me, which I could make out the word ‘coronavirus’,” he said.
“I was stunned and turned around to have a look at the man who made the statement. He was still staring at me as he walked past and realised I was looking at him. He shouted ‘Don’t you dare look at me, you ____’”
“Within 3 seconds, he was in my face, together with 3/4 other young men, and a young lady.”
“All of a sudden, the first punch was swung at my face and took me by surprise. When I was still shocked by the first hit, the guy delivered the second sucker punch.”
A few passers-by had stopped and one of them tried to reason with the attackers that four against one wasn’t fair.
Jonathan tried to react in self-defence, but couldn’t do anything substantial as he was still recovering from a broken finger.
“The guy who tried to kick me then said, ‘I don’t want your coronavirus in my country’, before swinging another sucker punch at me, which resulted in my face exploding with blood (from my nose), where the blood was splattered all across the pavement,” Jon said.
The group ran away before the police could arrive.
After the incident, Jon went to the emergency department and was told that he suffered a few fractures in his face and might need to undergo reconstructive surgery to fix some bones.
“Why should anyone, simply because of the colour of their skin, be subjected to abuse, in any form, verbal or physical? Why should I keep quiet when someone makes a racist remark towards me,” he said in his post.
“Racism is not stupidity – racism is hate. Racists constantly find excuses to expound their hatred- and in this current backdrop of the coronavirus, they’ve found yet another excuse.”
“To the group of guys who saw fit to attack me because of my skin colour: here’s something for you— I stood up to you because I wasn’t afraid, I’ve faced far more intimidating characters in my life.”
“And if you think ganging up on someone who is sizeably smaller than you makes you a big man — it doesn’t. It only makes every single one of you a coward who doesn’t have the balls to take someone on 1 on 1. Grow a pair.”
Jonathan then calls on anyone who witnessed the attack to come forward with any knowledge or evidence of the incident or report it to the police.
Here’s the original post:
Also read: Chinese Student Beaten By Australians Because ‘He Wasn’t Speaking English’
