Swiss man accused of racist gesture towards Singaporean, but commenters defend him

SINGAPORE: A local content creator was recently on the receiving end of a racist gesture while travelling in Switzerland, and he posted the encounter online. 

However, some commenters on his post appeared to defend the man who had been racist, saying the content creator had been at fault in the first place.

On Sept 29, Sukas (@sukasblood) posted a video on Instagram that had the words “When asking a local for help goes completely wrong” written in the text overlay.

It began with his motorcycle having fallen over and the content creator unable to set it upright again.

He seemed relieved when an elderly man walked toward him, and after greeting him, asked if he could help him.

However, the man appeared to be angry and asked him what he was doing in the area.

Sukas explained, “Oh no, I drove the wrong way.”

The man said, “It’s forbidden to come here,” and then began taking pictures.

And when Sukas said, “I’m sorry… I didn’t know,” the man replied, “No sorry, it’s forbidden.”

The man also insisted that Sukas had seen a sign that indicated entry was forbidden, but Sukas explained that he had not.

The man went on to make a face at him, slanting his eyes and sticking his tongue out.

“That was very racist,” Sukas told him.

Unrepentant, the man further told him he hoped his motorbike was damaged. He repeated that coming into the area was forbidden, and when Sukas reiterated that he had not known about that, he pointed to an area where there was purportedly a sign that said as much.

The man took photos again, and as he was turning to leave, Sukas asked him again, “Can you help me, please?”

However, the man simply shook his head, said no, and then walked away.

When a commenter wrote that the encounter had shown the “dark side of Switzerland, unfortunately,” others pushed back.

“Man being angry when someone is on his property without asking is a dark side?” asked one.

“That's not the Dark Side of Switzerland; that's traffic rules, and he had to follow them!” added another.

“It's his land. If it's your house, we can enter freely?” a third chimed in.

An Instagram user wrote, “I don’t think the man did anything wrong. It’s his farm, including his sheep and animals. A motorbike especially makes loud sounds, putting his animals in uncomfortable situations & directly affecting them. Own mistake there lol, stop trespassing and annoying animals.” 

“Maybe it’s you and your behaviour,” wrote another.

“I have ridden my bike… all over Switzerland. You don’t accidentally ‘arrive’ on those trails. That is illegal to be on them with a motorcycle. And now, you want sympathy?” a commenter argued.

Several commenters asked him why Sukas was there in the first place, and others said he didn’t deserve any help.

While hardly anyone mentioned the man’s racist gesture, this was not the case when the video was shared on r/singaporespeaks.

A user on the platform wrote, “Went to Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Before I went, I thought I would love Switzerland the most, but ended up absolutely hating it the most,” due to similar incidents.

“Parents went months ago, literally got rejected at a restaurant for being Asian,” another added.

A third wrote, “Years back, I was in Zurich as a young student. A lady on the tram shouted at me for speaking to my friend in Chinese. We were shocked by her racist outburst, but more shocked that no one stood up for us…this was my first experience of several there.” /TISG

Read also:  “Racism still exists in Singapore and is ‘among us’”