'Chindian family' slammed for repeating racial slur in mispronunciation of 'Nigeria' in TikTok video
TikTok videos poking fun at cross-border cultural differences tend to strike a chord.
This time, however, a video posted by TikTok user @The Chindian Family has blown up for all the wrong reasons.
The account, which describes itself as a family consisting of a "Chindian Son" from Singapore and "Chinese Mom" from Malaysia, posted a video on Dec 5 of the woman attempting to pronounce the names of countries like Nigeria, Iran and Germany.
Less than two seconds into the video, the woman repeated the word "n****r" multiple times in her attempts to read "Nigeria".
The woman's son also repeated the racial slur several times while correcting her pronunciation.
The slur is used to refer to Black people and has origins in slavery.
The video, which has raked up more than 240,200 views, also shows the woman mispronouncing Iran ("I-ran") and Germany ("Jer-many").
That said, many commenters latched onto the use of the N-word, noting that both mother and son should not have said it regardless of intent.
Netizens responded with memes indicating disbelief and shock, with some noting that such clips form part of a digital footprint that will be hard to erase.
"Mom's career is cooked," wrote one TikTok user.
In response to Stomp's queries, The Chindian Family clarified that the video was "simply created as content", and not intended to be racist or offensive in any way.
"Differences in education and pronunciation are common in Malaysia, and the clip was not meant to be interpreted negatively," The Chindian Family added.
This is not the first time Singaporeans' use of racial slurs has come under the spotlight.
Earlier this year, American author Khanyisa Mnyaka called out Singaporeans for using the N-word when talking to her.
Though she acknowledged that there was no malice, she felt "uncomfortable" nonetheless, leading her to label the Republic the eighth most racist country she had travelled to.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with a response from The Chindian Family.
