Lemon podcast: The Ni Hao Debate and Sarah Tiong

(Melbourne, Australia) - On June 18th, The Lemon podcast addressed the racism that Sarah Tiong, experienced during a recent radio interview. During the call, the MasterChef Australia contestant was greeted with ‘ni hao ma.’ On the incident, Sarah had this to say, “Let me explain. It is racist to assume I identify as Chinese and speak the Chinese language. Even if I have referenced such heritage or knowledge in the past, it is privileged and ignorant to assume anything about me based on the colour of my skin. It is rude and privileged to assume that I understand that Asian language, just because I appear of that descent.” In response to this, the Lemon podcast had a candid and intimate conversation on this behavior, in an episode titled, “The Ni Hao Debate.” Co-host Thomas Tan had this to say, “I think the Asian community is divided over this topic because, the people who aren’t offended on Sarah’s behalf, I believe they haven’t, received microaggression, or people who aren’t Asian living in western country. So, for me, the times that I have been greeted with ‘ching-chong, ni hao ma, lei ho ma, konnichiwa, anyong haseyo,’ like all of the above. Most of the time when people do say these things to me it doesn’t come from a place of love or kindness, it’s always from a place of mockery. And it brings back a lot of memories, back when I was year-7 or year-8, and you know the kids at the back of the class, who were popular white kids, would always kind of be like ‘ni hao ma Tom ni hao ma,’ and it’s more of a mockery rather than a sense of appreciation.”

Later in the podcast, co-host Phillip Kuoch, addressed the comments he saw on Pedestrian TV, in-regards to Sarah Tiong’s response. Saying, “A lot of people in there were like ‘oh why’s she so sensitive about this, she’s just overreacting,’ but I think the experience, that we experience as Asian-Australians, is a lot different to these people, like we experience this, on a daily basis growing up like, it made me think about the times where people have greeted me with lei hao ma, without even asking my name, or asking how I am, or asking what country I’m from. And I think that’s the frustrating thing about this, is that, you’re making an assumption about someone, without getting to know them, and just thinking that every Asian looking person is Chinese.” Later in that episode, Thomas and Phillip went on to discuss racism and reality TV. In-particular, they noted that the first-3 contestants voted out of Big Brother Australia, were people of color.

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About the Lemon podcast:

The show exploded into the podcasting sphere in October of 2019, and has been making headlines for being thought-provoking, and for being a conservation starter on topics such as: racism, diversity, and LGBTQIA+ issues. The show was created by it’s hosts’, Thomas Tan and Phillip Kuoch. Lemon’s notable guests include: Dami Im, Samantha Jade, Gia Gunn, and AJ Mitchell. The show is recorded in Melbourne, Australia, but has a following in: Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and several other Asian countries.

Link to lemon podcast: https://www.lemonpodcast.com/

This release was published on openPR.