When I first started out on YouTube with my best friend, we created some characters because we were only a 2 people team. Peter Papadum was one of these characters and the storyline is that PP and JianHao have a long history of banter and putting each other in tough spots. This was a time where we couldn’t afford to have a team or pay other actors yet. Among other characters, Ridhwan also plays other characters like an awkward Chinese boy Ren Yi Xiang but I understand the difference. PP adopts caricature-like qualities that exploit racial stereotypes, while Ren Yi Xiang merely appears as a name. Furthermore, Chinese people in SG do not deal with the same oppression as other minority races. I’ve never meant to put a certain race under a bad light. After some reflection, I realized it was insensitive and we could have done it better. I will no longer have that character anymore.
I try my best to include as many races in my videos, among the characters, we have a Malay principal, a Chinese cleaner, an Indian teacher. I do not give actors roles based on their color of their skin. I give it to them based on their ability to portray a role. However, now, as I grow and learn more, I will be more sensitive to how I portray certain races, and I apologize for not understanding this implications of this and I will not make the same mistake again.
I realise now that to enact change to dismantle racism it has to begin at home, and with those who have a voice. As an influencer and content creator with a following, I have a responsibility to educate my young and impressionable audiences. To the Singaporean minorities I’ve hurt with any of my jokes, I apologize.
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