Before the internet, if you were a racist, sexist, or all-round bigot, most people wouldn’t know, because there was no platform for you to share your every single thought with the entire world.
But things are different now.
Once you say something insensitive online, whether your intention was malicious or not, people will never forget it.
S’pore Socialite Jamie Chua Apologised After an Posting an Insensitive Post About Dorm Residents
Jamie Chua, a 44-year-old woman known as “Singapore’s Instagram Queen” to netizens, is under fire at the moment.
While many are having nightmares about the future of the world after this pandemic, Chua had a disturbing nightmare” where she was being terrorized by “Indian workers” rushing into her home.
Yes, the workers who have been building our homes and who have been forced to stay in their cramped dormitories are the ones Chua was afraid of.
As you can imagine, netizens were outraged by the post, slamming her remarks as thoughtless.
Chua removed the post a few hours later and then reposted the same photo with a caption that read: “I think I may need another coffee to stay awake today.”
Netizen Response
She forgot, however, that her followers were humans and not goldfish, and that they couldn’t just forget such an inflammatory post.
Apology
Chua posted an apology later that same day on her Instagram stories, admitting her previous post was “insensitive” and “ignorant”.
In her apology, Chua said her intention was to share how the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on her mental health.
“I have been reading your comments and feedback, and I appreciate that many of you were able to explain and show me where I had went wrong. I will definitely do better,” she added.
She also expressed empathy for migrant workers, the very ones she was fearful of a few hours ago:
“Migrant workers are responsible for building Singapore. We should never undermine them, nor their efforts. This period must be incredibly difficult for them and I have therefore chosen two charities (see my next stories) that support our migrant workers during this difficult period,” she wrote.
According to CNA Lifestyle, Chua then went into detail about how she would be making donations to Ray Of Hope and a fundraiser by Preetipls and UTOPIA to aid migrant worker NGOs.
How nice of her.
Dormitories Continue To Be Source of Coronavirus Spike
Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise rapidly.
Just a month ago, we had 455 infections.
Now, we have a total of 11,178 cases.
How? Well, this huge spike can be attributed to an explosion of cases in dormitories. The vast majority of recent cases have been workers from dormitories in past weeks.
But why dormitories?
Manpower minister Josephine Teo said this could be due to workers socialising across dormitories on their days off, then again with different groups of friends within their dormitories.
But, as South China Morning Post reported, the fundamental issue is the poor living conditions faced by these men.
As you can see, these men sleep on bunk beds with 12 to 20 people packed into a room ventilated by small fans attached to the ceiling or walls.
Plus, hundreds of men on each floor share communal toilets and showering facilities.
This is why the virus spread so easily.
Now, foreign workers staying in all dormitories are not allowed to leave, as authorities scramble to contain the spread of Covid-19.
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Workers who are well and are in essential services have also been relocated as a result.
