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Jolovan Wham: Leticia in MOM video is “the Filipino domestic worker equivalent of brown face”
On August 3, Mr Wham posted a photo of actress Michelle Chong, in character as a Filipino maid named Leticia, side by side with dark-skinned man.
Mr Wham then went on to say that even if the character is played for laughs (Ms Chong is a comedienne after all, and the videos are presented in a comic manner), it’s representative of how some employers see their helpers, which he describes as “slow, stupid, and unable to think for themselves.”
This, he believes, is ultimately harmful for these workers, since it “makes light of the systemic exploitation they experience and the unequal balance of power between them and us.”
The activist called out the Ministry of Manpower for the use of such a character in their videos, writing,
“The Ministry of Manpower uses Leticia to ‘educate’ domestic workers in its campaigns, thinking it’s some form of infortainment. It’s not. It’s demeaning because we have turned our prejudices and discrimination against them into a joke. We are not as outraged because a domestic worker from the Philippines is not one of ‘us’. Perhaps it’s time for us to be.”
https://www.msn.com/en-sg/news/sing...ent-of-brown-face”/ar-AAFwbZp?ocid=spartandhp
On August 3, Mr Wham posted a photo of actress Michelle Chong, in character as a Filipino maid named Leticia, side by side with dark-skinned man.
He wrote, “This is the Filipino domestic worker equivalent of brown face. A Singaporean Chinese woman feigns a Filipino accent and acts like a dim wit who speaks broken English. She’s seen with her Bangladeshi ‘boyfriend’, another stereotype that’s milked for laughs.”
This, he believes, is ultimately harmful for these workers, since it “makes light of the systemic exploitation they experience and the unequal balance of power between them and us.”
The activist called out the Ministry of Manpower for the use of such a character in their videos, writing,
“The Ministry of Manpower uses Leticia to ‘educate’ domestic workers in its campaigns, thinking it’s some form of infortainment. It’s not. It’s demeaning because we have turned our prejudices and discrimination against them into a joke. We are not as outraged because a domestic worker from the Philippines is not one of ‘us’. Perhaps it’s time for us to be.”
https://www.msn.com/en-sg/news/sing...ent-of-brown-face”/ar-AAFwbZp?ocid=spartandhp