Caught on camera: Racist moment ends with heartwarming reaction from strangers

SINGAPORE - How would you react if an illiterate person asks you to translate a racist message poking fun at him?

A social experiment on people's reaction towards racism was caught on camera, garnering over 108,000 views and 3,500 shares since it was uploaded to Facebook on Monday.

In the social experiment, an actor playing a 'migrant' explained to three different groups of strangers at a food stall that he just moved to Malaysia two weeks ago from Indonesia.

A hidden camera shows the illiterate 'migrant' asking the food stall patrons to translate a racist Facebook message in English sent to him.

Unable to read the Facebook message from a stranger, the 'migrant' assumed that the stranger wanted to be his friend.

The camera captures the disbelief on the patrons' faces when they read the racist message. It later shows heartwarming scenes of the strangers rallying to make the 'migrant' feel better.

"Are you sure you want me to translate it? He just wants to hurt you. Ignore him. It's all rubbish," one man said.

"Not all Malaysians are like him," the same man added, not before offering to treat the 'migrant' to a meal.

The second group of strangers were equally flummoxed.

"This guy is saying racist stuff! He is just saying stupid stuff that is racist. Go on, tell [the migrant] what it says," a man asked his friend.

The friend was distressed and said: "I'm sorry, I can't. I won't say it. It's too offensive."

The man later reassured the 'migrant', saying: "It's ok, we welcome you to Malaysia. Don't listen to [the racist message]."

The video, which was created by a student for a college assignment, ends with a message urging people to stand up against racism.

Watch the full video here:

grongloh@sph.com.sg