YouTuber Royce Lee apologises for being 'tone deaf', deletes parody video of Chinese woman with gong

Local YouTuber Royce Lee has come out to apologise for being "tone-deaf" towards the sensitive issue of racial intolerance in Singapore and stated that he would be taking a break from social media for a few days to "learn, educate and reflect on my actions and responsibilities".

His post on Instagram on Friday (June 11) is believed to be in response to criticisms hurled at his latest video which parodied the viral Facebook clip of a Chinese woman interrupting her Hindu neighbour's prayer ritual by striking a gong repeatedly.

The clip, uploaded on June 9, has attracted more than 1,500 responses, with many condemning the woman for her actions.

Lee's parody video has since been deleted, but a recording of the 38-second clip was reposted on June 11 by Twitter user @bongprophet.

In the video, Lee is shown using a hand-held gong outdoors, clanging it repeatedly in various absurd situations such as disrupting another person's workout, and using it to flag down a taxi.

According to comments in the Twitter thread, Lee was called out for being "insensitive" and for trivialising the incident, which has since come under police investigation after a report was lodged. 

Fellow YouTuber Preetipls has also chimed in on the debate.

[embed]https://twitter.com/plspreeti/status/1403232546226245637[/embed]

According to a screengrab of the comments section by Twitter user @shakiralaw, Lee had addressed criticisms of his parody video.

He stated: "My take immediately when I saw the video was that the woman was a clown for being so rude and I used myself to showcase how Chinese people are absolute clowns."

[embed]https://twitter.com/shakiraIaw/status/1403220591658766338[/embed]

Lee also deleted a subsequent apology video where he painted a clown face on himself. A repost of the video by Twitter user @Parmadilla showed Lee speaking to the camera, stating: "I am a Chinese man and I'm a clown".

He continued: "I'd like to apologise for only making fun of the horrible woman's behaviour and not going about the issue further."

Lee also urged his followers to start a discussion in the comments section "so that I, along with everyone else, can learn better, and do better".

He ended the video by bowing his head in apology. 

In his latest post on Friday, Lee shared a post by Beyond The Hajib which touched on issues of racism and xenophobia in Singapore.

He wrote: "Hey guys I have heard you and I should use my platform to raise awareness on this issue.

"You are all absolutely right. I was wrong. I was tone deaf for not covering the issue and for that I apologise for causing all this hurt to every single one of you.

"I will be taking a hiatus and not posting for a few days to take time to learn, educate and reflect on my actions and responsibilities. 

"I'm sharing these informative posts for all of us to understand what I did wrong."

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CP-LTgQjNJy/[/embed]

On his IG Stories, Lee also shared several posts from local community platforms which dive into issues of race and discrimination in Singapore. 

His most recent apology has received support from some corners, including media personalities and influencers, and across ethnicities. But it also triggered a war of words — this time over who has the right to accept the apology.

Others stated that the apology is the "bare minimum" that Lee should have done, with several being unimpressed by his attempt at reparation.

candicecai@asiaone.com