Aussie Woman Recalls How Co-Worker Was Treated Horribly in Korea Due to Being Malaysian

Source ; TikTok | Jazmynjennings

It’s common knowledge that Malaysians sometimes face discrimination when they visit Korea.

Now, an Aussie lady is calling out some Koreans for their bad behavior. She shared how her Malaysian friend, who worked with her at a Korean restaurant, got treated poorly once people knew she was Malaysian.

Jazmyn, the woman who shared this incident on TikTok, didn’t mince her words. She said, “I know speaking up won’t make me popular among Koreans, but xenophobia and colorism are serious issues in Korean society. People suffer because of this discrimination, and there’s still no proper law to protect anyone.”

In her video, Jazmyn talked about how things quickly turned sour for her Malaysian friend as soon as people found out where she was from.

“I used to work at this restaurant in South Korea, and my coworker was Malaysian. At that time, I wasn’t aware of xenophobia in South Korea.”

“It was clear pretty quickly that something was off in the way they treated her, completely different from how they treated me,” she said.

Her Malaysian friend was fluent in Korean, thanks to her time studying in Korea. But, that didn’t matter. The moment they knew she was Malaysian, they treated her badly.

“As soon as they found out she was Malaysian, they had a problem with her. They’d outright refuse to talk to her.”

“They’d call me over, even though I barely knew Korean. She’d stand there translating what they said to me, then I’d reply, and she’d translate because they refused to speak to her,” Jazmyn explained.

She also mentioned a time when a Korean taxi driver refused to talk to her Malaysian friend just because of her nationality.

But it didn’t stop there. The Malaysian woman faced even worse treatment at the restaurant.

“That whole place was messed up. They’d throw tea towels at her, swear at her, even though she did nothing wrong. If anything, I made more mistakes, but they treated me differently because I’m white.”

“This kind of attitude is more common among older Koreans. Younger Koreans usually don’t think this way. But if you accidentally compare a Korean to someone from China, Malaysia, Taiwan, or the Philippines, they take it as an insult,” she added.

For Jazmyn, it was sickening to see her best friend being treated so poorly. They were besties, and seeing her friend go through that was just crazy.

Video

@jazmynjenningss

I know having this conversation won’t win me many Korean friends but xenophobia and colourism are the two biggest downfalls of Korean society. People die because of this discrimination and there still aren’t any laws to protect anyone. #storytime #koreanstorytime #korea #southkorea #koreanworkingholiday #workingholiday #dewyskin #koreanskincare

♬ original sound – Jazmyn