RACIST invective has been heating up lately, no thanks to right wing factions of political parties hell bent on fanning the flames of discontent.
Social media is awash with xenophobic language and lazy stereotypes that seem to reflect the current national psyche – everything must ultimately be linked to one’s ethnicity and/or faith.
One such example is a post on X by self-described “liberal and LGBT-friendly” newsFendi (@BendiTheBagak) which shared two differing perspectives of a seemingly rude encounter at the LRT station during the morning rush hour.
CINA KIASU RACIST DEKAT MELAYU, AKHIRNYA KENA JILAT BALIK LUDAH 😡🖕
Punya jahat dia frame melayu CIMB tu sebagai bad guy, padahal saksi kejadian kata yang CINA tu yang problem.
Tengok universiti pun dah tau level racist dan bau taik lap pakai tisu je. Really cibai#KiasuWatch pic.twitter.com/ucbB1fW3Ed
— newsFendi (@BendiTheBagak) June 9, 2026
The original poster – one Choon Fung Kong – alleged that a CIMB staff on a LRT ride from Ampang Park heading towards KLCC was rude and brusque towards him.
Labelling the man “low EQ old man staff from CIMB” who couldn’t handle the stress of working in the bank, the commuter grumbled that he was “pushed, yelled and screamed at” during rush hour commute on June 9.
The thing that got many people upset was his need to note that it was a “Muslim” male passenger.
The story takes a twist, though, when a fellow commuter (who is pictured among the crowd in the original post) gave his version of the story.
According to @ariffjeffri, the CIMB staff was merely trying to alight from the train and had found his path blocked by the impatient poster who was trying to get on.
Accusing Choon of twisting the narrative, the eyewitness advised him to just delete the post (which he has).
This unfortunate encounter has now taken on different meaning simply because the original poster had decided he needed to highlight the CIMB staff’s religion as an identifying marker.
This was seized upon @BendiTheBagak who decided to up the ante by throwing up a whole slew of racist invective at the original accuser.
Condemning his actions for twisting the story, the X user even hash-tagged the post #KiasuWatch, of which “kiasu” denotes a negative stereotype of ultra-competitive Chinese.
For added measure, the original poster’s alma mater – Tunku Abdul Rahman University College – was said to be a breeding ground for racists.
The post has generated 144K views at time of writing with many commenters wanting to contribute their two sen worth to the argument.
A slip of the fingers in posting may now have consequences for Choon’s career. It was suggested that his employers, TA Global Bhd, be notified that they have an “Islamophobe in their ranks”.
A similarly flustered train rider also vented her spleen at impatient Chinese commuters – both men and women – who lacked the basic curtesy to let passengers alight first before rushing on board. “It’s the same with lifts,” added another disgruntled netizen.
This lot were “incessant queue jumpers, thus deserving the kiasu tagline”, claimed another put-off commenter.
Nasty racist remarks aimed at TAR University College students were also aplenty, with it being a Chinese-majority institution.
Needless to say, the original poster’s perceived Islamophobia triggered plenty of tit-for-tat responses.
As can be seen from this discussion thread, racial profiling, stereotyping and labelling has become normalised here in Malaysia.
With social media, a slip that reveals one’s prejudices can lead to much vitriol and public shaming or worse, as some suggested, that the original poster be terminated for being an Islamophobe.
Think twice before posting. It may have dire consequences. – June 11, 2026
Main image credit: Bernama
