On the evening of the Lunar New Year—one of the most important festivals in Chinese culture—Graduate House, a University of Toronto graduate residence building, placed a bowl on the main entrance’s front desk, filled with lucky money envelopes holding notes meant for the deceased.
The “joss paper,” which had the words “HELL BANK NOTE” printed on its front and back in English, has shocked the people of the Chinese community at the University of Toronto. A photo documenting the notes for the deceased, taken by a resident of Graduate House, has spread across Chinese social media platforms, including WeChat, and English social media platforms, including the r/uoft Reddit forum and Instagram, where social media posts continue to be widely shared.
In response to backlash, Graduate House issued an apology in an email sent to the residents of the building. “In celebration of Lunar new year [sic], our team placed a bowl with red envelopes for residents yesterday,” wrote Graduate House. “We were not aware of the inappropriate nature of the currency inside the envelopes until it was too late. We want to express our sincerest apologizes [sic] for this error. Our goal was to create a festive atmosphere and did not realize the error we made. There was no malicious attempt behind this action and we deeply apologize for this error and the impact it had on our residents.”
“We aim to promote a safe and inclusive space at Graduate House, and we will be more vigilant in the future. To prevent any similar occurrences, we will work together with our community partners to recognize cultural appropriateness. We would like to share the following helpful resources to support your wellness during this time,” the email continued. The email concluded with notes that Residence Advisors are available for phone support during certain hours of the week.
The WeChat account for the Governing Council of the University of Toronto (marked as official and verified by the platform) released an apology written in Chinese at 8:31 pm ET on February 3, viewed by over 6,000 users at the time of publication. The version machine-translated by WeChat software states: “The University of Toronto has received information from students about a New Year red envelope event at Graduate House, the university’s student residence. Upon learning of the incident, the University of Toronto contacted the relevant departments and teams to understand the incident and withdrew all the red envelopes. The University of Toronto understands the impact of this incident and apologizes for this error.”
“The Chinese New Year should be happy and peaceful, and the University of Toronto regrets this mistake,” the statement continued. “The University is strongly committed to the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion. We will continue to strengthen our important on-campus education efforts to increase knowledge and understanding of our diverse community in order to deepen the sense of inclusion and belonging across our three campuses.”
In an English language statement to The Strand, an unnamed University of Toronto spokesperson wrote that “incorrect bank notes were unintentionally placed into the red envelopes; by the time the error was realized, all the envelopes had been taken. The University of Toronto deeply regrets this error.” The statement continued: “We will continue our important educational efforts to better understand our diverse communities, and to foster inclusion across our three campuses.” The statement then referred to upcoming programming by U of T’s Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office, “with a specific focus on the unique experiences of Asian communities and addressing anti-Asian racism,” providing a link to upcoming programming.
Why has this event sparked intense criticism against the residence building?
Kevin Huang—the Executive Director of the Hua Foundation, a Vancouver-based non-profit that works for the Asian diasporic community to support racial equity and civic engagement—described the joss paper as spiritual items reserved for ancestors and the deceased to use in the afterlife. In his interview with The Strand, he noted that joss paper is “heavily associated with people passing away” and typically reserved for “cultural observances” associated with paying respects to the dead.
Lunar New Year is instead a celebration of life. “Lunar New Year is actually a moment of renewal, a moment of looking forward to the next year,” said Huang. “Anything related to … the afterlife should not be a part of [or] anywhere near Lunar New Year.” The introduction of paper for the deceased was “very offensive because it is bringing deaths and afterlife and those types of concepts into a period” for celebrating life.
A typical reaction to receiving an envelope with joss paper was described by Dr. Gao Yunxiang, a professor who studies Chinese history at X (Ryerson) University, in an email to The Strand. “One can imagine the shock and anger a Chinese person experiences, opening a gift envelope with “joss money,” which is meant to be burned for the enjoyment of the dead in an alternative world,” she wrote. “The message is to wish death to the recipient and his family. Whoever knowingly presents such a gift is asking to pick a serious fight!”
“Anytime, such [a] practice is insulting and belligerent enough. It is worse during the Lunar New Year season, when everything is supposed to be about setting luck and fortune for the rest of the year. Such a present meant to ruin such luck for the family. One would not be surprised that the recipient and his family blames anything bad that happens to them in the near future to this evil envelope of ‘joss money,’” she continued.
Ryan Chan, the Project Lead on Online Hate and Social Media at the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice (CCNC-SJ), further explained the cultural significance of lucky red envelopes. “They’re a symbol of respect, and they’re an important part of family and communal identities,” he said in an interview with The Strand. Since the intent of the envelopes is to wish others good fortune, he remarked, the discovery of joss notes is shocking, and its inclusion is antithetical to the purpose of the envelopes.
Dr. Min Zhou, a professor of sociology and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, affirmed the severity of the transgression in an emailed statement to The Strand. “I am shocked to see the culturally insensitive photo of Chinese josspaper [envelopes],” she wrote. “[Red] packets with fake money are supposed to be burnt as a way of sending them to the loved ones in the other world. Doing this to the living is bad luck, and a curse.”
What are the ways that the University can continue to respond?
Chan was critical of the Graduate House for failing to consult the Chinese community before arranging the celebration. He noted that universities take pride in “marketing themselves on this issue of diversity … yet they don’t take the minimal amount of effort it is to do the research, consult people of Asian backgrounds that have some understanding of these cultural identities.” He also strongly criticized the institution for failing to notice the words “HELL BANK NOTE” written in English on the front and back of the bills. Huang similarly said that additional consultation with the Chinese community before celebrating the Chinese holiday could have prevented the incident.
The lack of care by the residence is a consequence of institutions overlooking anti-Asian racism, asserted Chan. “Anti-Asian racism often goes unnoticed,” he said. To address this, he noted that it is important for members of the Chinese community to “add their voices to the conversation,” and to continue to speak and show a sense of community for each other. “I do hope that it’s basically an encouragement for other members of the community to keep speaking out,” he said.
Jennifer Vong, Coordinator at the CCNC-SJ, also criticized the apology issued by Graduate House, in an interview with The Strand. “There were no mentions [of] the group that was actually targeted for this. There is no mention of the actual cultural ramifications of these [actions] as well,” she said. She also highlighted that the apology omitted an acknowledgement that students “may feel that this could also have been an attack because we are dealing with really heightened senses of … anti-Asian racism in Toronto right now.” The assertion is backed by a two-year University of Toronto study, which reported a sharp rise in anti-Asian discrimination over the COVID-19 pandemic.
University of Toronto community responds with criticism, activism
An early call to action was by activist Patricia Quan, a Master of Social Work student at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. Quan, who noted to The Strand that she did not directly witness the joss notes in the envelopes, volunteered to represent Graduate House residents to raise attention.
Quan addressed an email to the housing leadership team of the residence and student unions, including the University of Toronto Chinese Students and Scholars Association (UTCSSA) and the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU). She summarized the events and issued calls to action from the residence team and related services, which include the provision of “culturally appropriate anti-oppressive support in residence” for negatively-impacted students, and the publicization of a plan of “steps … to take in the future for preventing similar oppressive practices.”
In a statement to The Strand, Zewei (Kurt) Tang, the director of campus affairs of the UTCSSA, reflected solidarity for the Chinese students who are residents of the Graduate House, and called for the provision of “another formal email to explain and apologize” for what occurred.
UTGSU External Commissioner Justin Patrick forwarded an email jointly written by the UTGSU commissioners to The Strand, which stated that the UTGSU “stands in solidarity” with the grassroots activism by Quan, and echoes her calls to action. The UTGSU later released a statement calling for the Graduate House and related services to “consult with students who celebrate the Lunar New Year before implementing Lunar New Year activities” and “provide anti-oppression training for residence staff.”
Quan reflected to The Strand that the incident is a result of broader problems in society that enable these transgressions to occur, echoing Chan’s analysis. The incident at the Graduate House is not the first in recent times where joss money was used in a culturally inappropriate context. In January, The Guardian and the BBC also caused controversy by presenting paper for the deceased with lucky money envelopes.
—With support by Sarah Abernethy, Drew-Anne Glennie, and Khadija Alam
The article has been updated to include in-depth analysis and context behind the reactions of the Chinese community to the incident, and include an English language statement sent by the University of Toronto to The Strand on February 4.
Editor’s note: The breaking segment of the article has been updated to reflect that UofT’s Chinese language statement was released at 8:31 pm in localized Eastern Time, instead of 9:31 pm.
Saying David Kim (a Korean Canadian) is either stupid or intentional is highly offensive. One might argue that this entire issue is a red herring to direct attention away from the horrific human rights abuses in China.
The issue with Joss money (a Korean Canadian, David Kim accidentally made a mistake over mixing up similar paper during a thoughtful tribute to Chinese students) brought this to attention. There are over 15 000 Non-canadian overseas students from China at the university of Toronto, along with a handful from the US and Europe while deserving black and indigenous Canadian are excluded. The university prioritizes the 3 Ps, privilege, power, and prestige over the welfare of indigenous and black Canadians. Every indiginous and black Canadian should be offered these spots before the university gives these limited spots to obscenely wealthy US, and oversees students.
The red packets given by the University of Toronto to Asian students should be the ancestors of those who want these students to burn the coins to their students. The University of Toronto hopes to donate money to its grandparents. I understand. These students can ask the school and relevant personnel sending red packets to provide their business cards and specific contact information, and burn them together with ghost coins to the students’ ancestors. In this way, if the ancestors have problems and needs in the field of ghost money, they can consult the University of Toronto and relevant personnel.
Don, first, it wasn’t the university, it was a residence within the university. It appears the CCP propaganda war-machine is trying to confuse the issue. What we have is a Korean Canadian, David Kim, holding an event to present a little kindness to the Chinese community within the residence and an honest error was made. The distasteful response speaks more to the unbridled racism and intolerance that is being exposed and exported from China under its repressive warmongering government,which is not only xenophobic and racist but also dismissive of female and non-male voices.
It turned out that it was done by Korean. David kim doesn’t understand red packet culture, but Koreans also accept packets, which contain cash for consumption. Asian cultures are similar. Is David kim stupid or intentional? Is an honest mistake honest? Only David kim knows.
Just because he is Korean does not mean be is intimate familiar with all Asian customs. That is like saying because someone is of Mexican decent they must know how to do a Sombrero hat dance…what you said is kind of racist and stereotypes. You realize this is 2022?
I know it’s 2022, but you don’t know. Like Kim, you don’t use Google Internet to search for cultural knowledge and learning, and you don’t respect national culture. How ignorant. You think ignorance is confidence, my God. The brave David king tried to provoke conflict. Won’t he check the red packet cultural knowledge on the Internet? Doesn’t he know what to pay attention to when sending red packets to foreign students? This is basic respect. Kim did it on purpose. You have no brain. Your head is just an ornament. In addition, it is very vicious and shameless to casually use the words racism and stereotype to cover up the lack of cultural knowledge, and not search and study online and paste these labels on others.
And I want to ask you, red packets culture is a part of the whole Asian culture, but you want to politicize this event and provoke contradictions. Your heart is dark. The success of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games is recognized by the world. The champion of the Chinese women’s football Asian Cup is the pride of the Chinese people and government. Headmistress Zhang Guimei is a model for the people of the whole country, because her free girls’ school enables girls from poor families to receive education and get a new life. “A woman can hold up half the sky” is a famous Chinese saying. In China, female medical workers voluntarily rushed to the front line to treat infected people. In this way, there are many things to show the power of Chinese women. Chinese women have great power. Seeing your comments, I think you are ignorant and ridiculous, like a clown.
Please, you are openly brain washed. Show us one female or lgbt member in higher levels of
Chinese government. YES WOMEN HOLD UP HALF THE SKY…BUT REPRESSIVE RACIST MEN RULE THE CHINESE PARTY
Pretending that overt racict and misogynistic practices don’t dominate China is pathetic. Stop acting like a spoiled 5 year old child HOLDING HIS BREATH WHEN CAUGHT LYING. It is time for you to grow up and think for yourself.
JUSTICE NOW…CHINA NEEDS TO OPEN UP TO OTHER RACES AND CULTURES. CHINA’S HARMFUL RACIAL IDEOLOGIES AND EXCLUSIONARY RACIAL SUPREMACY MUST STOP!!!
The Beijing Winter Olympic Games…FAKE SNOW, REAL GENOCIDE!
I ask you again, what is the relationship between Socrates and Plato? What’s the relationship between father and son? Isn’t Kim from Columbia University? Something has happened that affects the cultural feelings of Asian students. Shouldn’t Columbia University be reported?
So, if a Korean stuffed a weird death doll into your child’s Christmas socks, can you tolerate it as a cultural difference?
Honest? Ghost money is not something that can be bought everywhere. If he can buy it, it means he knows it. This is too hypocritical, and the means are very bad.
Who Planned this racial discrimination really needs the “Hell Bank Note” him/herself as described by others.
Seems a lot of people here are trying to blame CCP and purposefully keep silent on the “Hell Bank Note” issue.
It’s not about shame and racist any more, it’s pure evil.
Somebody above wish the planner to die, who cares, nobody wants to know the actual planner. But, who commit this crime needs to die.
Asian Canadian here are accomplice, obviously. You may be not offended since the targets are Chinese students, but you could try to do the same to your parents. They may be very “happy”.
Mostlikely another CCP bot farm post. In Canada it is inappropriate for Chinese individuals to make death treats towards other Asian communities. The organizer, David Kim is Korean and just made an honest mistake.
To be honest，I really want to give you a ghost money as a birthday present. I sincerely hope you can use it in your world. =p
Please don’t doubt my sincerity.
With your forgiveness, even if you receive a cake made of shit on your birthday, you will enjoy it with great understanding.
Found the link to this website on bilibili.com
Just wish the planner to die.
Thank you.
Yaun, it is culturally inappropriate to make remarks like this. Making death threats like this is illegal. Thank you.
Bilibili.com is the site for tweens that reported Chinese government’s ludicrous attempt to blame the arrival of Omicron in Beijing on a piece of mail sent from Canada right? Respectfully you might want to frequent more reputable sites that are not in line with CCP propaganda.
You call this “death threats”? You retarded?
What about the “hell bank note”?
“hell bank note” is the fxxking death threats!
I am not in Canada. I am sorry.
CCP propaganda? Fighting against “RACISM” in a hard way is apparently not as evil as being racist.
You are racist against the Korean Donald Kim, for making an honest mistake. You are not in Canada, but act like a weak coward and do not say where you are from. Your racism against Kim for being Korean and making an honest mistake is unappealing.
When we speak of racism and discrimination we must look at why China does not allow other races and culture to participate in government. In a global society China needs to open its doors to immigration from other races and cultures and stop it vile and hateful policy of racial superiority. Moreover, allow women and member’s from the LGBTQ community to participate in higher levels of government. Racism in China and the hate it exports to its diaspora must stop. Thank you.
You retarded.
Who talked about Omicron?
You just talk shit.
We are only focusing on the “hell bank note” issue.
Oh I know, you want to deviate the topic from the racial discrimination in U Toronto to China politics.
Good try!
This speaks to the credibility of your sources. Bilibili.com reported racist lies that Canada sent omicron to China. You are missing the overt meaning of this event that China has and is exposing others to its visious racist policies and racist social environment.
Yes, you are only focusing on that, why? Because you are a racist…this is why.
Saying you are someone’s dad is very offensive
We are talking about “Hell Bank Note” issue.
Who want to negelect this apparent racial discrimination and talk about something else should be considered racist as well.
Such kind of racist should die, and his/her family should also die, ASAP.
People selling knife should not be punished even if others use the knife to kill people. The same here, only the person Planning this should be punished. It’s not about sourcing the retailer of the “Hell Bank Note”. If racial discrimination is not illegal in Canada, then, as an outsider, I wish them to die.
If somebody trying to deviate the topic, he/she should also die.
These comments are potentially CCP propaganda bots and should be reported to the Canadian authorities. Death threats against David Kim are not acceptable.
Unlike in China where racism is state sponsored, racism is illegal in Canada. Also, whereas China has officially refused to acknowledge universal human rights, Canafa has. Thank you.
Who think it’s only by accident and not planned, I hope you use the “hell bank note” soon.
Best wish from David.
So David Kim went out if his way to do this? Have you ever heard of evidence.
Donald you keep saying this an honest mistake made by David Kim, do you have any evidence to prove that? When an horrible thing like this happened, you cannot assume the good or bad intention of the person who made it and you also cannot fight against people who suffered from the bad feelings due to this issue. After all, you’re not one of them, you don’t have their culture so you have no rights to judge who is right or wrong and whose expression on this matter are inappropriate or racist, what you need to do is just to keep your mouth shut and listen.
So you are saying David Kim, a Korean Canadian planned this whole thing?
Does your mommy and daddy know you talk like this? If someone reasonably believes this to be an accident you want them to die? Dude that is messed up!
Since we Chinese have the tradition of burning offerings for our passed family members or loved ones at the night or around the time of the Lunar New Year’s Eve, even the store which allegedly sold these offering notes wouldn’t fully know whether the true intentions of those who bought them were malignant or not. Therefore the notion of holding the seller responsible is ludicrous and sounds rather like a red-herring tactic to shift the blame.
Major Canadian Banks give out red envelopes during Lunar New Year sometimes, and those are often filled with those cheap loonie coin chocolates, not much, but we get the friendly gesture, why can’t UT even copy that? The incident is very unlikely to be an innocent mistake, there are toy money/monopoly money you can buy at dollar stores even, why did it had to be the offering notes/hell money, which has English prints indicating what they are clearly visible?
I would say wait until 清明 or “the Clear Spring”, which is the time particularly reserved for paying respect to the passed on, gather all the offering notes given out by UT, burn them in a traditional grave visiting ceremony in front of the most significant UT monument or landmark.
Again, when we feel someone might not understand the cultural significance of venerating past family members we have taken the time to politely educate. Knowing that Toronto is a multicultural city it would only be responsible to place a small respectful notice to stop such incidents from happening, as virtually all sellers on sites like Amazon have done. As you said above, the seller wouldn’t know fully if the purchaser knew the “significance” of the paper or “not” indicating a notice is appropriate in a multicultural society. Re red herring, one could argue this potentially honest mistake is being exploited and weaponized to attack Korean Canadians. You also say it is unlikely this is an honest mistake, are you saying this because the event coordinator is Korean. This alone seems highly racist.
Why keep emphasizing David Kim? Is it really David’s fault? As the note is clearly printed in English, it’s hardly to imagine how this thing happened? Honest mistake or not, it is still a mistake, and people hurt. I hope there will be further investigation, and personal judgements should be put later.
Hard to imagine, not really. Many see few notice…right!
Yang, did you really just compare this to holocaust imagery??? That is an outrage to every victim and survivor of the holocaust! Using this comparison is absolutely reprehensible and you should appologize for the harm you have caused. Responsible individuals are horrified by such offensive comparisons. Note, your disgusting comment has been reported to the university administration as well as the Toronto Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
Those who do not stand with Uyghurs and Hongkongers deserve these special ‘blessing’
Just how ignorant, petty, and simply dumb are you?
He dies have a point, however, should say it in a less aggressive way. What China is doing to indigenous and racial minorities is dreadful and should not be tolerated.
Responsible Canadians would agree that the repressive and racist treatment happening in China is reprehensible, however, this is not the appropriate forum for this discussion. Let’s keep this string friendly.
Have you ever been to China? There is no repression and racist treatment you are talking about. Please speak with the facts. Hearsay is very irresponsible.
What a stupid, ignorant wretch！
Machun, you raciest mother fxxker.
Some stupid people even thought there are racist treatment happening in China.
Like the pandemic, racism must be addressed on a global scale. Since overt racism is a major problem in China particularly against blacks and Uyghur people, for example, Yaqui Wang writes in the Human Rights Watch, “China’s racism problem runs deep” and sites incidents such as depicting blacks as monkeys, dressing up in racist black face, forced evictions, refusal of service at resteraunts, open racial slurs in media, etc., thus there is a valid concern that the attack on David Kim, a Korean individual, may have roots in the historic and growing racial intolerance and xenophobia within the Chinese diaspora, especially at the University of Toronto which welcomes a large cohort of students from China that potentially have been indoctrinated and acclimatized to the rampant and ubiquitous racism in China. That being said, the university needs to provide mandatory provide anti-racist training and courses for all students foreign and domestic.
Wetern-brain-washed stupidity and condescension at the same time.
You could talk a lot, but the reality is Canada has much much more human rights issues than China. We Chinese all know “Indian residential school system” in Canada (which is one the “SMALL” human rights issue people do not want to talk).
You want to deviate this topic about “hell bank note” to China? Sorry, I graduated from one of the top 10 universities in the US, I am smarter than people like you. What you are doing now is simnply helping the person who planned this.
May the Satan be with you.
Sorry, forget you are the Satan.
We’ll burn some “bank note” to you, since you say it’s just a mishap.
You neglected to mention severe human rights violations are still carried out against minorities and indigenous groups in China. Residential schools, closed over one 1/4 of a century ago, What is China’s excuse for the horrors happening currently such as organ harvesting, torture, concentration camps etc. You went to one of the top schools? Really? You should get your money back since they forgot to teach you critical thinking.
When we talk about being raciest in U Toronto, you talk something else. I am not in Canada, but I can ask my friends to leave some comments here, to give you some special “blessing”, Machun, and your whole family.
You do not need to thank me.
Maybe spend more time dealing with the horror and atrocities in China. Such as organ harvesting of Falun Gong members and capital executions without due representation.
Maybe just use it.
Burning it for people who plans it
Hope you get rich
An individual Called “David Kim”, planned this.
Wish he could use the “bank note” with pleasure.
Meaning
Donald, I agree with you that we need to do better in Canada, but unfortunately, its not reasonable to punish those who had this put out to sell. It is sold in many asian supermarkets and as discussed, its meant to be sold to respect the dead, and is therefore, sold year-round. It would have been unreasonable for any individual to question the person purchasing, based on their appeared lack of understanding of what it may have been for due to ie. race, as you had suggested. It should have been up to those who had planned this event to have taken the necessary steps to ensure they had a full understanding of what they were doing, instead of deciding to celebrate a culture that they clearly had no understanding of.
Most reasonable people would disagree with you. Having non asians at our family’s celebrations we take the courtesy to explain items left out during celebrations to venerate the dead. It is xenophobic and racist on your part to assume that all peoples and cultures should be intimately educated on everyone else’s costumes. Why would it be “unreasonable” to educate someone on the difference between the two different types of money? At a jamaican store when purchasing peppers 🌶 the nice lady explained I was purchasing hit peppers that are often mistaken for sweet peppers. Was she being unreasonable for providing this courtesy?
Fellow Torontonian, since Toronto is a multicultural society with historic and imported racism it is best to see racial discrimination on a global level rather than just saying “Canada” must do better. You are seeing racism through an “old white gaze” that potions the west as the only area of study. This is unscientific and does not take into account complex global integrations, especially in a panglobal information era.
It shouldn’t be to hard to track down where this money was sourced. If the store intentionally sold this without giving a warning to the purchaser they should be held accountable for inciting a hate crime. In a multicultural city like Toronto it is criminal that a store would not take any effort to protect against any misunderstanding surrounding such an item. It was obvious this money was being purchased to celebrate the Lunar New Year, thus the seller was intentionally provoking a situation. The university and police should fully investigate the seller of the bills.
Donald, I see many of your replies talking about the seller which I would respectfully like to address. Your comments suggest pushing the blame away from the organizers which is quite disappointing. I can understand where you are going with this, should the seller have incited this action, they should be held accountable. But have you ever thought that before jumping to the store, the organizers should be investigated? Whose Idea? Who ordered it? Where did the joss money come from? Moreover, it shouldn’t be even the responsibility of the seller to explain its significance. Do you get questioned for buying a candle for the dead?
The main point is their ignorance of the more than obvious signs that this joss money is offensive. If they can find out that red-packets are given out during Lunar New Year, with (real) money inside, they will definitely have a chance of finding out what the significance of it is. Now why would you be putting “hell money” in it? One consultation with a Chinese person or extra research steps would help you to realize that you can also put candy inside. Why go the extra mile to obtain joss money?
When I go boating I don’t call in every minute to see if there is a storm coming. The weather service posts alerts. It is the same thing here. When I travelled through India potential problematic cultural issues such as wearing shorts or having an uncovered head were clearly marked and explained to avoid issues. You think David Kim the Dean of Residence and Director of Student Life who arranged this is racist against all Chinese students just because he is Korean?…this is absurd. Not all Koreans are racist against the Chinese as your post hints. You assume he and his team “went the extra mile” to obtain this money. If Kim wasn’t Korean would you have said this? I wonder if your attack on Kim and his team might be racially motivated? Again not all Koreans are racist against the Chinese.
Clearly you have a reading comprehension problem. They didn’t say a thing about Kim or Koreans being racist.
Of course it it’s not up to the seller to inform every single customer. Doesn’t make sense at all.
It’s not up to the seller? Why not? Many items have warning. Look at laundry soap that looks like candy. If this would stop accidental purchases and save people’s feelings why are you against this? Just to clarify, the entire article brings up the notion that this incident was a form of oppression and racism, thus, it leads to the notion that the organiser Kim, a Korean, intended to racially insult the Chinese community. Racist intent and marginalization is the foundation of the whole article if you weren’t aware.
The store thst sold the money without explaining its significance should be fined and held accountable.
What??? The seller has absolutely nothing to do with this and definitely has no responsibility not explain the cultural significance to the buyer.
For all you know, they could have bought them from T&T Supermarket and used the self-checkout, or even ordered them online from Amazon.
The ads on Amazon make very clear note of what this money is used for, so you are saying stores like T&T couldn’t do the same, especially since Toronto is such a diverse city? Shame.
That’s just plain stupid. It’s up to the buyer to research and making an informed decision when buying ANY product.
I would be offended if some supermarket employee tried to explain what I’m buying and probably tell them to fuck off
You would tell a chinese vendor to “fuck of if they explained the cultural significance of one of their products?” In that case you might want to look into anger management counselingas that is highly inappropriate. A small note beside such a problematic item would offend you? Then you need to complain to the many Chinese Amazon sellers who do just that. Regarding the person who eas in charge being Korean it is a valid question in light of the fully documented racially charge conflict between the Chinese and Koreans. It is not recommended that you go around telling people to “fuck off” as you mentioned above in these emotionally charged times. Understanding and respect might be the way to go. 🙏
Very offensive, please handle this appropriately.
The store that sold the offending money without taking the time to explain its significance, or possibly intending to mislead needs to be tracked down and held accountable.
No. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
Ok, let go at this another way. You are buying a drug that is potentially harmful, does the seller, manufacturer, etc. have a moral or ethical obligation to point this out? If they don’t want to see people harmed, I would argue, yes. The question is whether Kim, (Korean) intented to racially marginalize and demean the Chinese students that picked up these packets. Does Kim have a history of harmful racialized behavior? These are the questions that need to be asked.
These are slips of paper, not dangerous drugs. What a stupid comparison.
John below wrote “These are slips of paper, not dangerous drugs…” missing the obvious cultural significance of this event. John, if you read the article more carefully you will see that the mixup between the two similar items can cause distress to certain groups or individuals.
This is not a mistake!! It literally says HELL MONEY NOTE!
So you are says the store sold this money knowingly. This is awful! If the store was selling this potentially offensive money to a non Asian, whether Black, European or indigious they had the responsibility to inform the purchaser of its significance. The store responsible should be investigated for inciting a hate crime.
Spelling correction: indigenous
Yes in small print that is hardly noticeable.
This is insanely criminal
Nat, be honest….have you ever spoken out against organ harvesting of Falun members? Yet you call this honest mistake insanely criminal. Seriously?
Thanks for reporting this. If I had received such a red envelope, I would not feel safe to live there. It was at least a horrifyingly ignorant thing that hurt people’s feeling and damaged holiday spirit deeply, and could easily be perceived as a death curse or even threat that could cause fears or nightmares to the affected students. Consulting with any single Chinese student or staff there you would not have committed such a blunder. I don’t think the University Governing Council’s apology letter in Chinese, as you have translated here quite accurately, was a sincere one. It did not comfort the affected students really, and it did not say anything about investigation. The letter from the Grad House sounded a bit more empathetic, but it tried to cover up whoever did this by saying they were just not aware of the cultural implication. Well, it was something like giving a Nazi sign to Jewish students when they celebrate Rosh Hashanah, or give pork food to Muslims when they observe Ramadan. Who gave the idea or did it? How come the mistake was made? It deserves an investigation and detailed explanation, and the people who did it should be held accountable for it, whether they did it out of ignorance or a purpose. It is an extremely insulting, hurtful thing done to the students – that’s the least thing to say. As a university who aims to excel in diversity, inclusion and equality, it should do something real to show the students what had truly happened, and how it could be addressed with full effort and care to let them feel taken seriously, relieved and secured.
Yes this should be invested fully. Things like this are too common. For example Yaqiu Wang wrote a piece on cultural insensitivitu and racism titled, From Covid to Blackface on TV, China’s Racism Problem Runs Deep
Published in:
MSNBC
Yaqiu Wang
We need to do much better here in Canada.
Please see comment February 7, 2022 at 6:09 PM
Re the inappropriate nazi comparison