Malaysian musician Choo Hao Ren apologises for music video featuring Instagram influencer Qiu Wen in brownface
- The Mandopop singer released the video as an advertisement for a skin-whitening product, in which he helps a young woman with tanned skin
- After it was slammed as racist, Choo said he was ‘deeply sorry’ and had accepted criticism with ‘an open heart’
The music video, White Doll, opened with two schoolgirls mocking Qiu Wen for her tanned skin. Choo was cast as her secret admirer, who left her numerous skin-lightening remedies including whitening drink sachets. Two months later, a cascade of animated sparkles revealed Qiu Wen’s lighter skin tone, with her classmates fawning over her transformation.
While Choo’s music single has not attracted huge interest, with over 190,000 views on YouTube before it was taken down, news of the apparently racist video touched a nerve among netizens. It has drawn fiery responses, including calls for Choo to be cancelled, while he was also criticised for propagating antiquated ideals of equating fairness with beauty.
“This is disgusting, wrong, dehumanising and stupid. Educate yourself, I don’t [care] if the idea is to show a message,” one Instagram user wrote. “The girl in the video can take off that make up but [there are people who] deal with discrimination every day of their lives. If you want to highlight that, you wouldn’t do something like this.”
Another wrote: “It’s not OK to make fun of darker skin tones in any way. It’s not OK to use make-up to fake a darker complexion on an actor. It’s not OK to create disrespectful narratives without the creative control and voice of those who are discriminated against.”
Choo defended the video with a comment on Instagram that said it was “simply a story of a girl who was bullied for her tanned skin, so I wooed her with gifts to keep her happy. I am still fond of her despite her becoming tanned again in the end. Whether you favour your partner being tanned or not is a personal preference, please don’t get the wrong idea.”