Woman Filmed Hurling Anti-Asian Comments in a Metro Vancouver Park

Gina Chong and Tiffany Tong were walking near Lafarge Lake Park in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada when the woman approached them the evening of April 15.

Chong allegedly declined the woman’s request for a photo, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason, according to City News 1130.

The woman reportedly became enraged and started hurling anti-Asian remarks at Chong and Tong.

“You know this COVID is all because of you…you need to go back China. It came from your country,” the woman allegedly told Chong.

“Floored” at her response, Chong took out her phone and start recording the incident. In her video, the woman can be seen doing the same.

“We asked her if she could repeat that [on camera], and obviously she didn’t want to. But she made some rude remarks. She said again, ‘it came from your country,’” Chong said.

Chong, who was born in the Tri-Cities area, described her encounter as “heartbreaking,” reported Global News.

“To be honest I didn’t think it would happen in this community and I never thought it would happen to myself, but it did,” she said.

Despite the number of bystanders at the park, only one woman sitting nearby verbally defended the pair.

“Don’t be a racist. We all bleed the same,” she said.

Chong knew the incident she experienced did not represent the “beautiful community” she was “born and raised” in, reported TriCity News.

“I personally have not experienced much racism growing up here but that’s not to say it doesn’t exist,” she wrote in her post.

Anti-Asian hate crimes in the city have gone up by 350% from six to 27 reports between 2019 and 2020, the Burnaby Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said last Friday. Vancouver authorities saw a  717% increase within a similar time frame.

“I have two young daughters. I want them to speak out for themselves and also to defend others,” Chong said. “And I really do hope anyone that witnesses…something like this speaks up as well.”

Featured Images via Gina Chong