TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A Tweet posted on Tuesday (March 12) by a 22-year-old Singaporean man, quickly went viral after he described being berated by a Chinese tourist for not being able to speak Mandarin fluently.
In the Tweet, Timothy Bon said that a female Chinese tourist approached him and asked him for directions to 海湾舫 (hǎi wān fǎng), which is the Mandarin name for the Bayfront MRT Station. However, because he was not versed in the Mandarin names for the stations, he was not sure if she meant Harbourfont, Bayfront, or Admiralty.
When he struggled to try to figure out which station she was referring to, the woman impatiently lashed out at him and said in Mandarin: "A Chinese person who can't speak Chinese, aren't you embarrassed?" Exasperated by her insulting comment, he intentionally directed her towards Tuas Link, the opposite side of the island.
In a subsequent Tweet, Bon explained that he had only achieved a C6 in his Chinese studies and was sincerely trying to help the woman. He claimed to have dyslexia, which he said hampered his ability to learn languages.
He also pointed out the fact that his incorrect use of the Simplified Chinese character 话 (Huà, language) instead of the character 华 (Huá, Chinese) exemplified his poor mastery of the language.
His Tweet has since gained 4,700 likes, 5,700 retweets, and 70 comments.
Several netizens suggested some snappy comebacks he could have said:
"You're an adult but you don't have virtue, aren't you embarrassed?"
"You're traveling abroad but you can't speak English?
"Can you speak Spanish?"
"Take the bus to Tuas"
y’all so this china lady at the train station asked me for directions to “海湾舫” & i didn’t know if she meant bayfront, harbourfront or admiralty.
so while trying to clarify it w her, she snapped at me and said “华人不会讲话语，你好意思吗?”
i sent her bitchass towards tuas link
— timothy bon (@Timothy_Bon) 2019年3月12日
