'You 3rd-class citizens, what's there to be proud of?' Cathryn Li insulted for saying she's Malaysian

Getting nasty comments is arguably inevitable for a celebrity. However, Malaysian pianist and influencer Cathryn Li recently received a comment dissing not just her but her fellow Malaysians.

Earlier this week, the 33-year-old shared on Instagram her response to a DM by a netizen seemingly from mainland China.

"When I said that I am Malaysian and not mainland Chinese, I got insulted," she posted this message on her Instagram Story with a crying emoji.

She shared the netizen's original comment: "You feel proud of being Malaysian? To be frank, most mainland Chinese feel that Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand are poor and backward. They travel there because it's cheap! You third-class citizens, what's there to be proud of?"

After her post was picked up by some publications, one Facebook commenter responded rationally: "But what the netizen didn't know is, their country is very notorious worldwide for their bad antics. Because when it comes to tourist behaviour and ethics, they got ranking paling tercorot (the lowest)"

This is not Cathryn's first time receiving such comments. Back in 2021, she also shared a conflict between herself and a mainland Chinese person on WeChat, who appeared to be trying to get her to move to China to further her career.

When the person said that "we are all mainland Chinese people and you speak Mandarin too", Cathryn corrected them, clarifying she is a Malaysian who speaks the language.

The person added that Southeast Asia is a broken-down place and full of poor people, so it was not suitable for her. To this, Cathryn simply replied that opinion was why they could not communicate anymore.

She summarised her thoughts on the experience: "Sometimes it's really hard to communicate if our thoughts are not at the same level. I am usually polite, and will reply immediately when I see the message. But as the conversation developed, I felt like I did not know how to continue, do you know what I mean?"

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jolynn.chia@asiaone.com