The song ‘Praat Nederlands’ (Speak Dutch) by the Antwerp-based rapper FabioW has sparked a great deal of outrage online. On Instagram, the Belgian-Chinese Julia Zhu (27) spoke out about it in a widely shared video. For her and other Belgians of Asian descent, this isn’t just about one song: “It’s an accumulation of comments and stereotypes that we have to deal with our whole lives.”
“It’s just words, but turns into harassment, physical violence, discrimination”
Colin Clapson
Published:
In the track ‘Praat Nederlands’ Sebastiaan Van Thilborgh, better known as FabioW, sings about a trip he took to Vietnam. There, he meets a girl who he could not understand due to the language barrier. She sounded like “ching chang chong”, he raps.
The song has earned him a great deal of criticism online. Unia, the Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities, has also received several complaints regarding the matter. On Monday night, singer FabioW took his promotional videos for the song offline for the second time. The song’s title was again changed to ‘Praat Nederlands’.
“Otherwise, I could lose everything I’ve built up,” the singer wrote on Instagram.
“Strangers have been shouting ‘ching chang chong’ at me my whole life”
Julia Zhu (27) posted a video on Instagram explaining why the phrase upsets her. The reel was shared thousands of times and reignited the debate about FabioW’s song.
“Growing up, people would constantly shout ‘ching chang chong’ at me in the street,” she says. “By complete strangers. Can you imagine what that does to your nerves?”
“When you experience that every day, your body actually triggers a sort of panic response every time you hear it. Why does the way I look give someone the right to shout at me, making me feel unsafe?”
“Whenever I walk past a group of children, I’m already bracing myself for what they might say to me. I hear this from other friends with Asian roots too. Because it just happens every single time.”
According to Zhu, the impact of a song like FabioW’s should not be underestimated. “It starts with small remarks such as ‘ching chang chong’, ‘dirty Chinese’ or ‘go back to your own country’. But by normalising this, you create an environment in which people feel they have the right to treat an entire group of people differently, based on their appearance or ethnicity.
“The next step is discrimination, exclusion – for example, when looking for a place to live or a job – or even violence.”
To address this, Zhu contacted FabioW herself. She says his initial response did not reassure her. “That conversation was completely pointless,” she says. “He mainly defended himself but didn’t offer me an apology.”
“I’m not saying he’s a racist, but people can do or say things that are unintentionally racist. If people point this out to you, you can still change and learn,” concludes Zhu.