Students tell of verbal abuse ordeal
A Japanese student has told how she and her Chinese friend were verbally abused and coughed at when wearing a face mask in Stirling.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she is considering making it mandatory for Scots to wear face masks in enclosed public spaces.
But with the majority of Stirling residents still opting not to wear masks while shopping, two students told the Stirling Observer how they are nervous about venturing out in public wearing a mask.
Japanese student Aya Satoh (34) from Yokohama came to Stirling last summer to study for a Masters in International Journalism. Due to lockdown restrictions, she and some of her fellow international students were unable to fly home.
Aya shared disturbing messages from Chinese friends with the Stirling Observer. The students say they have been coughed at and sworn at for wearing masks in the city centre as they buy their groceries.
The Japanese student added: “I’m afraid of discrimination so I don’t want to wear a mask to go outside. I never wear a mask in the UK.
“But my Asian friends said ‘even if there is discrimination, you should wear a mask to protect people and yourself .’ It’s a really difficult problem.
“In Japan and other Asian countries, wearing a mask is common sense to protect yourself from the symptoms of a cough. I think it’s safer to wear it than not wear a mask. If I stayed in Japan, I would wear a mask every day.”
Aya’s Chinese friend, known by her classmates as Eve, told the Stirling Observer: “I experienced verbal discrimination twice on the street. The first happened at the start of lockdown
A woman walking to her car was shouting rude words to us
in Dumbarton Road on March 23 when my friend and I went down the street with a face mask.
“A woman walking to her car from the opposite side of the road was shouting rude words to us, like “F*** mask… f*** Chinese…’ The distance between her and us was nearly 10 metres and the whole process lasted about 20 seconds until her friend stopped her when she went into the car. We said nothing and walked away.
“The second was around the train station on April 21. A man said, ‘the Chinese virus’ and showed his middle finger to me when I walked on the street alone.”
Eve said she warned the man she would phone the police if he said anything else. He crossed the road and she left.
Eve told the Stirling Observer she never went to the police about either incident because she did not have video evidence and because she was not harmed physically.
She added: “I also heard some Chinese students suffered verbal abuse from school pupils when they were walking on the street in February.
“But we didn’t take such things to heart and I believe these people are foolish. Most of the people I’ve met in Scotland are kind and friendly. Both my tutor and classmates sent emails comforting me. I love them all.
“During these months, I realise that there is not only an outbreak for coronavirus but also a worldwide conflict of political perceptions and cultural identity.
“The world seems to be progressing every day, but the order of international politics is still disordered which makes the ethnic rivalries and struggles unavoidable.
“I cannot be separated from my ethnicity. It does not depend on my political opinion, just where I was born and what I look like.”