Hotel Longtime controversy over name change petition
Alice Whitington, who started a petition asking a new Adelaide pub Hotel Longtime to change its "derogatory name" has been hit with all sorts of abuse on Twitter and Facebook.
Hotel Longtime, which opened earlier this month. Is an Asian gastropub.
According to Ms Whitington, the name comes from the scene from Vietnam War movie Full Metal Jacket, in which a Vietnamese prostitute tells American soldiers "Me so horny, me love you long time".
Saying the name Hotel Longtime mocked the sexual exploitation of Asian women and was offensive, she put up the change.org petition last week.
The result: a barrage of insults on Facebook and Twitter.
The abuse included some racial slurs and swear words.
"The overwhelming urge to ensure other cultures 'assimilate' is to the detriment of different voices being heard," Ms Whittington told the ABC.
"There is an expectation to sit down and shut up, rather than contribute worldly views."
Nonetheless, she intends to keep the campaign going.
"I just hope that this public conversation empowers other voices of the Asian diaspora to share their stories and opinions, so that we can all better identify and dismantle harmful stereotypes," she told the ABC.
"I hope to deliver the petition soon with the opportunity for them to respond directly to me, but also to the community — as they deserve a response to the petition too."
She said the name was offensive.
"By far the most common context in which we hear 'Me love you long time' and 'Me so horny' is as a slur, or a litmus test to continue saying something even more sexually demeaning," she told the ABC.
"Whether one of the owners is Asian or not does not make perpetuating this stereotype okay, unless they are reclaiming it to empower the community. As they deny any association to the stereotype, we know that this is not their intention," she said.
"Overall, it speaks to a greater responsibility to think of your Asian community and to conduct due diligence on your business ideas before you proceed."
The hotel’s owners, Alex Fahey and Tin Chu, declined to comment.
Leon Getler 26th March 2018.
