A student who took to social media to share her outrage about a “racist” letter she received was quickly shut down after the truth was revealed.
Former University of Queensland student Sierra Chen took to Facebook to express her disgust after a letter sent to her home was addressed to a person named “Ms. Ching Chong”.
The woman, who is of Chinese origin, believed it may have been a malicious act of racism, as the phrase can be used as an ethnic slur to mock people of Chinese and East Asian heritage.
“Last week I received mail from UQ sports with a slur on the envelope, Ching Chong,” she wrote.
“The content of the letter was quite normal, but Ching Chong is a racial discrimination word against Chinese.
“I emailed them to find out the truth, they told me where was a girl called Ching Chong that had left this address. They couldn’t give me any more details due to privacy.
“However, I double checked with my house manager, and there wasn’t anyone called ‘Ching Chong’ that has lived in this house.
“If possible, I hope I can contact with this girl, and I hope it was just a coincidence.
“I wonder if anyone else has received such suspicious letters, please contact me too.”
Her post was met with many angry reactions from others who thought it may have been a cruel joke.
“That’s so racist” one commented.
“You should report it.”
“Sorry you had to feel that way, it must have been really insulting” another said.
“As an Australian with a French last name… [there is] no end of people speaking bad French slurs.”
While many were incensed about the apparent racist fiasco, the truth was soon revealed.
Another former student came forward to assure that she had lived at that address previously, was involved with UQ sport, and that was in fact her real name.
“Chill guys, it’s me. My birth name is Ching Chong,” she explained.
“My parents named me Ching because it rhymes with my family name Chong, and my beautiful Chinese name.
“I lived at that address in 2017 and was a Blues recipient. UQ sports is not racist, I just have a cool name.”
Many were relieved that the entire fiasco was actually not malevolent in nature.
“Thank you Sierra Chen for calling this out,” Ching said.
“I would be super confused too if I received a letter at my address with such an interesting name, if this wasn’t my actual name.
“Thank you for taking action to check with the house manager and UQ sports, and for trying to find me. I appreciate you.”
People in the comment section came together to share their relief, and also to open up about other awkward name mishaps that had occurred.
“My friend’s name is Ichi Wang, it was the first thing he ever told me about himself,” one said.
“He loves his interesting name.”
“What a plot twist. I’ve never laughed so hard!” commented another.