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Considering what’s going on around the world, these days it’s a tough market for real estate.
With Covid-19 brutalizing the economy, real estate agents are finding new ways to stand out and get aspiring homeowners to pay attention.
However, in a case of creative marketing gone awry, a real estate husband and wife duo attracted the wrong attention.
PropNex Realty agents who go by their collective name Jasen & Shiqi came under fire online after a YouTube video they produced went viral for less than positive reasons.
Shared on their YouTube channel on September 6, the video showed two ethnic Chinese agents marketing a five-room apartment in Jalan Bukit Merah for sale, while wearing traditional Indian costumes, speaking Malay and Tamil phrases, and performing a routine. dance that was neither here nor there in terms of cultural precision.
The pitch was also repeatedly imitated.
Since then, Jasen & Shiqi’s video was set privately on September 13, but not before a Twitter user succeeded reload a segment online. The reactions have not been very good.
The backlash also resulted in the couple removing their official Jasen & Shiqi Instagram page.
‘Really insensitive of us’
The agents, Jasen Tan and Lim Shiqi, told AsiaOne that they are currently reflecting on their mistakes as they go through all the messages from Instagram and Facebook, as well as the emails they have received on the matter.
“First of all, we would like to clarify that we have no intention of mocking, offending or disrespecting any race or cultural minority and we sincerely apologize for raising unpleasant feelings online,” they stated in response to our inquiries.
The motivation behind the video was fueled by the fact that Bukit Merah’s flat can only be sold to non-Chinese buyers due to the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), commonly known as the HDB racial quota.
The EIP was instituted in 1989 to prevent ethnic enclaves on HDB properties.
https://www.facebook.com/jasenshiqi/posts/1200328660348299
“The reason we spoke or tried to speak in Tamil and Melayu was because we want to appeal to non-Chinese races, which we have clearly failed,” they admitted. The couple sought the consent of the unit owner before starting their marketing plan, devised in the hope of attracting the attention of potential buyers.
“As you’ve seen on the recent vlog (Behind the Scenes of 13 Jalan Bukit Merah Home Tour), we’ve spent a considerable amount of time searching for costumes, coming up with a little dance routine to our best ability, and practicing the Tamil and Melayu phrases. repeatedly to make sure we don’t mispronounce them, ”they pointed out to AsiaOne.
“However, we apologize for not having fully considered the issue of ‘cultural appropriation’ and indeed it is insensitive of us to allow such an inappropriate event to happen.”
The video has since been removed and the team is in the process of designing a “more appropriate way” to display the property.
“We admit that we have done wrong in our approach to this matter and we promise to constantly look at things critically and from every possible angle from now on to avoid such events in the future,” they said, offering an apology to all those affected by your video.
“Give us some time to correct our mistakes and become a better version of ourselves.”
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