Victim Of Racist Rant Owns Gelato Shop; Was Told “This Indian Guy Can’t Be The Boss” By Customer

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’d know that a Singaporean couple was recently confronted by a man along Orchard Road for being in an interracial relationship. Dave Parkash, 26, and Jacqueline Ho, 27, were approached by a stranger on June 5, who told Dave, “I know you’re preying on a Chinese girl, and the Chinese are not happy,” adding: “You don’t see a Chinese guy preying on an Indian girl.”

The incident, which was captured in a video by Jacqueline, has since been shared over 17,000 times after Dave posted it on his Facebook page.

Dave, who co-owns two-month-old gelato shop Lick D Cream at Bedok North and roast meat restaurant Fook Kin (where Class 95 deejays The Muttons are also partners) in Killiney Road, has Indian and Filipino-Spanish heritage. Jacqueline, a user experience designer, is Thai-Chinese.

Dave also recounts a recent incident where he experienced blatant racism at his gelato shop. He was at the shop when a pair of curious customers — a couple — had asked his counter staff if she was the boss.

The couple was duly directed to Dave, who recalls: “They wanted to see who’s the owner, because it’s a new establishment. When they saw me, the man looked at [his partner] and said, ‘This man can’t be the boss of this place.’”

According to Dave, the man went on to say, “‘No, this Indian guy sure can’t be the boss. You’re the server, right? You also clean tables right?’ I said, ‘I also clean tables.’”

Jacqueline adds that Dave had encountered “quite a few incidents, but they were all similar”. Growing up in Singapore, Dave says he also had to deal with his schoolmates’ racial stereotyping. “I said I wanted to go home to eat, and people said, ‘Your mum probably cooked you curry’. And other people in the room were like ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s what Indians eat’. But my mum isn’t even Indian, she’s Filipino.”

Dave’s gelato shop has a menu that reflects his heritage; there’s a mix of Singaporean and Filipino-inspired flavours like Ube (purple yam), Milo Peng and Horlicks Tim Tam. You can get the gelato on its own, with pandan waffles, or as an ice cream sandwich with pandesal, a classic yeasty Pinoy bun. Prices for a single scoop start from $4.10, and double scoops for $7.10.

Class 95 jock Vernon A, who’s married to influencer Jayne Tham, says he “applaud[s] Dave for shedding light on this, it’s something people need to know”. The two men are co-owners of hipster char siew specialist joint, Fook Kin.

While he’s also in an interracial relationship, Vernon (who has English, Dutch and Portuguese heritage) says he has never encountered hostile reactions when he’s out with Jayne and their two kids. “I’m either really fortunate, or too preoccupied with my kids to notice what other people are doing,” he says. “It’s really sad that people like [the racist man] exist. To verbalise that view like that to someone, to me it’s very worrying.”

However, he reveals that there were netizens who commented “nasty things” online when he was dating Jayne and in the early days of their marriage. “[They made remarks like] ‘such a pretty Chinese girl, why don’t look for own race’ and things along that sentiment lah. It sounded very bitter and envious. But that’s their prerogative. If they want to feel that way, good luck to them in life.”

He and Jayne “decided not to get too affected by it,” though Vernon candidly shares, “Inevitably you do feel affected, but sometimes acting on it makes the situation worse. I never want to be put in that [Orchard Road] situation, because I don’t know how I’d react.”

After posting their video, Dave and Jacqueline were “anticipating trolls and keyboard warriors”. Dave shares, “I was telling Jac that was my biggest concern. I don’t want to bring shame to my family and her family.”

However, they have received widespread support for highlighting racism. “It was very heartwarming for me and my family to see people [even at the ministerial] calibre standing up for me and Jac,” says Dave.

The viral video had prompted a response from Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, who said: “I used to believe that Singapore was moving in the right direction on racial tolerance and harmony. Based on recent events, I am not so sure anymore.

The couple did not personally make a police report, though they reckon a netizen who saw the video flagged it to the police. “Me and Jac don’t want to hurt this man in any way, massive punishment [and so on]. We just wanted to highlight this,” says Dave of his decision to post his video online.

Jacqueline maintains that becoming a “viral thing” is “not what we want”. She explains, “I just hope this spreads awareness and it doesn’t die off and it’s like nothing happened. We don’t want [racism] to keep happening. We don’t want anyone else to experience it.”

Photos: Dave Parkash/ Vernon A's Instagram/ Lick D Cream's Instagram