Fury online as video of laowai ‘stealing’ HK Girl goes viral

Over the weekend a duo of lovely American sexpats uploaded a video to YouTube of themselves “stealing” a local girl away from what appeared to be her boyfriend in Hong Kong’s infamous Lan Kwai Fong bar district. Within a few short days Alex Steals Girl from Chinese Guy has clocked in more than a million views on YouTube, and has ignited a furious wave of debate and denunciations online. The Western Sausage Incident, as it has become known, is shaping up to be this week’s hot topic in Hong Kong.
Most comments make use terms like “white trash, “scumbags of the century”, “cheap”, and “spineless,” but despite these harsh words the incident has clearly struck a raw nerve, as westerners and mainlanders link arms to mock what they see as easy, western-worshipping HK girls and impotent HK guys.
Others, however, were more reflective. Drawing on Edward Said’s notion of orientalism, one commentator declared that the Western Sausage Incident “is not an individual choice nor an isolated case; it involves long-term sexual projections by the west onto Asia.”
“Liking westerners is a personal choice,” added another, “but having westerners objectify Asian women is just colonialism.”
On HK Golden Forum, where personal details and pictures of all four have been posted, one user asked, “what if the roles were reversed and a Hong Kong guy picked up a western girl, what would everyone’s reaction be then?” Another user suggested: “[Celebrations] Judgement Day for Gong lui [superficial HK girls], Western Abalone [white girls] Can Be Picked Up with a Drop of the Hand!”
Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for a Western Abalone Incident to even the score and calm frayed nerves.

By Ryan Kilpatrick

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