I am most disappointed to say that this is happening all over again. How many times have we written, read and discussed why naming a restaurant/bar/hotel after racist tropes and slurs is just not okay? I mean how hard is it to comprehend? Usually it is non Asian owners doing stupid shit like this thinking that by poking fun at the “perceived” Asian accent and using racial tropes for shits and gigs is respecting the culture and traditions. But this time I am most ashamed and disappointed to report that this particular case is owned by an Asian Australian. And she really does not see that the name of her gastropub/hotel is wrong on every level.

The gastropub is called “HOTEL LONGTIME” and it is based in Adelaide, South Australia. And yes it is themed around this racial stereotype. It not only is racist but it is misogynistic and perpetuates further fetishisation of Asian women. To add fuel to the fire the gastropub is themed around this racist trope and has added a “PING PONG CLUB ROOM”, which the owners describe as a “gentlemen’s lodge”. Mmmhmm this is what we are playing with. If you have been hiding under the rock, this Asian-themed gastropub is based on the extremely racist Kubrick movie Full Metal Jacket: “Me so horny, me love you long time”. This line has been made famous by sick non Asian men and has been used to devalue, fetishsise, objectify and belittle Asian women. In the movie it was uttered by a young Vietnamese prostitute to American soldiers set during the Vietnam War.

The gastropub is owned by Vietnamese Australian TIN CHU and her partner ALEX FAHEY. Chu is claiming ignorance on the whole thing and is playing victim stating that it is impacting on her business this controversy. She also claims she had no clue on the origins of the “LONGTIME” usage as well as the history behind this racial trope. My opinion? I call foul on this. This is what she told Adelaide Now:

“It is worth remembering that I am a director of this licensee company and I am a proud Asian woman who has worked hard to build my business,”

“There is nothing in our name which is in any way intended to insult or offend women. If anyone has felt that, then we humbly apologise — but again, it was never our intention.

“Any such association is in the mind of our critics, it was not in our minds.”

Chu’s partner Fahey as usual is also claiming ignorance on the theme of their gastorpub:

“I’ve never even seen the film (Full Metal Jacket),” he said. “I’d like people to understand what we’re trying to achieve. The name is not meaning to be a brothel — it’s ‘stay for a long time’.”

And here is what they said about the “PING PONG CLUB ROOM”:

“It’s meant to be like a clubroom — like a football clubroom — where you go and have a drink after playing ping pong,”

“It’s nothing to do with the Thailand ping pong shows.”

I am sorry, but it is way too convenient that they chose these names to theme their establishment. They knew where the origins were because I am finding it hard to accept that they came up with these names by chance.

I was actually alerted to this controversy by a fellow Asian feminist who linked me with the Asian Australian who is running a campaign for the gastropub to change its name. Her name is Alice Whittington and she has created a change.org petition which is starting to take some steam. I was able to communicate with her via Twitter and this is what she said about this entire situation:

It’s gotten worse. They’ve run with “never seen the film” (so somehow absolved) and “one of us is Asian so it’s ok”, plus backtracking on their initial “it’s just a bit of fun” to it’s a serious name about “staying a long time”.

And it also means every single person along the way they discussed the idea with (or had to get approval from) either were ignorant too or didn’t have the guts to tell them it was a bad idea. It takes a whole town.

Here is an excerpt from the change.org petition which explains why this is problematic:

And just in case we weren’t sure that Hotel Longtime is making light of and profiting from the stereotype of Asian women being sexualised and the expectation that they are at the service of imperialist men, their opening party poster read “The Madame is waiting”, with the image of an older Asian woman – a reference to a brothel madame.

How this ever was considered a good idea, or how it was approved in planning stages, is beyond me. Whether the restaurateurs (one of whom is of Asian heritage, which does not make it ok – we all make mistakes) are good people, have worked hard to build this, and cook delicious food is not the point.

They can still be and do all that, and not have such a distasteful, degrading name which perpetuates a harmful stereotype as a result of which Asian people, and particularly Asian women, suffer on a daily basis – be it through sexual/racial harassment and abuse, discrimination, unconscious bias and lack of understanding. This is not a personal witch-hunt, but rather an opportunity to educate and make positive social change.

For the sake of respect for your fellow community members and those striving for equality, please sign this petition to ask the owners to change the name immediately, remove any references to prostitution, and remove any association of a “gentleman’s lodge” to the ping pong element of the concept.

I tend to agree with this and I am absolutely outraged by this. What disappoints me the most is that it is licensed to an Asian Australian who clearly is ignorant and is fine perpetuating racism against her fellow Asian Australians and the diaspora more broadly. I can see she has extreme internalised racism and self hatred to be able to do such a stupid thing.  I do not see any genuine intent in this at all. If she and her partner were they would apologise and graciously change all the racist names.

In addition to signing the petition here, if you feel compelled please add a poor review on their Facebook page Hotel Longtime. They need to learn that these things are just unacceptable in this day and age. 

Images via Adelaide Now

To read the original article, please click on: New Adelaide gastropub Hotel Longtime engulfed in controversy over allegedly racist theme