Cartoon posting was bad timing, says Vince Chong

Jest inappropriate: Chong says he did not expect the post to ‘blow up’ online.

PETALING JAYA: Akademi Fantasia winner Vince Chong admits that a cartoon he shared, that saw many people accuse him of being sexist, was posted at an inappropriate time.

“It was probably not the right timing to post a joke like that, it didn’t occur to me at that time,” Chong said.

Chong had uploaded a cartoon showing a woman sitting beside the driver of a car while being gagged with her seat-belt, with the words… “New seatbelt design: 45% less car accidents!” on International Women’s Day.

“I had no intention at all at offending or belittling women,” he said.

“My aunt sent me the cartoon. I thought it was funny, so I shared it on social media,” he said, adding that he did not expect the post to “blow up” online, where he drew a lot of flak from netizens.

“I respect my aunt, my mum and my sisters so much because they can laugh at it,” he said.

“I personally think that it is healthy to joke about things. It is not good to take everything too seriously. Laughter is the best medicine,” he added.

Chong said that he had always respected women and that he had “many strong women” in his life, with a daughter on the way.

“I was part of a great movement (Ikal Mayang), and they involved men as well to share the point-of-view of men and how we respect women,” he said.

“I’ve been to women’s shelters and I’ve seen women who have been through terrible things. That has to stop.”

However, commenters on Instagram slammed Chong for the “joke”.