Compiled by ZAKIAH KOYA, ALLISON LAI and R. ARAVINTHAN
AN ON-DEMAND service platform in China has withdrawn its controversial Chinese New Year “proxy kowtow” service after facing public backlash.
According to Nanyang Siang Pau, the platform rolled out a series of proxy New Year greeting packages during the festive season.
One package, titled “Proxy Greeting for Elders”, offered to purchase and deliver festive goods, perform a kowtow ritual on behalf of customers, and provide a real-time livestream of the visit. The two-hour service was priced at 999 yuan (RM565).
Another package, costing 199 yuan (RM112) for two hours, included buying festive goods and even requesting red packets from elders and relatives on behalf of users.
Promotional materials stated: “Though far away in body, the rituals remain complete. UU helps you fulfil your filial duty.”
However, the service quickly sparked criticism online, with many netizens labelling the idea of “proxy kowtowing” as awkward and inappropriate.
By Tuesday, the controversial package had been removed from the UU Run app.
In a statement, UU Run said the service was designed to offer emotional support to individuals who were overseas, had limited mobility or were otherwise unable to return home for the Chinese New Year. It stressed that the intention was not to mock or distort traditional customs.
The company said it discontinued the service after careful consideration to avoid further controversy, adding that affected customers would get full refunds plus triple compensation via their original payment method.
> Oriental Daily reported that foreign domestic helpers in Singapore are learning local dialects such as Hokkien and Cantonese, strengthening trust and improving care for elderly residents, particularly those with dementia.
In one instance, a simple Hokkien greeting – jiak ba buay? (Have you eaten?) – helped a Myanmar helper connect with the 88-year-old woman with dementia she looks after, bridging an initial language gap.
Since mid-June last year, the NTUC-affiliated Centre for Domestic Employees has collaborated with the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Cultural Academy and The Salvation Army to provide basic conversational dialect classes to about 140 foreign domestic helpers.
The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
