In the video, two women who appear to be working at a coffee shop are seen touching and playing with the singer’s waist-length braids as she looks into the camera with a resigned stare.
The two comment on her hair in amazed tones in Mandarin, wondering if it is real and marvelling at its length. At one point, Kelis turns and touches the hair of one of the women as well.One of the woman asks Kelis if the hair is real, said “Wow!” and gave the singer a thumbs-up.
The pair go on to continue caressing the braids as Kelis turns back to her friend taking the video with a look of disbelief and a shrug.
“Just embrace it,” her friend said with a laugh.
“Oh, I like to be touched,” she replies sarcastically.
Kelis posted the video last Saturday with the caption: “I don’t even know what to say here.”
Social media users, however, had a lot to say. Her Instagram post has since garnered more than 3,100 comments, with many appalled by the incident. The video was also reposted by media company The Shade Room, gathering another 11,900 comments.One top comment, acknowledged by Kelis, read: “I’m glad you grabbed her hair but clearly, they didn’t understand how ridiculous it is to touch a stranger.”
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Some black people also shared similar experiences of their own in Asia, putting the women’s behaviour down to a “lack of self-awareness” and cultural differences around personal space.Some Singaporeans who spoke up in the comments noted that such behaviour was not common in the city state.
Instagram user ‘aloverasoo’ said: “So sorry you had to encounter that … [People] from Singapore usually are more reserved in touching [because] there are laws against harassment – that includes touching.”
Others, though, were not convinced: “They knew what they were doing. Look at her response when Kelis touched her hair, she didn’t like it.”
Regardless of the reasoning behind the incident, many commended the African-American singer on handling the situation with grace.
Still, she had her own critics as well – another camp felt that she should have set clear boundaries on the spot.
Allowing them to “treat her like an animal at a petting zoo” only perpetuates the idea that such behaviour is acceptable, they said.
Kelis then took to the comments section to explain that she felt the women were genuine in their admiration. She had also held back partly because she was in a foreign country.
“First, I was caught off guard,” she wrote. “Second, they were enamoured, as they should be. I don’t like being touched and if we were in the [United] States or Europe, my reaction would have been different.“Sometimes I have to remind myself, it’s a lot to see if you have never seen it,” Kelis added. “And whether it comes from racism, ignorance, love or something else, it doesn’t change who I am.”
