去年2月24日，一名新加坡籍華裔留學生在英國倫敦牛津街被一群當地少年襲擊，導致鼻梁和顴骨多處骨折。
受害者是倫敦大學學院法律系的學生莫顯強，現年24歲。據莫顯強回憶，當時包括一名女孩在內的五人小組突然開始對他拳打腳踢，襲擊者們在施暴之前叫喊著“我們不希望你把冠狀病毒帶到我們的國家”，並在施暴之後迅速逃離。
本周三，這起種族襲擊事件中被捕的一名16歲少年因種族動機蓄意重傷他人而被處以收容管教18個月，並向莫顯強支付600英鎊（約合820美元）的賠償金。
但由于襲擊者尚未成年，法庭不允許媒體發布任何身份資料，包括他的姓名，沒有其他人因襲擊受到指控。
法官席主席默文·曼德爾表示，如果這位16歲的少年是成年人，他“會在監獄裏待很長一段時間”。
他說：“這是一次無端的襲擊，除了他的長相，沒有其他原因。”
A 16-year-old boy has been sentenced to 18 months in a youth rehabilitation facility for a racially motivated attack on a Singaporean student in London.
Jonathan Mok, then a senior at University College of London (UCL) law school, was beaten up on Oxford Street last February by a group of people in an “unprovoked attack” last year on February 24.
One of the group of five, which included a girl, punched him in the face and said “I don’t want your coronavirus in my country” before they fled, the Straits Times reported.
According to the BBC, the teenager was convicted of racially aggravated grievous bodily harm following a trial at Highbury Corner Youth Court earlier this month, confirming what the Metropolitan Police in London deemed to be a racially motivated assault.
The teenager turned himself in following a police surveillance appeal in March last year, said the youth’s defense barrister Gerard Pitt.
Before being sentenced, the teenager said: “When I saw the picture, I felt disgusted. I apologize for my actions.”
The court heard the boy had no previous convictions, but had two youth cautions for common assault.
No one else has been charged in connection with the attack.
Chairman of the bench Mervyn Mandell said that had the 16-year-old been an adult he “would have gone to jail for a very long time.”
“This was an unprovoked attack for no reason other than his appearance,” he said.
The court also ordered the teenager to follow a curfew from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. which will be electronically monitored and pay 600 pounds (about $820) compensation to Mok.
莫顯強在一份聲明中說，這次襲擊對他和他的家人“造成了沉重的打擊”。
“由于手術和後續醫療預約，我的法律課程不得不暫停一個月，”莫顯強表示，“我患上了焦慮症，睡眠也有問題。我認爲被告對新加坡人和東南亞人是一個威脅。他並沒有表示出懊悔。”
Mok said in a statement that the attack had “taken a heavy toll” on him and his family.
“My legal education had to be halted for a month due to surgery and follow up medical appointments,” he added. “I have anxiety and have problems sleeping. I believe the defendant is a threat to Singaporeans and Southeast Asians. He has shown no remorse.”
Posters against racism towards Asians are seen at the subway station at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., January 1, 2021. /AP
根據YouGov今年6月進行的一項民意調查，在英國生活的華裔比其他任何少數族裔群體更容易受到種族主義言論的影響。大約76%的華裔表示，他們至少有過一次被人直接對他們使用種族汙蔑的經曆。而60%的華裔表示這種情況在他們身上發生過多次。而在大洋彼岸，紐約和洛杉矶當局也表示，針對亞裔的仇恨事件有所增加。
According to a YouGov poll conducted in June, people from Chinese backgrounds living in the UK were more exposed to racist comments than any other ethnic minority group. Some 76 percent of ethnic Chinese said they had experienced someone using a racial slur directly against them on at least one occasion. Sixty percent said that it had happened to them multiple times.
Authorities in New York City and Los Angeles said hate incidents against people of Asian descent have increased. Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition of Asian American advocacy groups, issued a report in August stating that it had received more than 2,500 reports of hate and discrimination across the country since the group was founded in March, around the time the outbreak began to seriously worsen in the U.S. The group said it received data from 47 states, with 46 percent of the incidents taking place in California, followed by 14 percent in New York.
襲擊事件發生後，莫顯強在接受新加坡《海峽時報》采訪時表示：“我認爲分享並開始討論是很重要的。”
“種族問題已經存在了這麽長時間，這表明它們有多麽危險……即使一開始是口頭上的，也可能升級爲身體暴力。種族主義不是愚蠢——種族主義是仇恨。種族主義者會不斷找借口表達他們的仇恨，在疫情的背景下，他們又找到了另一個借口。”
After the assault, Mok told The Straits Times: “I thought it was important to share and start the debate.”
“Race issues have been prevalent for so long and this shows how dangerous they can be… Even when they start off verbally, they can escalate to physical violence… Racism is not stupidity – racism is hate. Racists constantly find excuses to expound their hatred – and in this current backdrop of the coronavirus, they’ve found yet another excuse.”