An Asian-Australian man has called out racism and the pervasive stereotypes he says continue to exist in the country after an encounter with a stranger at a cafe.
The man recounted an experience in which he was subjected to a seemingly casual, yet deeply offensive assumption about his identity.
According to the man, the incident occurred when a woman, after noticing him outside a coffee shop, remarked, 'I've seen you around before. You must ride that bicycle all the time down Sunshine Road.'
Despite having no connection to the area and not owning a bicycle, the man chose to humour the woman, responding with a simple, 'Yeah, that's me'.
However, the conversation quickly took an unsettling turn. 'I thought so,' the woman replied, before adding, 'There's not many of your kind that live around here.'
The man said the comment revealed a broader pattern of racial stereotyping that continues to persist in Australian society.
'I'm not angry. It's the under the skin ick I have that's beyond anger or frustration, because it is so f*ing uncultured, because it's 2025 you dead-arse white people,' he said.
'Have you not left Australia? Have you not seen the world? There's more to life than a Land Cruiser and caravan doing a big lap around Australia.'
The man noted there was also an assumption that all Asians were from working-class or less privileged backgrounds, revealing he had previously been asked if he was a barista or a chef on a working holiday visa.
'Do you know there's a lot of rich Asians that live all around the world?' he said.
'Go to Taiwan, go to Singapore, go to Hong Kong, go to Japan, go to anywhere else but Australia, and you will see what real rich people are.'
'So you just assume that because I’m Asian, I live in a coastal tourist town, beach town that I’m just on a working holiday visa.'
For the man, the incident is one example of a much larger issue.
The stereotyping of Asian-Australians, he argued, stems from a narrow, limited view of who belongs in Australia's social and economic landscape.
His video resonated with many on social media, particularly among those who have faced similar forms of racial stereotyping.
'This country was built on systemic and structural racism,' said one.
The content creator has called on ignorant Aussies to explore wider than their backyard.
'Imagine what the Aboriginals have experienced since colonisation. The stereotyping of anyone not white is insane.'
Another commenter said she went to a specialist regarding a sinus infection and the doctor told her that 'her body isn't used to' the Australian climate.
'I have to remind them that I was born and raised here, and I don't come from the jungles of Asia like you think I do,' they wrote.
‘I went on a Vietnam tour for mainly old Australians because I wanted to just chill without Contiki crowd,’ another said.
‘The whole trip they kept asking me to interpret for them, even though every day I told them I’m Australian with Korean heritage.’