BY ASHMITAA THIRUSELVAM

Asian Australians are demanding Brisbane-based Asian bar LingLing rebrand, with the bar's name and menu items labelled "racist".

Branded as “Brisbane’s home of late-night Asian”, menu items such as ‘Hardcore Asian Prawn’ and ‘Mi So Horny’ have been called out by the community for being offensive. 

Asian woman and manager of the @rebrand_linglingbne Instagram page Sarah* said such offensive brand names encourage racism and sexism towards those of Asian descent. 

“Currently there is a culture which normalises racism towards Asian people by marginalising Asian people, and in particular Asian women, as objects of consumption for others’ pleasure,” she said. 

Members of the Brisbane community have attempted to contact the bar owners via email, but have not received any response. 

Sarah created a petition to pressure LingLing owners into changing their offensive menu item names and the name of their bar.

“The petition currently has over 8,000 signatures which shows that there is definitely a strong sense of solidarity and support,” she said. 

“It’s evident all of us will not accept our trauma, pain and experiences of discrimination being capitalised on,” she said.   

“Shortly after releasing the petition and the Instagram post, the establishment blocked our Instagram account and removed the public’s ability to comment and provide feedback on any of their posts.”

Member of the Asian-Australian community Esther Cheah said the LingLing menu names relate to sexist Asian terms. 

“I had noticed that one of the drinks was named Love You Longtime which is actually from a movie that perpetuates the sexualisation of Asians in the 1970s,” she said. 

“I think it’s dumb but I also think that they should know better and should know that perpetuating stereotypes to make a joke out of Asians just isn’t funny,” Ms Cheah said. 

Singaporean-born Australian Sophie Wen Riaz said she was disappointed in LingLing's owners as they were profiting off mocking traditional Chinese names. 

“It is quite disappointing, especially as this takes place in Australia - the hub for diverse ethnic groups,” she said. 

“Regardless of Ling being an actual name in Chinese tradition, it has also become some sort of way to mock Asian people and this is highly suggestive in the menu where it says Ling Ling you forgot your dumplings,” Ms Riaz said. 

Ayush Regmi and Ivy Wang share their thoughts on the LingLing bar situation as young adults of Asian descent. VIDEO: Ashmitaa Thiruselvam 

MOJO News contacted LingLing for comment and are yet to receive a response. 

Changes have since been made to LingLing’s menu, but the bar owners have not publicly acknowledge the controversy. 

*Pseudonym used at interviewee’s request