(Trinidad Express) Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan has apologised to the Chinese community for statements he made in response to a video of a Chinese national butchering a dog in Trinidad.
Khan said on Monday that he was extremely sorry for his comments which caused a decrease in sales at Chinese restaurants and prompted many to use social media to speak out against discrimination and bias.
Khan said he made his statements based on “erroneous information” he received about the video.
His apology comes the same day that seven Chinese associations placed a full page advertisement in a daily newspaper to express how they felt after the remarks were made.
The statement read: “ The result of the re-broadcast and the Minister’s comments is that all people of Chinese descent, have become the subject of derogatory comments, racial slurs, harassment, intimidation, racial isolation, intolerance and bias.”
Khan told the Express: “At the end of the day, it (the statements) was done on the spur of the moment based on what I was told that it was from a restaurant. I saw the video and what was told to me about the video was that it was for a restaurant which really raised red flags for me at that time. Later facts showed that it was not from a restaurant and I may have gone overboard in my statements and for that I apologise to the Chinese people.”
He said there was nothing he could do to reverse the effects of his comments but to apologise.
Khan said: “I feel very sorry that it occurred and I would recommend to the population that based on what has occurred over the last week, there is no justification in what I said. I am extremely sorry for my statements.”
The minister said he has asked public health inspectors to step up in their inspections with all restaurants, not just Chinese.
Khan said: “I have asked the public health inspectors to just be a little bit more vigilant in every single restaurant in Trinidad and Tobago not just Chinese restaurants and to make sure that was is being served is correct. At the end of the day that is all I could do to make sure that it is clean and do sampling if necessary.”
