AUGUST 7 — Entertainment show MeleTOP had to eat humble pie this week after running a skit starring comedians Shuk SYJ and Jihan Muse on Tuesday, with the former appearing in blackface.

In a series of tweets in Malay on Thursday, the show that aired on the Astro Ria channel apologised on behalf of its crew and staff.

It also ran a series of tweets in English directed to local star Yuna and African-American R&B singer Usher, who were the target of the so-called parody skit.

"We would like to sincerely apologise to Yuna and Usher for our recent parody video, which was poor judgement on our part.

"Rest assured that this does not reflect our values and beliefs,” it said.

But MeleTOP did not specify what had prompted the takedown, leaving critics wondering whether they did it simply out of public backlash, or the late realisation that blackface is bad.

Neither did the two comedians publicly say sorry for their participation.

Being the internet, the video of the skit shared online — but has since been taken down — continued to be shared by viral blogs hungry for hits and retweets.

A screen grab of the offensive ‘MeleTOP’ skit featuring one of the comedians in blackface.

MeleTOP was left scrambling, pleading with the public to not further share the video — a move that seems almost futile.

Regardless of the video, a bigger cause for concern was the response by some Malaysians, and particularly Malays, towards the controversy.

Not only were there those who defended the blackface, but a worrying number of responses showed that many Malaysians do not understand why blackface is racist, and downright derogatory.

Blackface was popularised in the 19th century in the United States, where white performers wore burnt cork, greasepaint, and even shoe polish on their face to play stereotypical black characters.

The practice went on for decades, and in that time had not only popularised racist stereotypes and perceptions worldwide, but had appropriated the culture for the benefit of the white performers (although there were later blackface performers among African-Americans too).

While in the West, blackface is accepted by most to be a racist practice and is morally unacceptable, things are only catching up in Asian countries — particular East Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea where views on ethnic Africans border between fascination for American black urban culture and disdain for foreigners with darker shades of skin. In Malaysia, blackface has not only appeared in Malay comedy like the MeleTOP skit, but also in high art, as described by dance activist Bilqis Hijjas in her 2010 article "Musings on Malaysian Blackface.”

Dancers not only wore blackface to present themselves as Africans — as noted in several performances Bilqis listed down, but also as ethnic Indians, such as in "Black on Black” played in KLPac, where Malay dancers painted themselves black to represent the Tamils.

Blackface is particularly disturbing in Malaysia because of the common disdain for those with dark skin, especially among the majority.

African migrants and students are conveniently lumped into one, despite the distinct cultures and backgrounds between each of the over 50 countries in the continents. (Somehow, North Africans — particularly Egyptians and Moroccans — rarely get lumped into the ignorant label).

Malay papers regularly describe them using the derogatory term "Awang Hitam” (literally, "black fellow”), accused regularly of crimes, scams, and "stealing” Malay women. They also face discrimination while renting.

South Asian migrants are treated as sub-humans, despite their essential contribution to the modernisation of the country as imported labour, and doing the dirty deeds for picky natives.

Even among Malaysians, ethnic Indians continue to be objects of derision and insults, despite living as citizens for more than five decades now. When Kollywood film Kabali decided to portray the oppression that the community has faced, it got censored instead by the authorities, while Malay daily Utusan Malaysia questioned whether such a thing ever happened.

Even the Malays do not wish to be dark. Whitening products continue to get big bucks among the women faced with peer and sexual pressure, even when they contain questionable and potentially harmful ingredients.

And yet, when it comes to making fun of those with darker skin, Malay comedians are more than willing to put on black skin. Because they can always take it off after they exit the stage.

Several Malaysians have also played down the uproar caused by the MeleTOP blackface, pointing out that Americans regularly parodied other races, citing 2004 comedy White Chicks where African-American Wayans brothers put on "whiteface” to play white characters, and the blackface worn by Robert Downey Jr in the critically-acclaimed 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder.

Forget that White Chicks scored a measly 15 per cent on ratings site Rotten Tomatoes and 41 per cent on Metacritic.

Forget that Downey Jr was himself essentially satirising blackface and Method acting.

Fact is, both films did not escape criticism. And their audience participated in the debate surrounding racism and blackface, instead of sweeping it under a carpet of ignorance.

There are several reasons as to why the MeleTOP blackface was problematic. At the core of it is the reason behind the parody: a shot against Yuna and Usher’s "live” performance of their duet "Crush” in The Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, US earlier this year.

Yuna was savaged by several Malaysians after Usher hugged the Muslim singer after the performance. Yes, a hug. A harmless show of endearment.

After finding success overseas — lately, this seems to be the only way a Malaysian can flourish — Yuna still finds herself a regular target for scornful countrymen with a warped sense of morals.

And when she called such behaviour out, this time she was accused instead of playing the victim, being ungrateful for the support of her local fans, and normalising so-called immorality.

Our increasing insularity has blinded us to diverse humanity across the world. All we can see is our own race, our own religion, our own code of morality.

While we put on a blackface and see nothing wrong with it, the outside world is embracing Yuna no matter what the colour of her skin is.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.