A FEW weeks ago, when I was visiting stalls at a Ramadan bazaar in Kota Kinabalu, I overheard a vendor saying: “kotor, sapu sapu dulu” (dirty, let’s sweep first) with an accent.
The phrase is the famous tagline of Aunty Patrin, a character introduced by new radio station KK12FM in April, which gained instant popularity due to its humorous short video sketches available on social media.
Aunty Patrin is a cleaner of mixed heritage, who speaks English fluently in a British accent while delivering positive messages in each episode, like respect and punctuality.
What was created as a countdown gimmick to the station’s launch on April 17 had become a hit that not only gained the love of Sabah folk, but also across the nation. While access to the radio station is available only locally, the public can view the videos on Facebook and Instagram.
However, with anything that gains prominence, people will try to find fault with it.
Instead of taking in the positive messages behind each sketch, some keyboard warriors point out that she is not the right race for a local programme, an irony when living in a state with more than 30 ethnic groups.
The character was initially hinted as a person with a foreign background based on her accent, but it was never meant to be the highlight behind the grand scheme of things.
Amy Dangin, the radio announcer behind the character, is perplexed by how things have been taken out of context.
“There are comments saying we are promoting PTIs (pendatang tanpa izin or illegal immigrants) when the topic is not even touched. There was no mention of immigrants in the episodes. They just have to think of the worse. Surprisingly, it’s 2017, but people like this still exist,” said Amy.
The former journalist of a regional newspaper explained that to be fair, the radio station never intended to keep her character, but it was so well accepted that it leveraged the opportunity to create positivity instead of making jokes. But the fact that people are easily offended is taking a toll in the community.
Case in point: a few weeks ago, two elderly men were involved in a fight with a supermarket worker in Penampang because he told one of them to move his car that was blocking traffic.
One of the elderly men threw the first punch and they started exchanging blows before passers-by stepped in to separate the three.
The senior citizen claimed that the worker was rude to him, but since when has throwing punches become the right response?
What could have been a simple misunderstanding had become a police case.
Coming back to Amy, she concluded that in the end, there are always bound to be people who are not satisfied, despite the radio station’s good intent.
“People are so used to the Kadazandusun Murut community when talking about Sabah, and other ethnic groups are less represented. But that does not mean they do not exist.
“Thinking so is insensitive to other ethnic groups, especially if their comments are read by the said race.
“I think it is time that people accept that, like it or not, Sabah is a diverse state,” said the 32-year-old mother of three, adding that there were those who even thought her character was real.
She jokingly said that indicated how good her acting was.
Amy says on the plus side, there are more positive responses compared with racist comments.
“Aunty Patrin has fans from diverse groups of people.”
However, despite the overwhelming response the radio station received about the character, it has decided to give Aunty Patrin a rest.
Last Friday, she made her last appearance in the show’s 10th episode, as the station is planning to introduce a character that will represent another side of Sabah as a mixed bowl.
“I know a lot of fans are disappointed, but who knows, we may bring back Aunty Patrin so long as she is relevant.
“In the end, our motives are to deliver sketches that are not only funny and entertaining, but also with meaningful lessons, get that?” ended Amy with another of Aunty Patrin’s catchphrase.
The writer, a staff correspondent for the NST’s Sabah bureau, is open to experiencing new things and adventures. She recently embraced the Muay Thai training as a lifestyle.