23-year-old, Jonathan Mok, was wrongfully beaten and assaulted after being accused of bringing the coronavirus to London. The UCL (University College London) student was walking down Oxford Street last Monday (Feb. 24), when he heard shouting about the novel coronavirus. After hearing remarks about his race and the COVID-19 virus, Mok decided to stand up for himself and was met by three to four men and woman who unleashed a surprise attack on the Singaporean collegiate student.
Mok has been living in London for the past two years for his collegiate studies and frequently returns to Singapore during holidays. During the incident, the student was instantaneously punched in the face twice and kicked by a group of unknown Londoners near the Tottenham Court Road station. London's Metropolitan Police Service confirmed on Tuesday (March 2) that they are investigating the assault, but have made no arrest. During a brief interview with Channel News Asia, Jonathan Mok stated:
"I felt really angry ... It is ridiculous people are being targeted for being Asian."
Since Mok's attack, the Singapore High Commission urged all Singaporeans to take precautions while in the UK and report any type of abuse to the local authorities. John Wok took to his Facebook page to write in-depth soliloquy about being racially discriminated against, part of his post reads:
"Last Monday, at roughly 9.15pm on Oxford Street in London, I walked past a group of young men, when I saw one of them look at me (just as he walked past me) and said something to me, which I could make out the word ‘coronavirus’. I was stunned and turned around to have a look at the man made the statement. He was still staring at me as he walked past and realised I was looking at him. He shouted ‘Don’t you dare look at me, you ____’ (I could not catch the last word because of the accent). Within 3 seconds, he was in my face, together with 3/4 other young men, and a young lady (all of whom seemed no older than 20 years old, but were all more than a head taller than me). I was shocked and angry because he directed a racist remark at me and had the audacity to shout at me like I had wronged him. All of a sudden, the first punch was swung at my face and took me by surprise. When I was still shocked by the first hit, the guy delivered the second sucker punch. By then, a few passers-by had stopped and one of them tried to reason with them that 4 on 1 was not fair. The attacker’s friend tried to swing a kick at me as I was explaining to the passer-by that I hadn’t done anything at all. I tried to react in self-defence but couldn’t do anything substantial because I was still recovering from a broken finger in my master hand. The guy who tried to kick me then said, ‘I don’t want your coronavirus in my country’"
While the President of the United States may believe the coronavirus is a hoax, major corporations have been taking hits from the spread from the disease and is leaving American citizens dead from the virus. Jonathan Mok's targeted attack is not what society needs in order to battle this current pandemic, but is a result of ignorance about the deadly virus. With a vaccine allegedly developed, hopefully, humanity will be able to move past this egregious disease and move forward amicably.
Check out Johnathan Mok's bruised and battered face in the Facebook post provided below.
