The bigotry storm of Miss FinlandBy Hugo Tseng 曾泰元The saga of Sarah Dzafce, the disgraced former Miss Finland, is far more significant than a mere beauty pageant controversy. It serves as a potent and painful contemporary lesson in global cultural ethics and the absolute necessity of racial respect. When Dzafce deployed it, she aimed a direct insult at the global Chinese diaspora and the wider Asian community. Understanding this arsenal of bigotry — from anatomical insults such as slope-head to cultural slurs such as banana (implying the person is “yellow on the outside, white on the inside”) — is crucial. Hugo Tseng has a doctorate in linguistics, and is a lexicographer and former chair of the Soochow University English Department.

Source: Taipei Times December 20, 2025 16:54 UTC