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A video of a Vietnamese woman who was slapped in the face by her father after returning home for Tet Nguyen Dan holiday following years of studying abroad has gone viral on social media.
The viral video: In the video posted on Instagram last week, the woman appears to walk into her parents’ home with a face mask on as her mother is busy preparing food. Her parents do not seem to initially recognize their daughter, leading her father to pull her face mask down. Upon recognition of his daughter, he seemingly slaps her across the face out of surprise and excitement before his wife cries out and hugs their child. Before the recording ends, the father appears to be overwhelmed by his daughter’s surprise visit as he walks around seemingly in disbelief.
Debate in the comments section: The video has since garnered over 8.8 million views and has received mixed reactions over the father’s reaction, sparking a debate over the ethics of his slap. Many Western viewers expressed confusion, shock and anger over the father’s slap, condemning it as abusive, violent and misogynistic.
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“Damn that slap was f*cked up,” one wrote.
“That slap would’ve made me walk right tf out,” another commented, while many others wondered why the slap occurred and questioned Vietnamese culture.
“Incredible trying to justify violence by saying its cultural,” one person said. “If its cultural then its a savage culture, the fact a ton of people do it doesn’t make it right, yall sound like the parents that justify spanking your child as discipline when it’s been proven again and again it doesn’t work and only makes your child traumatized… I believe Asian people are intelligent and human, and as such they should strive to be better and kinder to their kids and not justify the unjustifiable, saying they cant bc of culture is saying they cant be better, that they are violent and abusive and too stupid to tell right from wrong.”
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What’s a “love slap”?: Most viewers of Asian descent, however, found the video humorous and relatable, explaining that the father’s slap was done out of joy and not meant to be harmful.
“That’s totally an Asian thing. That’s a ‘love slap.’ My mom would’ve done the same thing to me if I tried to pull something like that,” one viewer explained.
“That slap was full of love,” another agreed.
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“Dad slapped her to make sure he wasn’t dreaming! Mom got the confirmation that it’s her daughter!,” one person suggested.
“That slap was the most Asian thing I have ever seen in a while,” another shared.
“Built different:” Other social media users also replied to the criticisms of the father’s “love slap” and the culture as a whole.
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“Damn the people angry about the slap had never got a slap of love only slap of hate lol,” one said.
“Proves that Asian kids are built different, it’s just a lil love slap, my dad does that too. Ya’ll acting too worried,” another commented.
About Tet Nguyen Dan: Tet Nguyen Dan, or simply Tet, is known as the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, which marks the arrival of spring in the lunisolar calendar. Tet is grounded in the tradition of feasting well and plenty, with Vietnamese people coining the act of celebrating Tet as “an Tet” which literally means “eating Tet.” Tet celebrations are considered the most important celebrations in Vietnamese culture and typically last three days. For many Vietnamese people, Tet is an opportunity for families to pay respects to the past and hope for prosperity in the future.
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