E-commerce giant Alibaba recently renamed its travel-booking service Alitrip Flying Pig (Fliggy) in order to appeal to young travelers, who represent 80% of its customer base. (1)In the light of this, it has sparked a (A)backlash in China.
A well-known Uighur snacks entrepreneur, Adil Mamattura criticized the e-commerce company for (2)turning off Muslim customers, who abstain from pork. He posted his comment last month on popular blogging network Weibo, where he has over twenty thousand followers.
He began by saying he has always being a strong supporter of Alibaba. He used Alitrip constantly because it was friendly to ethnic minorities who have trouble booking tickets online due to their names. But now with Alitrip changing its name to Flying Pig, I can only delete the app, he wrote. Maybe all Muslim friends will also delete the app, as all the worlds Muslims avoid the word pig as (B)taboo. Alibaba is an international corporation; could it not take Muslim taboos into consideration?
His post quickly sparked (C)condemnation and ridicule online from other Chinese, with some asking if this meant China had to erase all references to pigs in popular culture and literature. Many Chinese netizens took to social media to unleash a wave of invective stereotypes against the entrepreneur and other Uighurs.
We embrace diversity and respect all creeds and religions, an Alibaba spokesman said. The name change is meant to reflect the demographics aspirations to pursue dreams, (3)sit back and enjoy life.
The controversy also highlighted gaps between Chinas Han Chinese, who make up some 90% of the population, and Uighurs, who are mainly concentrated in the far western region of Xinjiang and make up only 1.6% of the population.
Adil Mamattura quickly took down the post and he posted an apology saying that he is sorry to create such controversy and will pay more attention to his behavior. He will use practical actions to convey better things and positive energy.