【By Observer News, Qi Qian】

Recently, Finland has been in turmoil due to Sarah Dzafce, the former "Miss Finland."

According to Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), several days ago, Dzafce posted a self-portrait on a social media platform. In the photo, Dzafce pulled her eyes with two fingers and added the caption "Let's go eat Chinese food."

Although Dzafce later explained that she had rubbed her eyes because of a "severe headache," this clearly racially discriminatory gesture caused an uproar on social media. Many netizens condemned the woman who had just won the title of "Miss Finland" in September for being "unworthy of her position."

Screenshot of the tweet

As the public opinion escalated, on December 11th local time, the organizers of "Miss Finland" held a press conference and announced that they had stripped Dzafce of her "Miss Finland" title and passed it to the runner-up. The organization expressed sincere apologies, stating that they would not accept any form of racism or discrimination, and emphasized that their operations always followed the principles of respect, equality, accountability, and upholding human dignity.

At the press conference, Dzafce said, "I am deeply sorry for all those who were offended and hurt by my actions on social media."

However, YLE reported that Dzafce did not specifically state which action she was apologizing for. Many netizens believed that this apology was not sincere, as she only apologized for the harm caused rather than for the behavior itself.

Many people thought this incident would end there. However, to everyone's anger, several Finnish politicians took advantage of the situation to stir up trouble.

According to reports, members of the right-wing populist party "Finns Party" - Juho Eerola, Kaisa Garedew, and European Parliament member Sebastian Tynkkynen - jumped in to gain attention. All three of them supported Dzafce on social media, posting similar selfies that may have involved racial discrimination.

Even more disturbingly, such clownish behavior received support from many politicians, including the leader of the Finns Party, Jani Mäkelä. Mäkelä twisted facts, describing Dzafce's loss of the crown as a "major social injustice."

On December 12th local time, Dzafce, at the center of public opinion, responded again. She told YLE that after losing the crown, "I received a large amount of support, messages, and help from people across Finland. It really moved me, and I feel like I'm not alone."

Screenshot of the three "Finns Party" members causing trouble on social media

Meanwhile, the actions of the "Finns Party" members have caused strong dissatisfaction among Finnish media and other political parties.

"This is an irresponsible, childish, and foolish behavior," said Anders Adlercreutz, chairman of the Swedish People's Party, part of the ruling coalition. "It is clear that this approach will offend the public."

The chairman of the party's parliamentary group, Otto Anderson, also said that the incident was regrettable. "The impression is that they want to draw attention to their party again, possibly to shift people's focus away from other issues."

The "National Coalition Party," led by President Stubb, also criticized the three politicians of the "Finns Party."

"Childish and inappropriate," said Pia Kooma, vice-chairwoman of the party's parliamentary group, adding that the issue might be discussed at the upcoming parliamentary group chair meeting.

"Politicians playing with racist jokes and spreading them around have already tired out the grassroots staff of the party," YLE wrote in an article published on December 12. The article pointed out that the "Finns Party" has a history of racial discrimination problems, and now they are trivializing the serious issue of racism through the "Miss Finland" incident, completely disregarding the feelings of many immigrants and foreigners.

The article stated that today, foreign residents born in Finland or who have moved to Finland face daily racial discrimination and bullying. At the same time, Finland is eager to attract hundreds of thousands of skilled workers to work here to save its economy.

"But it's regrettable that high-ranking politicians have lowered the discussion to such a low level," the article read.

This article is exclusive to Observer News, and unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7583246676912112155/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.