I’m born and raised Singapore. 🇸🇬 I moved to Sweden 🇸🇪 some years ago for studies and have there since. During a recent 3-week visit to Italy, specifically Sicily, I encountered some challenging experiences that caught me off guard.

As a tourist interested in supporting local businesses and communities, I seek out Sicilian farms that practice sustainable and traditional Mediterranean agricultural methods. I genuinely appreciate businesses that prioritise providing excellent Sicilian hospitality and service. I have also put in effort and time to learn Italian to respectfully explain my own heritage.

I faced instances of men following me on scooters, receiving catcalls, and being subjected to uncomfortable situations in public by market vendors who shouted inappropriate fetish remarks related to my Asian background. Despite efforts by staff at food establishments to help, there were men who continued to make me feel uneasy by lingering/hovering around me, watching me from outside the restaurant. Restaurants sometimes dismiss me and skip me over. I welcome curious glances but it gets uncomfortable when its a persistently long, unwelcoming stare. I usually respond with a “salve” or friendly wave or smile. Start a conversation to learn about each other. Despite that I noticed dirty looks from women and heard racial slurs from boys directed at me, happening repeatedly throughout each day.

While I genuinely want to embrace and enjoy this part of Italy, the constant scrutiny I receive makes it difficult for me to fully savour the experience. I can no longer taste any flavour in the cannolo, granitas and pesce. I feel fear and anxiety in my gut and body. I feel disheartened and hesitant to leave my accommodations due to concerns about encountering further negativity or harassment based on my appearance. I even find myself worrying about potential confrontations that could escalate into dangerous situations. I’ve faced this even while travelling in groups. Sicilian friends who are well travelled advised to say, "Che guardi? Dai una pizza con ananas! Dai, tu e mi prego." “What are you looking at? Come on, let’s go have a pineapple pizza. Please, you and me.” To stop hostile behaviour. It is not a real offer to eat together, but a rhetoric question to stop the constant shouting in their tracks.

Believe me, I sincerely want the economy and community here to thrive. These events are incredibly challenging to go through. I have no other solution as I have attempted many, many things, spoken to many people. If I’m lucky enough, other kind but few travellers do speak up for me based on what they see.

I guess this is a way for me to get the message out there that people who share a similar demographic racial profile are not alone. My next best step is to contemplate waiting a significant amount of time, perhaps a decade, before considering a return to this region.