A Port Augusta council candidate says he feels sorry for the truck driver who targeted him with a racist rant and now wants to meet him.
Thirty-two-year-old Sunny Singh, a transport manager in the South Australian town, says he initially reacted to the video with anger but later understood it was a result of "ignorance" of the person who made it.
Truck driver Grant Moroney posted a video on a trucking page on Facebook with a corflute of Mr Singh, introducing him as “Sundrop Zahid Khwaza”, a “457 immigrant” filling in for his regular companion, before jumping headlong into a racist diatribe.
“I’d like you to meet Sundrop Zahid Khawaja, please try to make him feel welcome. He hasn’t been in the country long. He don’t say much, I don’t think he can say a word of English,” Moroney said video recording himself.
“Don’t you spill your f*&^%$* tandoori curry all over my seat cover,” he shouted suddenly turning towards Mr Singh’s life-size cutout covered in a high-visibility vest placed on the passenger seat.
“I don't know how the f*&^% they did it in Delhi but this is Australia. We eat steak, we drink beer and we f*&^%$# follow the rules when you work for me.”
He then smashes the cutout into the truck’s dash repeatedly saying “fit in or f*&# off”, before it is eventually run over by the truck.
"To my understanding, he isn't targeting me but immigrants," Mr Singh says.
Mr Singh came to Australia ten years ago. He says it’s the first time he has experienced racism in Australia.
“The community here is so welcoming. It’s surprising that this has happened when I don’t even know the person, I have never met him. He just seems to have taken a corflute and used it,” he told SBS Punjabi.
“One can gauge the level of his intellect the way he talks, his own frustration is so evident from his meltdown at immigrant drivers,” he said.
“He may have had a bad experience with someone and now taking it out on me,” Mr Singh said. "I would like to meet him and clarify any confusions he may have."
He said some members of the community reported the video to the police and he is yet to give a statement.
Sunny Singh says some community members reported the video to the police and he is yet to give his statement. Source: Facebook
Community backs Mr Singh
Many members of the Port Augusta community took to social media to express their support for Mr Singh.
“I have just seen the post on FB and I’m so sorry I did. I’m also sorry that I know this person through other friends, please don’t let this sort of [abuse] discourage you,” wrote Karen Dermody.
The mayor of Port Augusta said the “attack” on Mr Singh is unacceptable.
“I just sadly witnessed the most appalling attack on social media towards one of our local residents,” Mayor Sam Johnson wrote on his Facebook page.
“Sunny Singh and his family, are hard working dedicated members of our community. Sunny is a man who rolled into town just 10 years ago with one suitcase, and $3,000. Now, through hard work, he has built a successful business, and become an admired and well-respected member of our community.
Truck driver Grant Moroney Source: OwnerDriver
“He and his family give up so much in the way of volunteering.
“To unfairly attack him in this manner, is uncalled for, unjust and totally unacceptable.
Stay strong Sunny, the community will back you,” Mr Johnson said.
Meanwhile, truck driver Grant Moroney appears to have witnessed the theory of karma at work instantly. The company he was working for to deliver petroleum products has revoked all his contracts with immediate effect.
“He seems to have had a very costly lesson,” Mr Singh said. “Hope he learns from it.”
