huge ma, who runs the twitter handle “turbovax” is an asian american new yorker who has used his web development skills to bypass the inefficient city sites to make it easier for new yorkers to find and schedule covid vaccine appointments. i managed to get my dad an appointment because of him! he doesn’t want payment for what he does, he asks that for those who can, to make a donation to “welcome to chinatown,” which helps hurting businesses in chinatown and send good vibes to the new york knicks.
today he’s temporarily suspending his twitter page and site (for a 48 hour period) to raise awareness for all the anti asian attacks. in new york city alone, in 2020, there were 29 reported attacks that were racially motivated, and that’s only the ones that were reported. last week a 36 year old asian american man was stabbed. this is to say that i have been feeling a lot of fear and anxiety myself for my family and for my elders, and even when i step outside. all of this compounds on covid fears and wanting to keep myself and others safe and healthy.
so i’m really not surprised that there are comments under his tweet complaining about his choice to temporarily suspend the page. why is he making the rest of new york suffer? essentially it’s saying “please let us continue turning a blind eye and benefit off your labor even though we know you and your community are hurting!” he already explained why he’s doing it and that it’s only temporary. (it will be back online on monday) so i applaud his choice and i’m just getting kinda emotional about him because i’ve felt so helpless lately. people who don’t care are suddenly caring because of the turbovax guy.
