Jitter sparks discourse about stereotypes

Singaporean Marvel character Sofia Yong, or Jitter, garnered plenty of online discussion after the announcement of her character on Aug 9.

- Charmaine Lim

She first appeared as an unnamed character in the Aug 7 issue of the rebooted Uncanny X-Men series.

Written by American comic writer Gail Simone and illustrated by American comic artist David Marquez, Jitter can fully take on any skill or talent for one minute by concentrating. However, if she over-exerts herself, she fails. To pace herself, Jitter keeps a stopwatch with her at all times, according to the Marvel character card.

She has made several more appearances, revealing more of her backstory in the seven issues (as at Dec 11) that have been released so far.

Netizens have voiced varying opinions about her ability hyperfocus - being a stereotype of Singaporeans and that having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is not a superpower.

Many say the ability is nothing more than being a normal student in Singapore, citing displeasure with what feels like a heightened cultural archetype.

An article on Aug 10 by ST journalist Lok Jian Wen touched on such sentiments, leading to a response from Simone in the comments of a Facebook post by the newspaper on Aug 10.

The 50-year-old writer, who disagreed with some of the opinions in the article, wrote: "Jitter is meant to be fun, she has a great heart and bears no resemblance to the article."

Simone also revealed in her comment that she was inspired to create the character after attending many comic conventions in Singapore and being questioned by comics readers why there were no Singaporean superheroes.