Singapore – A 20-year-old influencer who goes by the handle @baerendang has confirmed he is the admin of Instagram page Sgcickenrice, which sparked the workplace harassment allegations against Night Owl Cinematics’ (NOC) co-founder Sylvia Chan.
After her interview with Ms Chan on Oct 24, Singaporean blogger Xiaxue took to TikTok on Friday (Oct 29) to share clues identifying the anonymous Instagram account behind the NOC saga.
Xiaxue first noted that the Instagram page in question had confirmed no longer posting anything related to NOC.
“Throughout this saga, I have tried to remain neutral,” she noted.
However, there was one thing that she was “definitely not on the side of,” which is cancel-culture or call-out culture.
“I really hate all of these anonymous accounts. Ok, like they have so much power, ok?” said Xiaxue.
She said that because they are anonymous, not much can be done against the page, such as suing it or reporting it to the police.
“They just hide behind their anonymity to say whatever the hell they want,” said Xiaxue, adding that the accounts act like the “Messiahs of the world” with a power-tripping complex.
Xiaxue then showed screenshots of the account’s past activity on TikTok. The bottom of the screenshot revealed the display picture of the TikTok user who shared the clips.
They were able to identify the person in the DP, hinting it was Brandon or @baerendang on Instagram and TikTok.
Xiaxue also shared that she had met Brandon in an NOC shoot.
In an Instagram post on Friday (Oct 29), @baerendang wrote, “I am Brandon, a 20-year-old student. I am the admin of SGCICKENRICE.”
“I am flooded with questions and, inevitably, accusations; I will address them now to the best of my ability.”
Brandon explained why he started the page in September 2021 after witnessing how his friends, NOC employees, were treated.
“Although I was not an employee of NOC, I was privy to their grievances. Out of curiosity, I then went to check NOC’s Glassdoor page; I realised that these issues were not unique to what my friends were facing but had been happening for years end,” he said.
“I feel a moral obligation to speak up and shed light on these issues that have plagued employees, and so I did. For those of you who have followed the page from the start, you would note that the only ‘side’ the page was on is that of the employees.”
He noted going after NOC founders Ryan Tan and Ms Chan, demanding accountability.
“If you see Ryan’s older posts, you will see our comments there,” he added.
“The goal was simple – to demand fair wages, timely payment, and equitable treatment. There were no ‘camps,’ but only employees to support.”
Brandon then shared that along the way, things got “messy”, and he found himself becoming a “pawn,” citing another influencer, Preetipls, who said other parties involved in the saga were mere “collateral damage in a fight over assets involving two powerful and rich adults.”
There are no heroes in this story, said Brandon. He pulled out of the limelight after realising the focus was diverting away from the heart of the story.
“I apologise for my naïveteé and my admittedly misguided ways. I will take all criticisms and pitchforks, but all I ask is for the employees to be spared. I take full responsibility for the actions of the page,” he said.
However, he highlighted one aspect which he would not apologise for.
“I will not apologise for speaking up and raising issues related to the plight of the employees of NOC.”
“I believe this was the central focus of the initial issues. There are also issues that both Ryan and Sylvia have yet to answer for, and it is my firm belief that both parties are responsible for this state of affairs,” he added.
Sgcickenrice took on a new name @baerendang1 and removed its NOC-related posts before becoming completely unsearchable in Instagram as of writing./TISG
@xiaxue This cicken rice be bussin’ 😎
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