SINGAPORE: A challenge issued by Education Minister Chan Chun Sing on his Facebook page last Friday (June 23) to the legions of Taylor Swift fans in Singapore certainly caught netizens by surprise.
He posted screenshots from “next level” SG Swifties, who sent him “the best DMs” after it was announced on June 22 that she would be performing in Singapore next March. Some students asked Mr Chan to give them a school-free day when the pop superstar holds her concerts.
After reassuring them by writing, “I hear you… I feel you”, plus a couple of laugh emojis, he wrote that he was “concerned how fans of Coldplay, Blackpink, BTS, Beyoncé, and others will feel too,” as well as “that this may further fuel inflation as some overseas reports have suggested,” followed by more laugh emojis.
He then issued the following challenge: “How about this? If any creative and enterprising fan can invite her (or any other A listers just to be fair) to your school to perform free of charge, we can have your school declare a school holiday?! Then everyone gets to enjoy this inclusive concert!”
Netizens commenting on Mr Chan’s post on Reddit applauded him for it.
“But if someone can actually pull this off, its more impressive than scoring an A for their exam. Now that I think about it, I kinda like the challenge – getting our students to think outta the box instead of getting stuck in their books,” one wrote.
A commenter even ventured to say, “I like this CCS guy. He doesn’t think in straight line. Would be good as a PM.”
Another, however, appeared to one-up Mr Chan. “if we can get taylor swift to perform for free in public for anyone who wants to come down to a public stadium/field on a weekday, can the whole country have a free public holiday?”
“he knows something we don’t,” one Reddit user guessed.
Another underlined what we already know: that Swifties are powerful.
/TISG