SINGAPORE; Education Minister Chan Chun Sing had a special guest in a recent TikTok video, Singaporean YouTuber JianHao Tan.
The 44-second clip posted on Wednesday (Jul 17) showed Mr Chan sharing study tips with Mr Tan, who pretended to be stressed as he studied for exams.
One of the things that Mr Chan advises the influencer, who is noticeably dressed all in white, is to not worry about exam results. Needless to say, this bit of advice did not go well with many commenters.
@chanchunsingsg When @thejianhaotan looked a bit stressed the other day…
When it was shared on Reddit, however, the video did not get a very enthusiastic response, as users on the platform said they found it “cringy.”
One wrote, “It will backfire on PAP soon to keep bad company.”
Others asked if Mr Tan, the chief executive officer of Titan Digital Media, is “a friend of the PAP.”
Introduced last month, the Friends of the PAP network is comprised of individuals who have come on board to support the party’s efforts.
However, the initiative has been criticized by some, especially since there are a number of social media influencers in the network, many of whom do not normally engage in political or social issues.
The network includes such personalities and influencers as Mr Simon Khung, who is better known as Simonboy, bilingual content creator Amy Ang, and Tommy Ong, the founder of Nothing But Cheeseburgers.
Mr Tan has grown in popularity over the years, and this year has more than 7,310,000 subscribers on YouTube and 659,000 followers on Instagram.
Whether or not Mr Tan is part of the network, he certainly appears to be a staunch supporter of the government. Earlier this week, he posted a video of him and his father, wife, and daughter meeting Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at a West Coast Mall on July 13 (Saturday).
@thejianhaotan We met the new Prime Minister of Singapore 🤩
♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
“I hear you are all big time on TikTok and social media,” the PM is heard telling Mr Tan, who responds by enthusiastically saying, “So are you!”
He noted that it was nice to see the West Coast community being “so welcoming” of the Prime Minister, and added that Mr Wong shared “exciting developments” coming up in the area. Mr Tan quipped, however, that maybe he should have asked for more CDC vouchers.
Runner Kao, who also has a large social media following, was also said to be present at the event.
@runnerkao She has one job.. 😭 #couplelife @KaoFam @Lawrence Wong @Dark Avenger
“Omg it’s true… so politicians are really getting influencers to influence young voters,” wrote one TikTok user. /TISG
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