Singapore—TV celebrity turned digital content creator Jade Seah wrote a thoughtful Instagram post on Monday (May 17) where she decried online “blaming and shaming witch-hunting” but added that for her part, she would do just the opposite.
In a post to check in on her followers in the wake of the new Covid restrictions, she wrote a “dark cloud…descended upon” her on Sunday when she could not got to church “nor have lunch out with my folks. Could not have lunch out at all.”
She then decided to share some recent “wonderful memories” in an effort to lift her mood…but was met with “negativity from concerned people” who sought to remind her “only 2 people, not 5 allowed!”.
The influencer graciously gave naysayers the benefit of the doubt, writing she believes they were genuinely concerned, but added that she “couldn’t help feeling disappointed that in their eagerness to nitpick and spot wrongdoings, they were totally blinded to facts (that I was posting from the day before) and also totally missed the point in sharing my joy of appreciating the beauty of nature”.
And in this vein, she wrote that she has seen “influencer types” who post photos of people who have gone viral for not masking in public, saying that they do this type of shaming in order “to get likes and engagement.”
In the process, Ms Seah added, they end up “promoting this culture of self-righteousness and tattletaling.”
“I felt so sad for the state of humanity,” she wrote, wondering people’s influence could be used in kinder and more productive ways.
She also asked if it’s possible that those who refuse to wear masks “suffer from mental conditions we don’t know of?”
“It is very easy to judge and condemn, but we honestly don’t know the whole story. At least for me, when in doubt, I really try my best to err on the side of compassion and kindness,” she added.
The encounter left her “sad and dejected” but after walking her dogs, a good night’s sleep and an early morning Zoom workout, she felt much better, and summarised her insights for her followers.
“What hit me was the realisation that I cannot change culture to stop this sort of blaming and shaming witch-hunting.
What I can do is to choose to unfollow, and to use whatever influence I have on my side to try and spread a culture of more tolerance and understanding.”
/TISG
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