SINGAPORE: Koh Boon Ki (@doujiang.youtiao on TikTok) posted a video verbalising her thoughts about how she finds it difficult to interact with people who have not studied science in their educational years because they do not know “the most simple things”, generating much uproar among Singaporeans who called her out for being ignorant.
“And then I meet non-science students and we talk about like, health, like the most simple things, and to them it’s like wow how do you know this but for me it’s like how do you not know this?” Boon Ki questioned.
I mean you can’t even spell “studied” correctly and you pronounce non-science as “NUN” science so… What now? pic.twitter.com/BwPKmGPhwj
— west coast park (@woraidatpic) April 26, 2023
Boon Ki, a pharmacy graduate from the National University of Singapore, has studied science subjects throughout her years of education, and all her friends are science students as well. However, when she meets people of other disciplines, she finds it “strange” that they are unaware of “simple things.”
“People who studied science in school, secondary school, JC, uni, and then they graduated and met non-science students, how are your conversations going? Especially those about like body and health issues,” she began.
“This is your body; how can you like live your life not knowing how your body works? Are you okay with that? I’m not okay with that,” she asserted.
She then questions why chemistry is a compulsory science subject in school but not biology.
“Why is biology like the atas subject in school that people cannot take unless they get very very good grades?” she says, expressing that it “does not make sense” because she does not use much chemistry knowledge in her day-to-day life as compared to biology.
“It just puzzles me how people go around not knowing any bio knowledge; how do people live like that?” she said.
Boon Ki added that studying healthcare helped her build knowledge about blood pressure, sugar levels, and common diseases.
“Do people with these diseases know what’s going on with their body?” she pondered out loud.
Although Boon Ki has deleted her TikTok due to the backlash, her video is still circulating on Twitter, attracting almost a million views.
Her rant did not sit well with Singaporeans, who called her out, saying she has a superiority complex and is “stuck in her own bubble.”
“Having a superiority complex because you know what constipation means is genuinely bonkers,” a Twitter user said about her rant.
“I can ALWAYS count on STEM majors to assume we are dumber & belittle us just because we lack scientific knowledge. It’s like as if Singapore being very math and science oriented isn’t bad enough already!” said another person.
“Unironically this is a textbook example of being stuck in your own bubble and encountering people with different backgrounds, feeling sympathy over them not understanding their world and easily patronising them,” expressed another Twitter user.
Boon Ki‘s TikTok also sparked much irritation from people of other disciplines who felt like she did not consider that science is not the only important thing in life.
“Non STEM people talk about art, life, culture, history, current events, news etc. But STEM people only talk about how hard stem is,” a person commented.
“Is this a way for her to say STEM students are better than everyone else?” Someone questioned.
“Ask her about economics and laws and see if she can answer it or not. If cannot how can she not know about her own country’s economic state and her country’s laws,” commented another Twitter user.
“If I see you, i will ask you what size of reinforcement bars that they used in your house, and tell me exactly the dead load in your room. Tell me, quickly,” challenged someone.
Although most of the comments expressed opposition to what she said, some people did come to her defence and agreed with her points but felt she could have worded her thoughts better.
“I think she does make fairly good points it’s just the way she delivered her points, they sounded quite condescending and know it all,” said someone.
“I feel like her delivery wasn’t correct but her point is actually very valid that biology should be a compulsory subject because knowing about the human body at the very least even basic knowledge is extremely useful but that’s just me,” another person said.
Boon Ki decided to address the backlash and posted another video yesterday to apologise for what was said in her earlier TikTok.
“I know that I can be kind of stuck up sometimes, so it’s good that I’m called out,” she said after she removed the video because she realised she did not “sound very nice.”
“It made me go and reflect how I’m in my own bubble, but then I feel like everybody’s in their own bubble and sometimes we realise that people’s bubbles are different from our own bubbles,” she mused.
Boon Ki concluded her thoughts by saying that “it’s been a very humbling experience” and that she “deserved it.”
The Independent Singapore has reached out to Boon Ki for comment.