S’poreans defend ministers’ business class selfies after LinkedIn post sparks fuss

SINGAPORE: A woman caused a bit of a stir online after calling out in a LinkedIn post government officials who post selfies when they fly business class for official trips.

In her post, the woman, whose bio says she is a joint managing partner at a law firm, writes an open letter to political officeholders.

“I know it’s important to signal that you’re hard at work and that promises made during the election period were not empty ones.

I hereby clap for you.

But sharing photos of you dashing about on work trips IN A BUSINESS CLASS SEAT is distinctly counterproductive. It’s a humblebrag.”

She added that the only acceptable situation for posting a selfie on the plane would be when one performs a heroic act, but took that back, saying it “would not be cool either.”

When a commenter on her post said that office holders could travel first class, and therefore the post had not been a humble brag, the post author doubled down, saying it was “tone deaf from a comms angle.”

Another commenter, who had seen a recent post of this nature from a top government official, wrote, “It’s literally just him with the headrest, talking about being glad to go home,” and added that the woman’s post is “so unnecessary.”

The post author clarified that she was not referring to anyone in particular.

“I don’t know who ‘him’ in your post refers to. I’m not talking about any specific POH or any specific post. I wouldn’t be so cowardly as to do that without stating details. I’ve noticed a number of posts showing politicians doing this and think it’s counterproductive from a comms perspective, and it’s this trend I’m addressing,” she replied.

The commenter fired back with, “Regardless of who it is, I find virtue signalling on this or bringing this up in the tone that you did, tone deaf, when there are actual bread and butter issues Singaporeans really care about, than this. This just sounded like office water cooler gossip to me.”

On Reddit, where the LinkedIn post was shared, and then later on, taken down, some of the commenters were more pointed.

“Why the snarky remarks? Only bigshot lawyers can take Business Class? Please… Stay in your own lane,” wrote one.

“I have zero issues with my taxpayer monies being used to fly a political office holder on business class for work. In fact, I want that for him. Better to have him well-rested and well-fed so that he can handle the important negotiations and discussions that affect the future of this country,” opined another.

“What is she trying to stir? Flying commercial in business class on work trips is not anywhere flaunting wealth or power lor. If the politician took selfies in a private jet, then can bring out the pitchforks and torches,” asked a Reddit user. /TISG

Read also: Woman in LinkedIn post about meeting Piyush Gupta says her social media manager made up the story and demanded S$5K to take it down