‘Would they harass my clients or my family today?’: Victims of cancel culture in S’pore speak out

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Cancelling and cancel culture have to do with the removing of support for public figures in response to their objectionable behaviour or opinions. This can include boycotts or refusal to promote their work....The reason for cancellation can vary, but it usually is due to the person in question having expressed an objectionable opinion, or having conducted themselves in a way that is unacceptable, so that continuing to patronise that person’s work leaves a bitter taste.”

Its rise coincided with the 2017 start of the #MeToo movement, where women called out powerful predators. Numerous actresses, notably, named and shamed former film producer Harvey Weinstein for a litany of sexual assaults.

But thanks to the advent of social media, the aftermath for today’s cancelled can be devastating and can cross over into harassment and cyber bullying. What began as a movement to raise awareness about a problem has become more contentious, as online mob behaviour can sometimes escalate beyond reason, ruining careers, reputations and lives.

In 2006, Ms Wee, then an 18-year-old Raffles Junior College student on a humanities scholarship programme, found herself in a storm of controversy after posting what were viewed by many Singaporeans to be elitist, naive and insensitive statements in response to a post by blogger Derek Wee...telling Mr Wee to “get out of my elite uncaring face”. 

At the start of July 2024, there were 5.17 billion social media users around the world, equating to 63.7 per cent of the total global population.

In 2012, Miss Amy Cheong, a former assistant director of membership services at NTUC, made an expletive-filled post on Facebook about the noise from Malay weddings held at void decks of housing estates. She also mocked the divorce rate of Malays.

“Whatever goes online will always be there; a Google search is all they need. It’s a perpetual sentence in a virtual prison 

troll culture and cancel culture are two sides of the same misshapen coin”. Trolling includes incendiary or irrelevant comments and personal attacks that target race, culture, gender, religion or sexual orientation. Like cancelling, the ultimate aim is to shame, discredit and silence someone.

Enacted in 2014, Poha stipulates that a person who uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with the intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress to another person can be jailed for up to six months, or fined up to $5,000. 

“It doesn’t mean that we should encourage apathy, but recognise that there is a line between calling out something that one feels is wrong, and harassing an individual.”

Qns:

1. Assess the extent to which all people in your society have the opportunity to achieve their full potential. (Cam. 2023)

2. ‘The quality of human interaction is diminished by modern communication devices.’ How far do you agree? (Cam. 2023)