Pokemon GO-obsessed Australian executive sacked by his Singaporean property firm after calling the country 'f*****g s**t' for not having the game yet
- Australian man Sonny Truyen posted a vile Facebook rant about Singapore
- He called Singapore a f*****g s*** country for not having Pokemon GO
- Mr Truyen started work as a vice president for digital marketing at 99.co
- The property development firm sacked Mr Truyen just a day after the post
Published: 00:25 GMT, 12 July 2016 | Updated: 12:29 GMT, 12 July 2016
An Australian expat has been sacked by a property development company after posting a vile rant on social media about Pokemon GO being unavailable in Singapore.
Sonny Truyen, who worked as a vice president for digital marketing at the Singaporean-based firm 99.co, vented his frustration against the country after the popular Nintendo game was recently released in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States.
Pokémon Go is the latest mobile game that encourages players to use their smartphones' GPS and back-facing cameras to catch virtual Pokémon at real-world locations.
However, the Melbourne man who is living in Singapore was far from impressed after he discovered the game had not been released in the country yet.
'You can't f*****g catch Pokemon in this piece of f*****g s*** country,' he wrote on Facebook over the weekend.
Australian man Sonny Truyen (pictured), who works in Singapore, has been sacked after posting a vile rant on Facebook over the weekend
The Melbourne man vented his frustration on Facebook after the game was yet to be available in Singapore
The expat vented his frustration on social media over the Nintendo game not being unavailable in Singapore
WHAT IS POKEMON GO?
Pokémon Go is a mobile game that encourages players to use their smartphones' GPS and back-facing cameras to catch virtual Pokémon in real-world locations.
The Pokémon Company is a media franchise which was created in 1995 centered on fictional creatures called Pokémon, which humans – known as Pokémon trainers – can catch and train to battle each other for sport.
The post triggered a heated exchange with a Singaporean woman, who told Mr Truyen to leave the country because 'we don't need rude people here'.
Screenshots of the conversation were quickly shared by a user on the local forum fuckwarezone, prompting the company to terminate Mr Truyen's employment contract.
On Sunday evening, 99.co's CEO Darius Cheung issued an apology in a statement and confirmed that Mr Truyen had only started work with the company about a week ago as an SEO specialist.
Players use their smartphones to track and catch virtual Pokémon characters at real-world locations
Pokémon Go players have been strolling the streets in search of the characters (Pikachu is pictured at the Sydney Opera House)
Property development company 99.co has issued an apology on its website after Mr Truyen was sacked
'Sonny, an SEO specialist, has only started consulting for us for a week before the incident happened,' Mr Cheung said in a statement on the company's website.
'We are a proud Singaporean company and do not condone such language or behaviour, hence we have since terminated his engagement once the incident came to light.
'I apologise on behalf of 99.co, we pride ourselves to be a principled company that celebrates values like diversity and equality.
'We take responsibility for the public behaviour of any employee or consultant affiliated with us as a reflection of the company.'
Mr Truyen has since spoken out following the incident, telling Mashable it was a 'very big error in judgement to negatively label an entire country over Pokemon.
'It was very wrong of me to rage like that,' he added.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sonny Truyen and 99.co for comment.
