SINGAPORE - The creator of popular travel video series Nas Daily, Mr Nuseir Yassin, has hit back at those who have decried his video series on Singapore, one of which was a five-minute video that lauded the island state as an "almost perfect" country.
A Facebook page titled The Alternative View uploaded a post on Tuesday (Sept 18) which said: "Nuseir Yassin professes to be an authority on (Singapore) after spending only a few days here."
It then went on to say that Mr Yassin should "walk the talk" and take up citizenship in Singapore and experience the local living conditions as an average citizen. The post made reference to several hotly debated topics in Singapore including Housing Board flats' 99-year lease, mandatory national service, the Central Provident Fund and the quality of train service here.
The post was accompanied with a photo of Mr Yassin and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who met the vlogger when he was in Singapore documenting his travels.
Mr Yassin, 26, responded pointedly to the post in a comment. He said: "I have a better idea: Why doesn't everyone here try to live in the Middle East for a little bit?"
He then went on to reference his struggles as an Arab Muslim raised in the Jewish state of Israel, the frequent wars the country engages in and how he would much prefer to live in Singapore.
He added: "One thing my travels have taught me is that a lot of people lack PERSPECTIVE. And in Singapore, too many people lack it."
He ended the post by implying that his critic was living in a "bubble" and is a crybaby.
His comment has since garnered around 4,400 reactions, far surpassing the 1,100 times the original post was shared.
The video featured a guest appearance by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is filmed walking alongside Mr Nuseir Yassin (left) at the Gardens by the Bay.
Many netizens were supportive of Mr Yassin's comment and urged him to ignore the original post. Many of these commentators called out the original post's negativity and thanked Mr Yassin for his videos on Singapore.
Netizen Syzra Zahara K Sultan tagged the vlogger in his comment and said: "I apologise on behalf of my country men for their negative views and perspective of your amazing videos. Continue what you do best."
However, some have also said that Mr Yassin's comparison of his personal experiences with those of Singaporeans are unfair.
Netizen Aleya Gaba said: "Just because other people struggle in a way that you perceive to be 'worse', doesn't mean our struggles are invalid. Our country is beautiful, clean, safe, but it's also deeply, deeply flawed."
Mr Yassin, who has 8.2 million followers on Facebook, previously clarified that his videos on Singapore were not sponsored, despite being largely positive. He has since left Singapore and is currently in China to continue his vlogging.
