A YouTube video of an 18-year-old Singaporean threatening a 14-year-old boy for supposedly making advances on the older teen’s ex-girlfriend is making waves online.
During a 10-minute video that appears to have been shot in his bedroom, Aaron Tan says he wants to meet and beat up 14-year-old “Ryanzxc Gobangwall” for hitting on his former girlfriend called “Nina Wantyouonly”. (The names reflect the teens’ Facebook accounts. It has become a common trend for young Singaporeans to add handle extensions to their names.)
"I won't let you off unless you go to my Facebook and apologise to me on my profile,” Tan says in Mandarin in the video.
You can watch Tan’s video here but be warned, it’s laced with Chinese, Hokkien and English swear words.
In a post she made on her Facebook wall, Nina Wantyouonly explains that she and Aaron had been together for over seven months but that their relationship had been rocky due to his “attitude” and “childishness”. She claims to have faked a relationship with Ryanzxc so that Aaron would stop pursuing her.
Earlier on, it was also reported by citizen journalism portal STOMP that Tan had offered anyone with information on his love rival $100 so he could confront him.
The story of teenage love and angst has apparently turned viral with thousands sharing it on Facebook and Twitter. Many users lamented the teen’s behaviour.
On Twitter, @cchockolate said, “The #AaronTan saga just reemphasised how ah bengs like him live in their own worlds thinking it's cool to be uneducated gangsters. Sad."
Twitter user Dee Kosh noted, “Aaron Tan's purpose for his video was not wrong - he was letting out a frustration - but the way he said it was the issue.”
FlareonRRRAGE Klinsen Soh on Facebook decried the attacks on Tan. “To everyone attacking Aaron Tan : Crawl out of your caves. He isn't the only moron out there and certainly not the last you'll see. Wake up,” the user said.
Meanwhile, an Aaron Tan ringtone has been put together and a Facebook page has been set up in his honour.
The video by Tan, who has been called a “wannabe gangsta” by Singapore blogger mrbrown, has already spawned a parody.
Another teen, who goes by the handle of DarkwinteR11, posted this parody in reply to “brudder” Aaron Tan’s threats.