IT was a picture of a stranger taken on the MRT train.

And the comment written next to it was: 'Random ugly dude on the MRT.'

That online post on Mr Levan Wee's personal blog has drawn fire from some netizens.

Student Tan Kang Wei, 19, said he was angry when he saw the posting on Mr Wee's blog.

Said Mr Tan: 'He's a reasonably well-known musician and he needs to be responsible for what he says, especially on the Internet.'

Another student, Vidushini Siva, 16, agreed: 'As a public figure known and liked by teens, he ought to be more responsible with his writing in the public domain.'

Mr Wee, 26, had posted an entry titled 'Ugly is the New Funky' last Friday.

He then raised the question: 'Why are some people born ugly, and why are others not?'

The same post also included a picture of an African child with a digitally-added speech bubble saying: 'This is my 10th bowl of food!'

Accompanying it, Mr Wee had written: 'In all seriousness, the worse (sic) sin in the world isn't being envious or greedy.

'Those things are fine and should be encouraged - except with African kids.'

His comments upset local netizens, some of whom contacted The New Paper to express their displeasure.

Five netizens also left comments on his site.

One netizen pointed out: '... you're harbouring deep responsiblilities (sic) for the young and impressionable - don't go wrong it.'

And another netizen, who identified himself as 'a friend' on the blog, said: 'I really wish you'd go back to writing the way you did before. This Internet persona thing is just... not you.'

Yesterday evening, Mr Wee removed the post. He also added a new entry explaining his actions.

IT'S MY INTERNET PERSONA

He wrote: 'You would think that in this day and age, people would understand what satire humour is all about, and that people would be able to separate an Internet persona from a real-life person.'

When The New Paper contacted him, Mr Wee said the comments were 'just satirical humour'.

'I'm just creating an Internet persona. There are other Singaporeans who blog with Internet personas as well. Sometimes they are more drastic than me.

'It's just something different, something to detach yourself from everyday life.'

He did not define this persona.

'I think anyone with common sense will know that these are not my actual opinions, that it's obviously not for real.

'Even my other entries are over the top and bombastic.'

But does he feel that he ought to watch his words, especially given his popularity with local youth?

Mr Wee said: 'This is not meant to cater to fans.'

In his latest entry on the blog, he also wrote: 'As for me being 'responsible' to my 'fans' because I happened to be a musician a couple of years ago, seriously dude, I don't lead my life to appease.'

He told The New Paper that the post on the African child was not meant to offend.

He said: 'Of course, people know that African kids are starving.

'I really look up to people like Bono, who help African kids. I even flew to Australia to watch him perform.'

Mr Wee said he started the blog about two months ago and that it is mainly read by his friends.

But his blog is not password-protected and can be accessed by anyone.

He said: 'I had a blog before where I was blogging as myself, about who I am and about everyday stuff. This is just something different.

'From what I know, only friends read my blog. All the posts I have done before, they have made fun of myself and my friends.'

But a handful of netizens say Mr Wee's comments didn't bother them.

Student Kartik Das, 19, said: 'I don't find it offensive, but I'd say he has an extremely odd way of expressing satire.

'I don't agree with the post, but I am not going to take up issue with him because it's his personal view in what can be considered a personal sphere.'