The hole truth

SINGAPORE - He was napping in an MRT train on his way to work when she sneaked a photo of him and posted it on Facebook.

Miss Jesslyn Tan, 25, found the hole in Mr Koh Hee Huat's T-shirt amusing, and ran it with the following caption on Saturday: "Holey moley. Sibei trendy worzxxz."

"Holey moley" indeed. Her post took on a whole new dimension, with reactions that caught her by surprise.

Barely 25 minutes after Miss Tan uploaded the photo, someone named Cindy Tan responded, claiming that the photo was that of her father, and that not everyone is as lucky as Miss Jesslyn Tan, a Miss Singapore Universe 2013 finalist, to be earning money from her appearance.

Miss Jesslyn Tan's Facebook profile lists her as a "self-employed entrepreneur".

Miss Cindy Tan said there was "nothing shameful" for her father to have a hole in his shirt, and that it was Miss Jesslyn Tan's "act of laughing at others" that was shameful.

Miss Jesslyn Tan's post appeared on citizen journalism website Stomp and garnered over 160 comments, most of which were critical of her. Her post was also found on Facebook page SG Share, and it has been shared almost 200 times.

She has since removed the original post from public view and posted an apology for being "insensitive".

Mr Koh, 55, a worker at Ye Shang Hai Teochew Porridge stall in Bukit Merah, told The New Paper yesterday that he had been too tired to notice Miss Jesslyn Tan taking a photo of him.

What she didn't know was that he had left work at 3.30am that day and went home to his HDB flat in Woodlands for a change of clothes before travelling to Balestier to pay respects to his ancestors at a temple.

He was done by 1.30pm and was on his way back to Bukit Merah for another shift at work when Miss Jesslyn Tan took the photo.

Friend

Mr Koh told TNP in Mandarin that Miss Cindy Tan is not his daughter but probably a friend of hers.

He and his wife, an odd-job worker, live in their four-room flat with their only child, Jamie Koh, 18, who is waiting to enter Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

"We aren't rich, but we aren't poor either," he said, adding that most of the shirts he wears to work have holes in them because the metal fixtures at the stall snag his shirt as he goes about his work.

So it is pointless to replace his shirts just because of the holes.

"Everyone around here knows me," Mr Koh said of the area around the stall. "I feel like I have no more face."

The stall owner's daughter had found the posting and told Mr Koh about it.

"My friends and family were calling me all weekend," he said. "People asked my daughter, 'Hey, isn't this your father?'

"I just don't understand why a small hole on my shirt made people laugh so much."

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'Holes in shirt is not a crime'

The holes in their T-shirts are all almost exactly at the same spot.

And all the frontline workers at Ye Shang Hai Teochew Porridge at Bukit Merah have holes in their T-shirts.

A worker at the stall showed The New Paper the holes on his shirt and said: "We work in the front, so these metal fixtures at the stall tear our shirts."

The owner of the stall, who declined to be named, told TNP in Mandarin that Mr Koh was almost like a son to him.

"When she insults him, she's insulting me as well," he said.

"I've known him since he was a child. Before his father died, he told me to take care of his son."

The man said Mr Koh was a very honest and hard-working employee and had been working there for more than 20 years.

"It's not a crime to have holes in your shirt. I told my MP about it," he said, claiming that he is also seeking legal advice.

A customer, Ms Chen Li Zhu, 50, who is unemployed and visits the stall daily, said of Miss Jesslyn Tan's posting: "She sounds like a busybody."

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She promises to be mindful from now on 

Miss Jesslyn Tan, 25, was a Miss Singapore Universe 2013 finalist.

Her Facebook profile shows that she is a self-employed entrepreneur.

During the competition, Miss Tan listed her occupation as a "university graduate".

Her Facebook profile also states that she is a Bachelor of Communication graduate of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

She posted an apology on her Facebook profile on Wednesday, saying that she would "learn from this" and "be very mindful" on social media in the future.

Her Facebook friend, Samuel Goh, commented that her post was "simply taken out of context", while other friends left messages of support. Some praised her for her courage in publicly admitting her mistake.

As of last night, the post on her apology had received 313 likes and 56 shares.

But she reportedly also posted on her private Twitter that both "good publicity" and "bad publicity" is "still publicity", and told herself to "soldier on".

Miss Tan declined to respond to our questions.

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