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S'pore woman, 22, chants gang slogans on TikTok for money, gets jail
She wanted attention, but caught the attention of the police.
October 25, 2024, 10:45 AM
A 22-year-old woman in Singapore was arrested for chanting gang slogans on TikTok livestreams.
The woman, Nur Syafiqa Abdullah, claimed to have been suffering from a bout of boredom and wanting to earn some extra cash from virtual gifts.
She was arrested after posting a total of four videos where she pretended to be a member of the "Sio Kun Tong" secret society.
Viral livestreams
Court documents read that Syafiqa started filming herself chanting gang slogans in early 2023.
She did so to attract the attention of secret society members and earn money from TikTok's virtual gift function.
In May 2023, she hosted her first of such livestreams from her house.
The video was played at least 357,800 times.
Viewers sent her virtual gifts
Following her debut livestream's success, Syafiqa decided to do the same thing in another video on June 2023.
This time, her video garnered at least 487,300 views.
She also received multiple virtual gifts worth about S$84.
Further emboldened by the second video's virality, Syafiqa dropped yet another video in July 2023, which featured her flashing a gang sign outside an eatery at East Coast Park.
This particular clip would go on to rack up her highest view count yet, with at least 499,200 views.
Later that month, Syafiqa posted her last of such videos before being arrested, where she displayed the same gang sign while riding a slingshot ride at Clarke Quay.
She was "bored"
Syafiqa had made the videos because she felt bored and wanted to attract attention and money, said court documents.
She was arrested on Aug. 24 and released the same day.
However, just four months later, she once again found herself on the wrong side of the law when she was stopped by traffic police for riding a motorcycle without a valid licence.
On Sep. 6, 2024, Syafiqa pleaded guilty to acting as a secret society member.
She was sentenced to nine weeks' jail and fined S$600 on Oct. 24, reported The Straits Times.
Top image via Canva
