Upon the release of the GCE O-level results last Thursday (12 January 2023), one influencer-mother is receiving backlash for the video she uploaded of her daughter collecting her O level results as well as the comments she made in the video.
Here’s what happened.
What Happened
Ms Sarah Cheng-De Winne (@sarahxmiracle on Tiktok) filmed her daughter as she went through the process of receiving her O-level results.
However, when her daughter received her results and began exclaiming that her results were “so bad, it’s so bad guys”, Ms Cheng-De Winne continued to film her crying and distraught daughter.
In her exchanges with her daughter, she said that “I know that you are disappointed, and I was disappointed too;” words that sparked an uproar amongst other netizens, who felt that Ms Cheng-De Winne was simply rubbing salt on her daughter’s wound by saying that she was disappointed in her too.
Furthermore, Ms Cheng-De Winne ended off the original video by saying “stay tuned for what happens after O levels”, which sparked even more outrage as many netizens believe that this statement further proves their point that Ms Cheng-De Winne was only filming her daughter for content.
Netizens were appalled and displeased by how Ms Cheng-De Winne was filming her daughter in her most vulnerable state, exposing her tearful face to the camera.
Just a Misunderstanding?
However, Ms Cheng-De Winne addressed such comments in a follow-up video, stating that this was all a misunderstanding and instead of referring to her daughter, she meant that she was disappointed in her own O-level results at the time.
In spite of this, netizens were quick to respond by stating that Ms Cheng-De Winne had received a perfect score of six points for her L1R5 during her O levels, suggesting that saying she was “disappointed” in herself was merely an excuse.
In another follow-up video, Ms Cheng-De Winne’s daughter, Ines, responded to the hate and backlash.
“It’s my life, not yours, please mind your own business,” she said.
Netizens’ Response
In response to the original video, many content creators on Tiktok have since stitched the video and gave their two cents about how Ms Cheng-De Winne acted.
Social media influencer @lielnicole replied to the video, where she mentioned that Ms Cheng-De Winne ending off the video with “stay tuned for what’s next” elucidated that “the literal motivation behind filming this is not to document this vulnerable moment…this clip will potentially be used as content”.
She also raised questions over the “level of consent” that Ms Cheng-De Winne’s daughter had given her.
Ms Nicole also mentioned how the comfort “starts becoming disingenuous” when “half the time, it’s being filmed” and when Ms Cheng-De Winne would turn to the camera every few seconds while in the midst of comforting her daughter.
Ms Nicole isn’t the only user who spoke up about this issue.
User @jiaxuanwithnof also stitched the video, questioning how Ms Cheng-De Winne deemed it faultless to record her daughter while she was crying. She continued to say that while the comfort that Ms Cheng-De Winne gave her daughter was laudable based on how understanding she was when her daughter was met with disappointing results, saying all of it in front of a camera invalidated any sincerity and genuineness.
She further questioned Ms Cheng-De Winne, asking, “Shouldn’t your daughter’s feelings be priority rather than the idea of making content?”
There are, of course, more.
Different Viewpoints
While there have been more negative responses towards Ms Cheng-De Winne’s original video than positive ones, she has still garnered some support from other members of the online community.
User @pauriahcarey commented on her video, saying “she’s so fortunate to have a mother who doesn’t apply undue pressure on her and loves her unconditionally”
“Having supportive parents these days is definitely something that is really rare and difficult to find but it’ll really impact their kids positively,” user @jnkbears said as well.
Not the First Time
This is not the first time one of Ms Cheng De-Winne’s videos has sparked outrage amongst the online community.
Earlier last year, she posted a video on 18 July 2022, in which she features her son sobbing due to him allegedly being bullied, as she stated in her video.
In the video, she made constant glances towards the camera as she comforted her son, teaching him that “the voice of the bully is not important and the voice of your parents and of god is the most important”, also telling him that if the bully calls him an “idiot” and “dumb” again, he should say “no weapon formed against me shall prosper”.
Filming your child for content – Morally Right or Wrong?
Pretty sure after reading this, you would’ve been reminded of another influencer.
This video comes in light of the furore raised by content creator and social media influencer Naomi Neo, after she uploaded a video where she locked her son, who was four years old in 2022, in a room while turning a “ghost” filter on on her Tiktok account, causing her son to be frightened to tears.
This video blew up all over the internet, with other netizens similarly stitching the video and raising their concerns over her using her son as content.
In response to those videos, Ms Neo posted a follow-up video where she captioned “appreciate the advice, but let’s not tell a mom/dad what works best for their kids”, and also states that “everyone has their own ideas of parenting”.
In the video, her son is filmed saying “I want to do it again”, suggesting that he wanted to film a video with the ghost filter on Tiktok again.
Ms Cheng-De Winne’s video once again raises this salient question: Is it morally right or wrong to film your child for content?
First-world problem, indeed.
Featured Image: TikTok (@sarahxmiracle)