We are delighted and honored to be interviewed by “The Straits Times” for their story about “Why do Singaporeans love to complain?” featured on “TNP – The New Paper” dated on 14 December 2024, by Mr Teo Kai Xiang.
Here is a preview of our replies mentioned in this article:
Few places reflect this national penchant for airing daily grievances more than the popular Facebook group COMPLAINT Singapore, which has accumulated more than 230,000 members since it started in 2017.
One user’s post on Dec 8, which drew over 400 “likes”, has a picture of the “worst carrot cake I ever ate in my life”.
Others chime in, commiserating: “I’ve never seen carrot cake look like this before.”
Banal complaints about trivialities such as small portions of hawker food, rude private-hire drivers and misleading advertising are common on the platform, though it is not reserved for just minor irritants.
A small fraction of posts are of grievances like insurance providers denying a claim, disputes between neighbours and negative interactions with businesses.
The group’s anonymous moderators tell The Straits Times that the Facebook page was launched “as several founding members found that there is almost no online platform for complainants or victims to voice their genuine complaints in Singapore”.
Today, the group receives 30 to 100 submissions daily, though the majority are rejected by moderators for failing to meet basic requirements, such as providing evidence or avoiding hateful speech. Its 10 or so volunteers take turns to moderate the comments in shifts.
Still, the group set up as an outlet for venting has itself been divisive, even among its users…
…concern over such ramifications has led some groups to implement guardrails.
For example, COMPLAINT Singapore has turned complaining into something of an art form with its community rules, designed to filter out certain comments with insufficient information, and to create a more effective form of public shaming.
Its moderators say most of the submissions they receive run afoul of the group’s restrictions on hateful content or insufficient information.
For example, if a user pens a rant about an errant healthcare provider, his or her post will be rejected without further evidence – in the form of pictures or screenshots – to back up the claims. In this case, the filter, which requires putting in more effort and marshalling of evidence, lets cooler heads prevail.
But there is at least one small and important upside to complaining.
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*Read the full original story here:
https://tnp.straitstimes.com/…/why-do-singaporeans-love…
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“COMPLAINT SINGAPORE” is the First & Original Complaint Facebook Group in Singapore since the year 2017.
Our official Facebook group URL address is :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/complaintsingapore
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