Singapore girl group By2 and singer Stefanie Sun are receiving backlash from netizens in response to a post on Weibo about stocking up on medical supplies in Singapore for China amid the Wuhan coronavirus outbreaks.
By2 is composed of twin sisters Miko Bai and Yumi Bai, who build their careers in China and Taiwan.
In 2019, By2 made their comeback and auditioned in the third season of the reality singing show “The Coming One 3” where they were mentored by Ms Sun.
In one of the episodes of the reality singing show, they promised to meet up for a coffee with Ms Sun in Singapore.
On 2 February, By2 fulfilled their promise and posted two photos of them meeting up with Ms Sun on Weibo, 8 Days reported.
The photo was captioned, “@StefanieSun We promised to meet up after the competition, scour the shelves in Singapore and stock up on supplies. Hope that we can do our part to defeat the outbreak! #FirmlySupportingChina”.
The caption was edited soon after and the part “scour the shelves in Singapore and stock up on supplies” was deleted.
Although they did not mention where the supplies will be sent to, 8 Days reported on 5 February that the supplies will be sent to Wuhan, China.
However, Asiaone in an update on 6 February noted Ms Sun’s representative had explained that the singer was not involved in stocking up on medical supplies initiated by By2, and the photos were taken when they met for a meal.
Despite the majority of the comments on By2’s Weibo post being positive, the three singers are being slammed by Singaporean netizens on 8 Days Singapore’s Facebook post.
Netizens criticized the singers’ act and felt that it was all for publicity, while some commenters said they should help their fellow Singaporeans first before helping others.