Tan Kin Lian’s son counters online smear campaign: Identifies girl in viral photo as TKL’s granddaughter

SINGAPORE: Tan Boon Keng, the son of presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian, has taken a stance in defending his father against a recent online controversy.

This follows the circulation of a social media photograph depicting the senior Tan alongside a little girl.

In a late Thursday night Facebook post, Tan Boon Keng addressed the issue.

He pointed out the presence of manipulated posts containing a “maliciously” angled photo of Mr Tan Kin Lian holding a little girl on Nomination Day.

These posts were accompanied by numerous distasteful and offensive comments.

Upon investigating both TikTok and Facebook, it was uncovered that the photo had been shared by a TikTok user named @i.yey.

Within the comment section of the post, several other TikTok users also left derogatory remarks, demonstrating a lack of awareness about the actual context.

Furthermore, another post circulated on the online media platform “The Monitor.sg (TMSG)” Facebook page.

This post featured an edited image of Tan Kin Lian and was accompanied by a caption that tauntingly advised Tan to “Keep your hands to yourself”.

On the flip side, several other Facebook users have shared a post from Tan Kin Lian’s son, where he offered clarification regarding the situation.

These concerned netizens are now advocating for the page in question to remove the post and issue a formal apology to Tan Kin Lian.

A comment aptly called out those who have resorted to such low tactics in an attempt to discredit a candidate.

Clarification from Tan Kin Lian’s son

Tan Kin Lian’s son has provided a clear explanation regarding the girl featured in the controversial photo.

He revealed that the young girl is, in fact, his own daughter and serves as the granddaughter of Tan Kin Lian.

Mr Tan explained that she was supporting her grandfather on the field on the Nomination Day, and was excited to see him when he came over to the rail for photos.

“She ran over in excitement calling out ‘Yeh Yeh’. My father, Mr Tan Kin Lian then reached out to hug his granddaughter over the railing. ”

“This is a loving moment between a grandfather and his granddaughter but the photo was maliciously angled and captioned. ”

He went on to criticize those who chose to distort this heartfelt interaction.

“For those of you haters who took such a loving moment and smeared him, shame on you. ”