#trending: Influencer uses sarcasm to declare his love for Singapore, but not everyone gets it

SINGAPORE — Some viewers apparently do not watch a full TikTok video before commenting, going by the negative reaction to an influencer's attempt to express his love for Singapore through tongue-in-cheek humour.

In the video, Filipino-American Andre Carrillo, 28, who has more than 216,000 followers on TikTok, uses sarcasm to make various statements that are actually the opposite of how he feels about Singapore. He spells this out near the end of the video.

The video that lasted slightly more than a minute was posted on Saturday (May 18) and it starts with Mr Carrillo saying that he would "never go back to Singapore". 

In the video — which had received more than 326,000 views and 13,600 likes as of Monday — Mr Carrillo says that Singapore is "incredibly boring", before showing clips of him at several tourist attractions such as Universal Studios Singapore, Chinatown and Marina Bay Sands.

"I hate how hawker centres are spread conveniently throughout the city making it that you never have to go too far for food," Mr Carrillo adds.

This is while the video showcases contrasting clips of several hawker and restaurant meals he ate.

Alongside clips of him kayaking in mangroves at Pulau Ubin, he says that everything in Singapore is "man-made, (it is) literally the most artificial country I've stepped foot in".

As the video ends, Mr Carrillo says that he hopes viewers realise that he was being "sarcastic".

"This is why you'll never hear me say," Mr Carrillo said before the video repeats with him stating: "I'll never come back to Singapore".

In the video description, Mr Carrillo wrote that he has visited Singapore five times and never gets bored with the country.

"Anytime I make a video about Singapore though, so many Singaporeans comment with things like 'I don’t see what’s so nice about Singapore and I live here'," he continued

"The grass will always be greener on the other side, and for people like me who grew up in California, I can assure you there are tons of things I think Singapore does better than us; it might be the same feeling some Singaporeans get when visiting other places!"

Mr Carrillo's video has attracted more than 690 comments, with some missing the influencer's tongue-in-cheek humour, and apparently not getting as far as his reference to sarcasm.

One commenter said that he agreed with Mr Carrillo's statements, taking them at face value: "I'm always at (a loss) when my foreign friends ask me what to do in Singapore."

To this, another online user pointed out Mr Carrillo was being sarcastic.

Several others also made rude remarks about him, stating that he should keep quiet and not make rude comments about Singapore. Some also gave him suggestions on areas that he could visit during his next trip here.

The majority of commenters, however, found Mr Carrillo's sarcasm to be humorous and they made their own jokes.

"I was about to attack," one said, seemingly ready to argue that Singapore is not a boring place. Another joked that Mr Carrillo nearly made the "whole of Singapore" angry towards him.

One TikTok user commented that Mr Carrillo was welcome to visit Singapore and "be sarcastic again".

Responding to queries from TODAY, Mr Carrillo said he thought his sarcasm would have been "obvious" since all the clips he used showed him having fun in Singapore.

"I also added so much information that I feel like someone who doesn't like Singapore wouldn't have included if they really didn't like (the country)," he said, pointing to his comments about Singapore's cultural diversity as an example.

Mr Carrillo did acknowledge he might have been "a bit too sarcastic" when he was talking about Singapore's local food scene.

"Perhaps I could have said something like 'there's no options' while showcasing the diverse food choices," he lamented.

Nonetheless, Mr Carrillo added he is not upset that people misunderstood his humour. Rather, he is sad that some Singaporeans who did not watch his entire video might think he hates Singapore.

"I hope the algorithm brings them back to the many other videos I've already made about Singapore," he said.

In a separate reply to a comment on his TikTok video, Mr Carrillo said he plans to visit Singapore again in July.

Several social media videos about people's opinions on Singapore as a travel destination have gone viral in the past.

In March, travel vlogger “ninas_travels” said that she would never visit Singapore again, annoying some Singaporeans. In this case, the vlogger meant what she wrote literally.

Explaining her reasons in the video’s caption, the vlogger named Nina Gerhards said that Singapore is the "most boring country (I have ever been to)”.

The Instagram video has had more than 2.7 million views since it was published.