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#trending: Mindef wins plaudits for injecting fun into Shangri-La Dialogue by jumping on viral TikTok trend

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has jumped on a viral TikTok trend, bringing a bit of fun to the generally serious Shangri-La Dialogue. 

Screengrabs from one of the TikTok videos about the Shangri-La Dialogue, posted by Singapore's Ministry of Defence.

Screengrabs from one of the TikTok videos about the Shangri-La Dialogue, posted by Singapore's Ministry of Defence.

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  • The Ministry of Defence released a series of videos on TikTok covering the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defence summit held here
  • One popular video was a riff on a viral TikTok trend based on a woman seeking a "man in finance"
  • The ministry's video played instead on the theme "a man in defence" and featured various delegates in their uniforms 
  • Many viewers were surprised that the video was approved to be put out on the ministry's TikTok account
  • Viewers also found the video funny and engaging 

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has jumped on a viral TikTok trend, bringing a bit of fun to the generally serious Shangri-La Dialogue. 

Filmed in the Shangri-La Singapore hotel, venue of the three-day defence summit, the 18-second video was posted to Mindef’s official TikTok account on Sunday (June 2).

Captioned "Men in Defence", the video had received more than 1.2 million views and 100,000 likes as of Monday afternoon. It had also been shared hundreds of times.

In the video, some delegates are seen wearing their uniforms and posing for the camera. These include representatives of China, Germany, New Zealand, Oman and Singapore.

The clip appears to be a riff on a type of musical clip that has gone viral on TikTok recently.

One version of such a clip includes the lyrics: "Looking for a man in finance, trust fund, six (foot) five (inches tall)." 

In the Mindef clip, the lyrics were changed to: "I'm looking for a man in defence, uniform, five (foot) nine (inches tall), nice eyes."

The video is part of a series of Mindef videos covering the Shangri-La Dialogue that took place from last Friday (May 31). 

Another Mindef video captioned "Fall in for a Peek", showcased the behind-the-scenes preparation for the forum. 

The video stated that this year's summit attracted delegates from more than 45 countries. 

WHAT IS THE SHANGRI-LA DIALOGUE?

Each year, hundreds of delegates from the global security community gather in Singapore for the event, Asia’s premier defence summit. This year's dialogue is its 21st edition. 

The dialogue is a platform for government officials, business leaders and security experts to discuss Asia's security challenges.

The annual summit is held by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). 

The dialogue tends to cover issues that may have a bearing on regional security such as US-China tensions, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the Gaza conflict. 

FUN AND UNEXPECTED 

The video surprised viewers, with many gobsmacked that it had been possible to make such a video in the first place. 

One wrote: "Not sure how many layers of approval and coordination this 18-sec video had to go through." 

Another jokingly commented: "I heard the countries had to sign bilateral treaties and had to have their legislatures sign off on it to make this video."

Viewers also discussed the various uniforms showcased in the video. 

One Tiktok user wrote: "Love seeing all the different uniforms from countries." 

Another asked: "Who got the best uniform?"

People gave the thumbs-up to such a light-hearted approach to an otherwise buttoned-down event.

One said: "I like this take on the TikTok trend. It’s fun." 

Another commented: "Just followed (the TikTok account). Please make more like this."

In response to the "Fall in for a Peek" video, one user said: "This is cool sharing... fun to have a light-hearted approach to Mindef."

In response to TODAY’s queries, Mindef said that it hopes to use “creative approaches to help the public gain better awareness of and engage with defence-related topics”.

@mindefsg Fall in for a peek at #SLD24 with us 👋🏾 #fyp #defence ♬ original sound - Ministry of Defence

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