Travel vlogger Nas Daily hits back at Facebook post criticising his portrayal of Singapore

SINGAPORE — Hitting out at critics of his latest video that declared Singapore an "almost perfect" country, popular travel vlogger Nuseir Yassin said on Wednesday (Sept 19) that "too many people in Singapore lack perspective".

Mr Yassin was responding to a Facebook page, The Alternative View, which called on him to experience six hot-button issues in Singapore, such as income contribution to the Central Provident Fund and National Service.

The Alternative View said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that since Mr Yassin was "so effusive in his praise of the country and (Prime Minister) Lee Hsien Loong", he should "walk the talk and take up citizenship" through the eyes of "the majority".

"But wait, don't stay in a posh condo in town. Be like the majority of us," the post stated, going on to list the six topics including the lease of HDB flats running down, the impending GST hike, taking trains during the peak hours and the healthcare system.

Responding to the post directly on Wednesday afternoon, the 26-year-old Arab-Israeli social media personality said that he would "happily take your air-conditioned public transportation over living in the Middle East."

He went on to cite the living conditions in the Middle East, including that of Arab Muslims living in Israel.

"Try sleeping one night with rockets falling near your village and you can't sleep because of sirens. Try living in a state of war every few years with all your neighbours," Mr Yassin wrote. "Try having your options in your country limited simply because of how you are born (non-Jew)."

Mr Yassin, who is the founder of Nas Daily, added that he flew to Singapore from Papua New Guinea at his own expense to promote his beliefs, and is now in China doing the same.

"I'll happily take you along the ride and see how life is like outside of your bubble. But to be honest, I would never hire you. I don't work well with crybabies," he concluded.

Within three hours of his reply, the comment was liked over 900 times, while the critical Facebook post was shared over 500 times.

Some Facebook users who shared and replied to the critical post agreed with Mr Yassin and slammed The Alternative View for its negativity.

Facebook user Nadiah Chao wrote: "(Singapore) is not perfect but we're really privileged to be living in a first world country with a stable economy."

Another user, Charles Tan, said: "Singaporeans are known to be complainers, there's no need to take (the critical post) to heart. Thank you for visiting our country!"

Other Facebook users felt Mr Yassin was being sycophantic and questioned if his videos of Singapore were sponsored — something he refuted on Aug 30.

Mr Yassin, who has over eight million followers on his Facebook page, has been travelling for the last 892 days (or 2 years and five months). He makes daily one-minute videos to document his experiences.

He arrived in Singapore on Aug 21 — his fifth time here — and created over 10 videos about the country, including one which featured PM Lee, before leaving the country on Sept 2.