Actress Who Was Accused of ‘Baotu-ing’ Home Businesses Responded in an Interview

A few days ago, the authorities announced that certain home-based businesses would not be able to operate during the circuit breaker (CB).

According to HDB, if the owner has to leave the premises or have third-party services deliver the goods, the business would have to cease operations.

This affected even Carousell sellers and home-based bakeries.

At the time, it seemed like the announcement was prompted by a Berita Harian report on 25 April that said food vendors were not supposed to operate from home during the CB period if it involved delivery services.

Some, however, believed it was all caused by one social-media influencer.

Actress Who Was Accused of ‘Baotu-ing’ Home Businesses Responded in an Interview

Former actress and social media influencer Ateeqah Mazlan has been accused of snitching on home-based businesses to the authorities during the circuit breaker.

Before the announcement, Ateeqah shared a video on her Facebook page of herself making calls to the Singapore authorities to ask if home-based businesses were allowed to run during the CB period.

In a call with HDB towards the end of the video, Ateeqah received confirmation that certain home-based businesses would not be allowed to continue operating during the CB period.

In the video, she said she felt “sorry” for some of these businesses and advised home-based bakeries that made kuehs and other such items to keep them until June so they can sell it later on.

The video has since been taken down, but others have posted it online:

Netizens’ Reaction

Even though it’s not certain if the video led to the announcement of the new home-based businesses rule, netizens took to social media to condemn her anyway.

Many pointed out that some home-based businesses would lose their only source of income as a result of the new rule.

She has come under fire from the Malay-Muslim community in Singapore, in particular.

In response, Ateeqah later took down her Facebook and Instagram pages, but defended herself on Twitter.

Her point here about the “timestamp” is that it’s not clear when exactly she posted the video, which is why we can’t really say that she’s the one who prompted the authorities to make the announcement.

But now…

Apology on FB

Later, in an interview with reporter and personality Sujimy Mohamad on his live show, Ateeqah apologised and attempted to explain her actions.

Ateeqah’s segment begins at 11 minutes 30 seconds and ends at 22 minutes 19 seconds.

The video has over 300,000 views, either because Singaporeans are really interested in this matter or they have nothing to do during the circuit breaker.

In the interview, which was conducted in Malay, Ateeqah explained that she called up the authorities about the issue for two main reasons:

  • To satisfy her own curiosity and help other home-based business owners out as they were also confused about the existing regulations
  • To see if she could start a home-based bakery of her own where she would sell brownies

She also apologised to anyone who has been affected by her actions.

Some Are Unconvinced

Some are unconvinced by Ateeqah’s apology and explanation, however, as one acquaintance claims Ateeqah texted her about the matter earlier, saying the real reason she called the authorities was because she was worried about cross-contamination.

Image: Twitter
Image: Twitter

Forgive and Forget?

Even if Ateeqah’s video did lead to the announcement of the new rule, she certainly doesn’t deserve some of the comments she’s getting.

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In her interview, Ateeqah claimed some netizens openly said they wanted to throw acid on her face, attack her family, and some even shared pictures of her child.

Everyone makes mistakes, but the unfortunate ones happen to make them online, where people never forget.

The thing is, we don’t even know if she is the reason many home-based businesses have to cease operations, so it’s not really fair to attack her so harshly.

But even if she did, do you think she deserves all the hate she’s getting?