Australian man who trash talked Singapore apologises: here’s what he has to say

Remember Australian FT Sonny Truyen? After the backlash he got from calling Singapore “a piece of f**king sh*t country” – and getting fired soon after – Truyen decided that it was time to make a public apology.

But in our opinion? It could’ve been more sincere.

In a statement to online news site Mashable, Mr Truyen wrote: “It was a d*** move on my behalf and a very big error in judgment to negatively label an entire country over Pokemon. It was very wrong of me to rage like that.”

But he added: “However in my defence, I was racially vilified for not being a ‘white’ Australian. It was disappointing the lengths Singaporeans went at to attack me and deny any chance of making amends for my actions.”

Obviously, netizens didn’t take too kindly to his words – which seemed to vilify Singaporeans instead of being an actual apology.

Image: Facebook (The Straits Times)
Image: Facebook (The Straits Times)

But of course, there are some (albeit the minority) who felt that he didn’t deserve to be fired over something so trivial.

Image: Facebook (The Straits Times)
Image: Facebook (The Straits Times)
Image: Facebook (The Straits Times)
Image: Facebook (The Straits Times)

What you might not know about the Australian-born Vietnamese is that before 99.co, Truyen was the vice president of growth at Malaysian startup iPrice Group. He’s worked for other digital firms such as eBay, First Rate, and iCar Asia Limited. In fact, he was such a reputable figure in the marketing world that Branding In Asia even wrote an entire article about him.

I guess he could always pick one to return to, now that he’s unemployed. Or maybe Nintendo might consider hiring him. Clearly, he’s a fan.

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com