The Real Winners & Losers in the NOC Saga Based on Facts (So Far)

2021-10-31 , 11:36 am

No one would’ve expected that the NOC saga would unfold to such an extent: what started out as an abusive boss has now become a full-blown saga of two business partners sinking a business empire that they both built from scratch.

Initially, there was only one loser: Sylvia Chan.

But one month later, winners and losers started to emerge.

Now, as you wait for the next episode of the NOC saga to drop, read about the winners and losers in this article and hopefully learn something new!

Losers

Sylvia Chan

There’s, of course, no doubt about that: the woman behind the entire saga has lost more than just her branding: she might lose her business, her online presence, her assets and most importantly, her pride.

According to the Xiaxue interview, the 33-year-old CEO has changed her management style and lifestyle since this year, and even quit smoking—something that isn’t easy for anyone to achieve.

But it appears to be a tad too late as her past came back to haunt her in a series of leaked screenshots and allegations.

Whether she’s just a victim of a smear campaign or is suffering the repercussions of her past actions no longer matter: her name has been placed in the wall of shame, and getting someone off that list is near impossible.

Just ask Eden Ang.

Ryan Tan

A week ago, he was hailed as a hero, although some might wonder why the leaked contents appear to paint him in such a positive way and why ex-talents were suddenly speaking up for him even when the initial saga has nothing to do with him.

After Xiaxue’s bombshell video, whereby serious accusations such as infidelity and manipulation were made, the “Ryan Appreciation Day” suddenly lost its steam. His statement, while helpful to a certain statement, didn’t please everyone.

If this entire saga is a planned smear campaign to bring down Sylvia, then Ryan appears to have fallen along with his ex-wife.

NOC & Reno King Full-Time Employees

Now, do note that we’re referring to full-time employees who draw a monthly salary from NOC, and not talents who are paid on a freelance basis.

Despite allegations of delayed payments, these full-time employees most probably didn’t experience any salary delay because come on lah: unless you’re the wife of the boss of a bookstore, you’d most likely quit or raise the issue with MOM even if the pay is late by one day, right?

In Singapore, it’s almost common for freelancers’ payment to come later (ask any freelancer and you’ll understand), but uncommon for salaries to come later, primarily because company directors will be taken to task by MOM quickly if there is any late salary payment.

Heck, even CPF Board will chase the money for the employee if the company doesn’t pay them in time.

With the saga, Sylvia has said that the company lost $250,000 worth of deals in the first week.

The company hasn’t posted anything since the saga started too, and suffice to say, even the cats loitering outside their office would know that the company is most probably burning cash now.

And who’s the first to let go? The full-time employees.

In addition, with cancel culture being so prominent nowadays, this could even spell the end for the company even if the employees are not at fault. An NOC video that dropped on the day of the saga has way more Dislikes than Likes, and businesses appear to keep a distance from the company.

Simply put, the company is a collateral damage.

A good leader can turn a crisis into an opportunity, so now is the time when we get to see whether Ryan and Sylvia have the necessary leadership skills.

Brandon Mah

Before Friday, Brandon Mah could’ve been bashing in the attention he got from @Sgcickenrice; previously, he even changed the direction of the account, promising to help small business owners by providing shoutouts and reviews for three days.

In other words, becoming an influencer—kind of like how SMRT Feedback started out.

But after his identity was revealed by Xiaxue, the 20-year-old succumbed to the pressure by netizens and apologised on Instagram.

He then privatised his Instagram account but kept his TikTok account open.

His dream to become the next SMRT Feedback has backfired—simply because of a novice mistake.

You can read this article to know how Xiaxue CSi-ed his identity.

Winners

Xiaxue

Well, of course, and she deserves it.

Other than getting over 1 million videos on her interview video, she also gained thousands of new subscribers.

But the real winner is her debut on TikTok: the online personality debuted on TikTok with a bang, with her first video exposing the identity of @Sgcickenrice.

That single video brought in almost half a million views in two days, with her gaining over 16k followers in the short time she’s in the Gen-Z platform.

Like her or hate her, she’s the one bussing in the saga.

Brandon: That isn’t how you use—

The Media

Be it YouTubers, clickbaity platforms like Goody Feed or even mainstream media, it’s clear: put the NOC saga name in the headline and you’ll get the views.

Numbers don’t lie; just Google “Sylvia NOC” in YouTube and check out the commentary (or summary) of what other YouTubers say about the saga, and compare the number of views with their other videos.

Known as trendjacking, it’s a way to tap on current events to gain publicity. Watch this video to the end to know what it means:

You might have seen netizens claiming that they don’t want to read or watch another video about the NOC saga, but let’s be real: I can also say that I’m extremely happy to know that David’s hamster just give birth. To know more about why people say things that they don’t mean, watch this:

And oh, without wanting to sound like an angel, yes, our editor did make sure we keep a lookout on all NOC-related news. Did you know I wrote the summary of the Xiaxue interview at midnight, because I watched the entire video at 10pm?

The Talents

Wait, what?

Don’t be surprised. Hear me out.

They might have suffered previously from an abusive workplace with delayed or no payment, but that was in the past: this saga could do wonders for them. Just look at this list:

Opportunity to leave the talent contract since the company could be sinking
Getting back overdue payments since the authorities are stepping in
More publicity since people would be Googling for NOC talents
Even more publicity because more people would be watching old NOC videos

I can list even more, but you get the gist: the true winners are the talents.

I mean, did you know about Samantha Tan?

Law Firms

Have you heard of this phrase: “Lawyers thrive on chaos”?

No? Now you have.

Despite what you say, if the world is filled with beautiful people who don’t argue, all lawyers would be out of job. This is why chaos ensure that lawyers stay employed.

Unlike what you think, lawyers make a lot of money off the court; an example would be the legal dispute between Ryan and Sylvia.

Both are in a lawsuit but lawyers are involved, and they need to be paid.

Know more about lawyer’s letters here:

The moment a lawyer is involved, it will be billed—another example would be the letter sent to @Sgcickenrice. A letter like that could cost hundreds of dollar, and there might be more letters sent that aren’t public.

Also, it’s the law that lawyers change normal lawyers’ fees and not based it on commission, so you can say that the paperwork is making them the winner.