The Amy Cheong saga… fast, furious, unbridled
COMMENT
Faster than you can say "Amy Cheong", her recently vacated job is up for grabs
-- on the same day she was dismissed.
Super efficient on the part of her employers, labour union NTUC? Or maybe a tad insensitive?
In a post that is making its rounds online, local news satire blog The New Nation pointed out how career site, Jobstreet, began advertising a vacancy for "Assistant Director (Service Quality), Membership" on Monday afternoon -- the same post that Amy Cheong held before her infamous Wedding-Gate post.
Call it the nature of social media or the way news spreads lightning quick in this day and age but that about sums up the Amy Cheong saga.
By Monday morning, Facebook, Twitter and other blog, news and social media sites were lighting up, triggering a firestorm of online and offline reaction to her offensive post.
Consider the timeline of events.
Late on Sunday evening: Amy Cheong makes Facebook post
Monday, around 3am: First petition calling for Amy Cheong to be fired springs up on Facebook
7am: Her post starts going viral on Facebook, Twitter and social media
9am: Mainstream, online media and local blog sites begin to pick up on the story
10am: NTUC chief Lim Swee Say makes first public comment
1030am: Police report filed against Amy Cheong by member of the public
1230pm: NTUC issue statement of Cheong's dismissal
Sometime in the afternoon: Vacant position advertised on Jobstreet
530pm: Amy Cheong issues full statement of apology
Think of poor Amy. Within a space of less than 24 hours, her world has collapsed -- she's lost her job, her career, her reputation and maybe even her friends. She is also potentially facing criminal charges and a fine or jail time.
It's not the first time, and my guess is it won't be the last. Earlier this year, two 17-year-olds were also arrested after making racist remarks online.
But this is news in the social media age. Fast, furious and unbridled when unleashed.
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