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With Singapore ranking among the world’s most burnt-out nations, and nearly nine in 10 residents feeling seriously stressed, you would think random words of encouragement on the street would be welcome. Not quite.
One man has been going around the streets of Singapore approaching strangers on the streets with uplifting messages, only to get mostly cold responses.
Victor Cheng, founder of a trampoline business, has been posting videos of him giving strangers around Singapore words of affirmation. One of his messages include: “Hope you’re having an awesome week, and if not, I hope it gets better.” In another video, he tells folks on the MRT: “You’re better than you think.”
Reactions range from awkward smiles to full-on confusion, though several people also graciously said thank you to him.
Of course, this unsurprisingly, sent netizens straight into the comments section about how Singaporeans’ general behaviour.
“Wah! Our default mode is just unfriendly, through and through. Jialat!” one commented.
Another quipped: “Yes, king! Tell the aunties on the priority seat that they are stronger than they think”.
Others felt the 32-year-old’s delivery needed work, suggesting he give people a heads-up before launching into affirmations.
When 8days.sg reached out to Victor, he shared what prompted him to start this series.
“I wanted to create encouraging content and chanced upon overseas content creators who are giving positive affirmations to strangers,” he said, bringing it back to his brand, saying it ties in with how it makes people feel better.
Before launching his trampoline brand Fiti in 2025, Victor worked as a merchant sales specialist at Grab.
However, he assured us that it is all good, despite some of the reactions he’s received.
“I think more people are guarded because of scammers these days,” he said, adding that despite the awkward encounters, no one has been rude to him.
According to him, even his family thinks he is very daring for embarking on this passion project.
But Victor has no plans to stop.
In fact, Fiti’s long-term goal is to deliver positive affirmations to people in 100 countries.
Victor does set some boundaries, though. He only approaches adults and avoids anyone wearing earphones.
Guess nothing says “do not disturb” like being plugged in to headphones.