What started off as a "cry against workplace abuse" post somehow escalated exponentially - and at an alarming speed - into a saga blown out of proportion. Started with a couple of Instagram posts, then mentions by tabloid articles, to the 'accused' frantically deleting IG comments which swamped all over her posts, to both sides serving legal advice, and now? Authorities called in to investigate.
Yes. the Night Owl Cinematics saga.
I was once (briefly, but was) a fan of those videos, back i think about 8 to 10 yrs ago when memes and parody videos were the rage. Some fresh content and kept me hooked for a while, before I spread my curiosity and hunger for entertainment across more channels. In a sense, they are relatively a (well) known homegrown brand. Over the years, heard some gossips here and there, but not large enough to garner attention. But when this seemingly timed, concerted effort to strip the accused naked of her wrongdoings, all hell broke loose.
Shall not go into the details, I bet there are more than enough sources to refer to. Plus there is too much for me to even summarise. Anyway, both sides argued their cases, intensely providing "evidence" of the ugly things one has done to the other, at work or at home. One harnessed the power of post after posts, numerous social media accounts created (dunno whether real or fake accts) to publish evidences in their IG stories, the other took to the interview with Xiaxue and attracted close to 2 hours of nationwide attention to hear her side of the story, much to the netizens' entertainment delight. And thanks to the saga Xiaxue just got a whole lot of free traffic which translates to more ka-ching for her. Credits to her for facilitating this much needed (controversial) interview to reveal the flip side of the coin.
Gosh. I even had a debate with dear over who is right, who is wrong. But that's the aim of any saga isn't it? To get people to take sides, to see whoever gets more votes means they more credible, and such.
I had a few personal takeaways:
1) Workplace abuse is real. Not just in NOC, but anywhere else. Probably it is a coincidence that MOM was promoting fair employment practices that this popped up, and hence sparked the interest of many. The lack of proper company, or team, management result in poor employee engagement. Employees don't speak up, endure -> greater mental stress, and at the end when you unleash the pent-up anger and frustration that's when things get ugly. When in doubt, speak up, ask around, seek advice. Know your limits. If you cannot take it, as a last resort, leave to give yourself a break. Nothing wrong with that. The last thing you want is to launch a revolution against the hand that feeds you. It's unethical.
2) 男女要清. Especially when managing a business together, or even working in the same company. Blurred lines lead to ambiguity, ambiguity leads to miscomm, and miscomm is a sure-win tactic for a downfall in any business. I can't advise on what they could have done, nor am I bothered to drill down into the details, but this statement probably sums up well for the two of them rn:
"Sylvia is a bad boss, Ryan is a bad husband".
3) 不要落井下石，赶尽杀绝。 If the person has already admitted defeat, for goodness sake, what more do you want? Revenge? Is there a need to go to the extreme? The fact that she has published multiple apology letters - and if you read into the choice of words, the way the letter was written - you will get that she's trying to say "I want to stop this. I am exhausted. If you want to blame me, blame me. My fault. But I really need a breather. Please, leave me alone." Guys, 适可而止。Please. Be human.
4) Don't jump to conclusions. The amount of sides-switching the moment new info pops up - it's disgusting to see how quick people judge without even understanding the context, let alone getting to the bottom of the matter. One moment they were all flaming Sylvia, and the next moment everyone be "oh sayang Sylvia you can do it please get better". On top of being hypocritical, little did these people realise that they are the ones setting Sylvia's reputation and emotional well-being up on flames by their harsh comments. Who's the culprit here?
5) Always filter information shared online. Let's not forget what humanities in secondary school taught us: Every piece of information is packaged to deliver a specific agenda, which is to convince the public about their point of view. Sure, we hear what Sylvia has to say, and to be honest, most of us start to emphatise with her situation, especially ladies. But, as far as the case between the stakeholders is concerned, it is still "your words against mine". No concrete evidence. Let's not be the judge wanna-be and pass the verdict. Let the state court handle the case. No more can we be part of the case other than being onlookers.
Ending this post with heavy thoughts. I had difficulty organising my points above. I guess next time I shall just sit back relax and watch the show. Why subject my brain to such mind-torturing feedback session.