After being photographed over their eye-catching hairstyles, two young women in Singapore have spoken up for themselves.
In a now-deleted post on Facebook group Complaint Singapore (Anonymous), a netizen named Caybiru shared photos of the pair sporting bright pink and green hair while riding an MRT train.
“This kind of funky monkey hair colour won’t lead you anywhere for your career in Singapore. You go for interview, every company see liao will not even hire you [sic],” Caybiru wrote, urging them to be “decent and presentable”.
The “complaint” eventually made its way to the women.
Sisters Syaikyra Farakhan Aung, 20, and Fazila Farahkhan Aung, 22, clapped back at the netizen via an Instagram reel.
They gave a tour of Fairies Aisle, a counterculture thrift store that they’ve been running in Orchard Plaza since 2024.
“It’s sad how this is something you need to complain about. So many other things to speak up about and this is what you choose,” they wrote on Sunday (July 20).
They also told the netizen to “stop taking pictures and videos of people without their consent”.
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Syaikyra and Fazila also appeared to have taken the “complaint” in stride, even printing out the social media post and putting it up in their store.
Their video, which garnered over 1.5 million views at the time of writing, has drawn an outpouring of support for the sisters, with many praising them for their response.
“Absolutely iconic response,” a netizen wrote. Another said: “You girls are solid! The boss!”
The video has also sparked a conversation on societal norms in Singapore.
“Sad how Singapore inhibits creative freedom and expression up until this day. Higher-ups want everyone to just be corporate zombies,” one commented.
Another wondered: “Why can’t people let others present themselves how they want to be shown?”
While some suspected the “complaint” was made by a “boomer” (an older demographic), Syaikyra and Fazila did not attribute the incident to an “older generation kind of thinking”.
“Before we saw the post on Facebook, there were so many aunties and uncles who were already defending us,” they said in an Instagram story on Monday. It made the sisters “feel way better” about the situation as they learnt there are many who didn’t judge them based on looks.
But not all comments were supportive.
“Owning a store doesn’t prove anything, it’s very hard to make a successful fashion store these days when you can just buy clothes from China for a couple dollars,” a netizen said.
In response, the sisters said that this was “exactly why it proves something”, as they managed to make the business work despite the low prices.
In a separate Instagram story on Monday, the sisters thanked netizens for their support, explaining that the main point of the video was to “show how people should never judge a person” just because they don’t follow societal norms.
When AsiaOne contacted Syaikyra and Fazila, they declined to comment further on the matter.
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carol.ong@asiaone.com
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