Jose Raymond invites TikTok users to follow him

It’s not every day you see a politician launch a TikTok account. However, Singapore People’s Party (SPP) chairman Jose Raymond has done just that.

Founded by Zhang Yiming in 2012, TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by Chinese multinational internet technology company, ByteDance. The social media platform has become a hit, especially among the youth.

The application allows users to showcase their creativity by creating video content through their mobile phones. It gives people a platform to record themselves or others and add in music, stickers, filter, and captions.

However, given the tension between certain countries, TikTok has been banned by some governments. According to a recent article by the New York Times, the Trump administration has made moves to ban mobile applications such as TikTok and WeChat, which are owned by Chinese companies. This move is made due to the US-China tech war.

However, in other countries such as Singapore, TikTok has seen an increase in downloads. According to straitstimes.com, between January and July of 2020, 1.04 million people in Singapore downloaded the app.

It seems as though the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) chairman Jose Raymond has caught onto it too, as he recently announced his account on his Facebook page. Mr Raymond on Thursday afternoon (September 24) posted a concise yet inviting “Follow me on TikTok,” on his page.

His bio on the app reads, “Strategist. Communicator. Politician,” while his most recent TikTok video, featuring SW Singapore Kuala Lumpur, has garnered 313 views.

In response to Mr Raymond’s Facebook announcement, one netizen jokingly wrote, “Why no dancing?” to which Mr Raymond replied, “I’ll take lessons from you.”

In the nation’s recent 2020 General Elections (GE), Mr Raymond contested Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency (SMC), going head-to-head with Sitoh Yih Pin from the People’s Action Party. Mr Pin emerged the victor with 60.69 per cent of the votes from the SMC.