The husband and wife behind the ubiquitous Dumpling Bag, Daniel Chew and Rebecca Ting, found themselves caught in the vines of social media disapproval when the former was exposed for following a pro-Israeli Instagram page. And then the missus spoke out

Co-founders of Beyond the Vines, Daniel Chew and Rebecca Ting. Photo: danielchew/Instagram

Frequently, attempts to resolve discords that break out on social media are conducted on social media, even when resolutions are not commonly—or easily—reached on platforms where lives are lived and businesses are conducted, digitally. And as we have often seen, when apologies are due, they rarely ever sound apologetic. Recently, the co-founders of Singaporean brand Beyond the Vines (BTV) were embroiled in a controversy that is easily distended or intensified in times of war, specifically the active military operations in the Middle East now. Married couple Daniel Chew (周鹤明 [zhou heming]) and Rebecca Ting (林妍惠 [lin yanhui]) came under attack when the husband was revealed to be a follower of the Instagram page of the Fellowship Of Israel Related Ministries (FIRM), “a network of almost 70 ministries and organisations in Israel that share a passion for reaching Israelis with the Gospel”, according to the FIRM’s website. Based in Jerusalem, the non-profit has shared posts on their IG page in support of Israel’s current military moves.

One TikTok user, who goes by the handle “psstpsstea”, shared that Mr Chew was “caught liking pro-Israel posts from @firmisrael and @nccsg (New Creation Church Singapore) encouraging followers to ‘pray for Israel’ amid the genocide”. Although Mr Chew later posted on Instagram Stories “for some clarity”, writing that the page he followed early this year “started off as this—food tours, off the beaten track (sic) adventures (these do not form the crux of FIRM’s page)” before “their content angle” was “changed”, and that he had, since the account was “flagged up (sic)”, “unfollowed” FIRM’s IG page, the revelation of the posts he had kept up with triggered a cluster of feelings, vehement in their disapproval. Netizens and BTV fans wanted Mr Chew to make clear his position on the war. That did not emerge, but he did write, playing the paternal card: “as a father, it pains me (sic) to watch the events unfold. Every child deserves [the] right to run back safely to their father’s arms”. And in response to some Netizens’ comments, “I do not support [or] condone any form of violence against civilians, especially children, women and the elderly.” While he believed that FIRM had shifted their content direction, he did not say the site has not been ambiguous about who they support.

Rebecca Ting on the IG page of Beyond the Vines, deftly explaining her husband’s recent online action and then, in the same take, selling her new bags. Screen shot: beyondthevines/Instagram

Mr Chew did not engage social media users further, even when there was allegation of comments being deleted on BTV’s posts. Instead, he had his spouse do the speaking for him (perhaps, an unsurprising move when on a post of the couple in Naoshima, Japan nine months ago, he commented, “I didn’t discover anything, I didn’t find myself… I just followed my wife”). Rebecca Ting went on IG days after her husband’s IG explanation, and prefaced a livestream to launch a new collection with her “timeline” (she was emphatic about that) of what has happened. Like most social media users speaking to their followers, Ms Ting positioned her face very close to the camera, as if to foster greater intimacy with her viewers. But she struggled to get that segment going, and took more than a minute and a half to get to the point. “Things have arose (sic),” she tried starting, but could not bring up the topic confidently. For something this serious (definitely to those who are not aligned with the Chews’ views), she was fidgety, even laugh-sighing while she said, again, “okay, I’m going to talk about it”. Finally, she revealed that she was going to “address five points (she said it twice)” and “be very, very clear about it (sic)”.

She began, titters still evident, by stating that 1) her husband had “joined an account that had food content, travel content, adventure things to do in Israel”. She did not say if she had read FIRM’s posts, but was emphatically certain the direction of the contents was “changed”. She claimed that 2) “unknown to Daniel at that point, since the outbreak of the conflict, the account has then became (sic) political and started to post political content”. However, 3) “once this information of the account was brought to Daniel’s attention, maybe in the last three days, he has then unfollowed the account because Daniel is not interest in being associated with political content”. She did not say if he is apolitical. And, then she came to her “most important point”: 4) “it is not true that Daniel supports the genocide and those who say otherwise are either jumping to conclusions or trying to deliberately mislead others”. Why she came to that conclusion, she did not let on. And 5), they “had a chat with Meta” and was given the explanation that “a sensitive-content filter that uses AI… basically triggered… the comment deletion”. Triggered? Was she being deliberately evocative?

After defending her husband, Ms Ting quickly went on to hawk her wares—here, an iteration of their popular Dumpling bag, which she could not wait to tout. Screen shot: beyondthevines/Instagram

Rebecca Ting’s reel did not convince enough viewers to believe that she was serious or aware what the crux of the matter really was: perceived support of a contentious and controversial “self-defence”, as the Israelis called their incursion. She did not appear to pitch herself to be taken seriously, blissfully unaware that she could come across as flippant. Or, apathetic. Wearing a cheerful, long-sleeved, lime green T-shirt and waving her hands to show off her manicured nails (in unmissable silver polish), she seemed ready to be an enthusiastic product promoter and was ill-prepared to minimise the potential reputational damage that could result from her seeming levity, even when she was ready with a five-point vindication. She repeated herself, and giggled like a schoolgirl FaceTiming her classmates. She did not look directly into the phone camera, with her eyes—beneath pronounced brows—shifting from the sides to the top, and back to the sides.

She was, from the onset, rather eager to end the explaining of her husband’s social media action and reaction—to get it over with, quickly. “I don’t want to hang around that point for too long,” she said intently, believing her viewers would understand her impatience. The choice of phrasal verb is odd since “hang around” suggests spending time aimlessly. “I do want to move on,” she continued. “I do want to talk about the collection. We want to launch this thing.” She spent about six minutes of a 45-minute reel to address the accusations levelled at her husband, which prompted many, already unhappy with the duo’s response thus far, to think the couple were not serious in their regret. It isn’t clear why BTV’s damage control strategy necessitated sharing clarification about a co-founder’s social media moves with a product launch. Or, if they, in fact, suffered from a lack of a workable PR plan.

Rebecca Ting and Daniel Chew at the opening of the Changi airport store two weeks ago. The couple is always happy to share images of them at store openings and product launches, yet Mr Chew was conspicuously absent from the explanation segment of the video his wife shared on 10 November. Photo: beyondthevines/Instagram

The Chews are known to be staunchly religious people, and eight-year-old Beyond the Vines do attract those for whom a brand run by a pious Christian couple, formerly in the real estate business, must be eagerly and visibly supported. Back in 2017, the Chews spoke to online Christian magazine SELAH about the founding of their business. Daniel Chew said that starting Beyond the Vines meant “that we were going to be keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and walk on water” And, still replete with biblical imagery, “as an entrepreneur, I often find myself feeling the water of the Red Sea and the hordes of Pharaoh’s armies closing in from behind.” Their support of the Holy Land is, perhaps, expected. Mr Chew also said to SELAH, “when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and weak in the presence of God, only then, He will make us stand strong before men.” Was what he experienced when his following of FIRM was called out a moment of vulnerability and weakness? But why did he not “stand strong” before those who wanted to really hear from him?

This morning, the couple released a statement of apology (printed against a green that is similar to the door frames of their Takashimaya Shopping Centre flagship) on BTV’s IG page, with the header “We are sorry” and the comment, “We are sincerely sorry.” In the six-paragraph text, co-signed by the pair, they repeated what both had previously said and, in response to Rebecca Ting’s mirthful appearance in stating their case, admitted that they “made some hurtful mistakes in our choice of words and manner.” Was it, therefore, a deliberate choice? “In hindsight,”, they continued, “this matter should not be handled in a brief way but with much more care.” Most social media users tend to succumb to the casualness of the medium to explain/defend problematic deeds or to apologise when the need arises. Which brings to mind the now-(quiet) noodle-chomping influencer Elaine Heng (aka Elaine Rui Min) and her online dispute with jewellery brand By Invite Only in 2018. Ms Ting was no exception. Within less than a minute of the video, she was seen drinking from a black mug with a symbol of the evil eye. She did not appear to be thirsty for a better impression. Or, ready to save her husband’s skin.