Meet insurance boss Lucas Neo, who faced backlash over frank reviews of Michelin-listed hawkers

SINGAPORE – When Mr Lucas Neo started posting food videos on TikTok and Instagram, the straight-talking insurance boss never imagined he would end up in the hot seat.

Mr Neo, 35, executive director of an agency under AIA Financial Advisers, had started a series called Exposing Michelin Hawkers on Sept 16 under the moniker Lucas The Boss. He wanted to give his take on 148 Michelin-listed hawkers and see if they lived up to their reputation.

“By doing this series, I wanted to provide real, unbiased reviews for the public, build a bigger online presence and spread positivity. I did not expect the huge backlash,” he says.

The series kicked off with what he called his “brutal honest review” of A Noodle Story, in which he stated that paying $10.80 for the bowl of noodles was an “absolute no” for him. Despite praising its “beautiful” presentation and “flavourful huge wonton”, he did not like the “alkaline smell” of the noodles, which made the entire dish unappetising to him.

He also questioned how the stall in Amoy Street Food Centre had received the Michelin Bib Gourmand award every year since 2016.

Barely a month later, after reviewing 49 hawkers, the series attracted not only fans who appreciated his candour, but also food content creators and netizens who slammed him for affecting hawker livelihoods and even accused him of “breaking their rice bowls”.

On Oct 14, he posted a video to clarify that he was not paid to do his series and meant no harm to hawkers, adding that he would continue to post reviews despite the hate and negative comments.

“Honesty in food reviews is akin to being honest with yourself. If you can’t even speak your mind, and just agree with whatever people are saying, what’s the point? Go with the flow? That’s not how a leader acts.”

Mr Neo, who runs Kin Group, an 85-strong financial services agency, originally ventured online to market himself like others in the insurance industry who talk about success and work ethics.

But he did not want scripted, run-of-the-mill videos, so he decided to focus on his passions – food, fitness and finance.

The sport enthusiast took part in his first triathlon in 2022 and spends up to 15 hours a week swimming, cycling, running and working out in the gym.

In April, he hired a full-time social media manager and started revving up his accounts with content. As he noticed food content drew more views than fitness and finance videos, he embarked on his SG60 Hawker series in July, reviewing 60 hawkers before National Day.

This was followed by a Healthy Hawker series in August. His video of Poon Kee Traditional Roasted Duck Wanton Noodle, which he praised profusely, garnered 269,000 views on Instagram and 409,600 views on TikTok.

He then decided to review Michelin-listed hawkers to find out how they got on the guide.

His rule was simple – food that scored at least eight out of 10 was “approved”, while anything below seven was “unrated”.

He says: “Most food content creators say everything is good. How many times have we queued for something, tasted it, then cursed and swore? I wanted to post something more raw, but not at the expense of the hawker going out of business.”

Polarising views

His blunt reviews split audiences. Some viewers agreed with him speaking his mind; others accused him of being disrespectful to hawkers.

His moniker comes from his desire since he was young to be a boss. His father, who died in 2018, was a businessman who inspired him to venture out on his own.

Family means the world to Mr Neo, who has a tattoo of his father on his left arm. He also has a tattoo of his wife, a 35-year-old senior director at Kin Group, and their two children – a daughter, 11, and a son, nine – on the forearm.

While he takes negative comments about his videos in his stride, netizens calling for the boycott of AIA affected the morale of his team.

He was also upset when netizens targeted his daughter. This was after his review of Nyonya Chendol in early October, in which he remarked that “no skill” was needed to assemble chendol and that even his young daughter could prepare it.

“Six months ago, I was not an influencer. The sudden fame affected me. I was not used to the toxicity online.”

He adds: “I am supposed to protect my family and team, not cause them fear and harm.”

Taking feedback from his followers to heart, he later renamed the series Exploring Michelin Hawkers.

“I changed it to appease the public – not because I think I did anything wrong, but since ‘exposing’ is deemed aggressive,” he says.

Even as he faces backlash, he refuses to quit.

“When I start something, I want to do my best and complete it. If not, it’s like a failure for me – what would it say to people who look up to me, especially my family? Obstacles in life are common. We don’t shy away; we shine brighter and overcome them.”

Accidental food influencer

Mr Neo joined the insurance industry at age 22 while completing a business degree at the University at Buffalo under the Singapore Institute of Management. From 2012 to 2014, he went from being an insurance agent to a manager of a team of four.

He became AIA Singapore’s youngest financial services director at age 25 and, in 2018, started Lucas Neo Financial, which was renamed Kin Group in 2022. “I removed my name from it to make the organisation belong to the members and not just me, and to describe what we are – kin, as in family.”

He describes his character as “ambitious, disciplined, resilient”, and his personality as “sociable and confident”.

“I love hawker food and hawker culture,” he says. “I was raised on hawker food, eat it daily and find myself craving it when I’m overseas.”

To him, hawkers were a natural focus. Between 2019 and 2024, he backed a friend to open a bak chor mee stall in Clementi, and later, other outlets selling Hokkien mee and claypot rice – ventures that set him back about $80,000. He did not recover any of the money.

The stalls closed when his friend decided to leave the food and beverage industry, finding it too tiring to run the stalls.

“I paid for my meals at the stalls,” he says. “Though I did not do the cooking, I know quite a bit about the business.”

He insists on paying for the food he reviews. When hawkers refuse to take his money, he pays them via their PayNow QR codes.

He reckons he has spent about $1,000 to review the Michelin-listed hawkers to date.

He queues for his food and refuses free meals and sponsored products.

“I’d rather pay for my food because nothing is free in this world. Everything has a price. There’s no free lunch. I don’t want to be obligated to give positive reviews,” he says.

“I’ve not encountered anyone scolding me. I get people coming up to me, giving me fist bumps and high fives. I appreciate their support.”

While he acknowledges that his negative reviews may affect hawkers to a certain degree, he points out that they have loyal customers built up through years of hard work.

“It is not possible that my negative reviews can drive them out of business,” he says. 

He films twice a week, covering six to 10 stalls a session that can last up to five hours. His social media manager handles the filming and editing.

He does not waste food, taking along his own containers to pack leftovers.

“I don’t spend on paid ads or buy followers. It’s all organic,” he says.

He now has 18,000 followers on Instagram and 25,300 followers on TikTok.

These days, he is learning to phrase his opinions with more care. “I try not to speak in provocative ways or appear as raw as I personally am. I’m a straight shooter usually, so I need some time to change.”

“I’m trying hard to learn to phrase my comments better – how to say that the pork lard is old or the soup is one-dimensional, or to say something is simply salty and not savoury.”

But he admits that toning down his frank comments has been draining. “I used to wake up every morning excited and passionate about doing my reviews, but now it’s starting to feel like a job.”

While he plans to complete his Michelin-listed hawker series by December, he is mulling over whether to quit producing social media content or move to YouTube, as there is the potential of earning revenue from views and subscriptions there.

“At present, I’m forking out my own money and a lot of time producing these short-form videos. After the backlash, I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort. I don’t want to monetise by accepting paid food reviews,” he adds.

“All in all, I’m proud of hawker culture. I believe I’ve cast the spotlight on hawkers significantly this year. To me, this is a win.”