SINGAPORE – Chan Brothers Travel, one of Singapore’s biggest tour agencies, on Monday said it would take legal action against “public figures” for statements made on Facebook.
Chan Brothers did not name the individuals, but netizens on public forums made the connection to getai performer and digital content creator Wang Lei and his entourage, who recently conducted a live stream making complaints and allegations against a travel agency.
In its statement, the agency said it had received feedback on a private Europe tour it organised for “some public figures”.
“We actively sought to address their concerns and invited them to meet in person upon their return to Singapore, so that we could deal with matters in the aftermath directly and thoroughly,” said Chan Brothers.
These parties, however, took to “multiple Facebook live streams” to make statements about the trip, the agency added.
Wang, who has 1.4 million followers on Facebook, had gone live on the social media platform on July 16 at 8.29pm, with an accompanying caption in Chinese that said he would be talking about the travel agency behind the tour.
In the almost 30-minute live stream, which was carried out in Hokkien and Mandarin, the 62-year-old, flanked by three women, including getai singer Anderene Choo and comedian Tay Yin Yin, made several allegations against the travel agency, but did not name it.
Later, two men also joined the live stream, which had more than 280,000 views as at Wednesday evening.
A subsequent Facebook post the following day indicated that he had been on a 16-day tour around Europe and had travelled to Italy, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria.
Chan Brothers said it had made “careful consideration” and sought legal advice before deciding to move forward with action.
“As we must be accountable to our stakeholders and customers, our firm response is crucial for a fair resolution and to set an example for responsible digital conversations,” it added.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, a representative of Chan Brothers Travel said the agency has already commenced legal action, but was advised not to disclose specific details about the case so as not to interfere with the legal process.
“On the one hand, we appreciate the importance of being able to express our thoughts freely on the Internet,” said the representative. “After all, we depend on open dialogue and feedback to constantly improve our services.”
“But on the other hand, we felt a strong need to protect the brand we have worked hard to build, from false and unfair allegations by anyone, which can tarnish our reputation and mislead the public,” he added.
