Singaporean pair behind YouTube channel TiffWithMi, seeing that speaking Chinese is considered not ‘cool’, make videos in the language to counter the stigma
- On a channel with 645,000 subscribers, Singaporean sisters host beauty tutorials, review their shopping hauls, and create other content – all of it in Chinese
- They know their videos may get fewer views than if they posted in English, but say helping young Singaporeans connect with the language is worth more than money
Although the national language of Singapore is Malay, you’re just as likely to hear its three other official languages – English, Mandarin Chinese and Tamil – on the streets of the multicultural nation. Many street signs are in all four languages.
Despite this, the city state’s diverse make-up isn’t reflected in its list of top YouTubers – most of Singapore’s popular content creators cater to an English-speaking audience.
Sisters Tiffanie and Michy Lim do not, though. They run TiffwithMi, a YouTube channel where they upload beauty tutorials, shopping hauls, and other slice-of-life content to their audience of 645,000 subscribers – and they do it all in Mandarin.
“Singapore is a multiracial country,” the pair tell the Post. “We should have even more variety when it comes to YouTubers, but why do we only have English-speaking content creators? That struck a chord with us and inspired us to switch to Chinese.”
The concept initially seemed like it would be hard to sell to their audience, given the city state’s increasingly Westernised millennials and Gen Z-ers.