Xiaxue’s not apologetic, and not going down without a fight. But that’s not what caught me off guard. What caught me off guard was learning that Peter Tan has written to Xiaxue’s endorsers complaining about, among other things I gather, her insensitivity to disabled people, giving wrong impressions, influencing impressionable kids, etc. Her most recent blog entry can be found here. Shoalin Tiger’s also got a post up about the whole thing. An excerpt:-

It should be silenced, she shouldn’t be moulding the minds of the next generation, she’s turning them to pulp.

She should not be endorsed, nor respected, go ahead and read her blog if you enjoy it, that’s your prerogative, just don’t try and tell other people what she says is right, because it’s clearly not. I’m not telling you not to read her blog, I’m not saying her blog is bad, I’m just saying she’s a stupid ignorant, bimbotic, stumpy limbed naive bucket of shit. That’s all.

Yeah she annoys me, I might write to her other sponsors and voice my opinion, according to the oh great Xia Xue, that’s what life is all about right? Voicing your opinion, because it’s ALWAYS right, and not giving a shit about the repercussion or anyone elses rights/feelings.


Hmmm. Xiaxue regards those who pay to have their ads seen as endorsers, so there’s no question there. If company A endorses Xiaxue by paying for ad placement, does it therefore follow that company A endorses the content of Xiaxue’s blog or are they merely paying for ad-space in a high-traffic blog? Suppose it’s the latter, to which we can ask, does company A endorse Xiaxue or Xiaxue’s blog, and does that question matter? Maybe not.

Xiaxue’s noisy, loud, rude, vulgar and a few other unmentionable expletives. Did companies know that prior to endorsing her? Obviously so. Would it therefore be fair to say that, in endorsing Xiaxue, they are endorsing the image she presents? I suppose so. Would it be fair to say that that image is that of “pop-culture in the Asian blogosphere” (c.f. ShaolinTiger)? Yes, I think so.

So, in effect, companies endorse her knowing full well what she is, and what her blog represents, and probably have a good idea about the demographics of her blog readers. Which makes the pulling out by Voxy (huh?) surprising. From her post it’s obvious that Peter Tan’s complaints have done some damage, and if what she says is true, “Because it always works” is the worst thing to say probably: “If you don’t pull out, I will spread bad publicity. Doom on you, charlie.”

What am I saying exactly? Three paragraphs later, and I still don’t know. Yes, what she is and what her blog is irritates me, and some others. She can be callous, insensitive and a downright bitch. Yes, the reactions so far from Malaysian bigwig bloggers is internet justice. Yes, she deserves what she’s getting. Yes, no one’s on their moral high horse, this is morality of the masses in practice.

But writing to pull off endorsements from her just feels childish and slightly peevish.