SINGAPORE, June 15 — President Halimah Yacob has called on the three men behind popular local podcast Okletsgo to “sincerely and humbly apologise to all women”, chiding them for the offensive, humiliating and misogynistic remarks they have made on their show.
In a Facebook post today, Halimah said she had received many emails from individuals who raised concerns about the podcast and the values it promotes among its young listeners, adding that those concerns are justified.
“Our women in Singapore have worked very hard to raise their status through education, employment and in raising healthy families. They are important in building healthy communities, which will be undermined by such podcasts. They don’t deserve this treatment by Okletsgo or any other group.”
Halimah’s statement comes amid a backlash against Okletsgo, helmed by former Ria 89.7 radio deejays Dzar Ismail, 34, Dyn Norahim, 38, and Raja Razie, 38, with many listeners speaking out against the three hosts’ pattern of misogyny.
Their podcast, which began in February last year, has now more than 100,000 listeners on Spotify, making it the most popular local podcast.
The backlash started with a viral tweet by Twitter user @anygalien who said the hosts reminded her of the Malay men in her life who “casually dehumanise and sexualise women and brush it off as jokes”.
She added: “Having that normalised and aired to the Malay masses does enable or shape the current and next generation of Malay men.”
The tweet garnered a sudden and large outpouring of support from other social media users, who cited examples of offensive remarks that have been made by the three hosts over the years.
In one episode, for example, one of the hosts commented that he could not take his eyes off the cleavage of a transgender woman, who had been invited on the podcast to talk about her activism work in Project X, an organisation that champions the rights of sex workers.
In another episode, one of the hosts remarked that he prefers women’s buttocks and legs to breasts, a comment that was met by raucous laughter from his co-hosts.
While this is not the first time that the trio have been criticised by listeners for their content, it is the first time that they have faced such a big backlash.
On Saturday, the three posted a statement on their social media accounts, saying that they had started Okletsgo to use their “newfound freedom to talk and banter over things that had never before been acceptable on air within our community”.
“It was this break from rigidity and boring style of content that made us able to reflect genuine sentiments and happenings on the ground and we quickly gained popularity among our community,” they wrote.
They added: “While our response publicly has been relatively muted, it is because we have been reflecting and digesting everything that has been happening. We recognise the need for improvements and we will continue to improve both our content and delivery. We remain committed to our open minded approach and will not shy away from tough issues affecting our community.”
The statement did not go down well with critics, many of whom noted that it did not even include an apology.
Indeed, soon after the statement was posted, Raja sent a message to a Telegram chat group for Okletsgo followers saying that he and his co-hosts will “stand strong” and will not apologise.
The trio have also previously argued that their podcast takes a no-holds-barred and unapologetic approach to taboo and controversial topics, and pointed to the support they have received from major organisations as proof that their content is relevant and strikes a chord with listeners.
The podcast has featured interviewees such as Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, and it has carried sponsored content from agencies such as the Health Promotion Board, Mendaki and Workforce Singapore.
The podcast is also due to feature an interview with Law and Home Affair Minister K Shanmugam in an upcoming episode, the hosts have said in promotional posts on social media.
In her Facebook post on Monday, Mdm Halimah said that taking cheap pot shots at women to boost ratings or make some people laugh no matter how offensive cannot be justified under any label, be it freedom of speech or encouraging conversations.
“How do you encourage healthy conversations about the role of women and families, when your starting point is to degrade women?” she said.
She reiterated that women are “not objects to be made fun of, ridiculed and trampled upon” and that it is not okay to treat them like “dirt bags and punching bags”.
Singapore Mufti Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir, the highest religious authority for Muslims here, also added his voice to the discussion on Monday, writing on Instagram that while discussing social issues is helpful and those who offer such platforms must be encouraged, their words and actions would reinforce and shape the attitudes of their listeners.
“We should therefore use such influence to create positive change, not to perpetuate sexist attitudes and behaviours that have plagued our community for far too long,” he said. “Don’t just be a mirror to reflect what we think the society is. Let the misogyny train depart for good so that we can be better.”
TODAY has reached out to Okletsgo for comment. — TODAY
