'You can be the stand-in for Lawrence Wong during NDP': Shawn Thia plays into netizens saying he looks like future PM

No, you're not seeing double — local actor Shawn Thia does look like Singapore's future prime minister (PM) Lawrence Wong from certain angles.

The 28-year-old took to TikTok on Monday (April 15) to upload a video response to a comment that read, "You look 100 per cent Lawrence Wong."

At first Shawn feigned indignance, asking people to "stop it" and asking if they find it funny. He said he'll "prove" to them, before cutting into another clip of himself with his hair gelled back, wearing rimless glasses and a blue shirt.

He did bear an uncanny resemblance to the 51-year-old Deputy Prime Minister, and even smiled like him in the video.

"Congratulations on your promotion, sir," a netizen cheekily commented.

Another wrote: "You can be the stand-in for Lawrence Wong during NDP (National Day Parade)."

Shawn's fiancee, local actress Xenia Tan, bemoaned in the comments: "Who am I marrying?"

Shawn's other showbiz pals also joined in. Noah Yap called him "uncle PM Thia" while Benjamin Kheng called him "Lawrence Wong Pro Max Plus".

Maxi Lim, who bears some resemblance to Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, suggested that they should do a video together as the pair.

A netizen wrote that they need a movie with Shawn as "young Lawrence ASAP" and he delivered the next day, albeit in another TikTok video.

In it, Shawn parodies the April 15 video by Wong after being announced as the next PM of Singapore and calls it "unseen footage of Wawrence Long's latest news".

He mimics parts of Wong's speech, his gestures and even the cadence of his voice, before going "off-script".

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There are nods to Wong being an avid fan of music, like Shawn wearing an ACDC shirt underneath his formal clothes and an acoustic guitar in the corner of the set that has a piece of paper stuck to it reading "Lawrence's, do not touch".

Shawn tagged Wong in the video's caption, writing a caveat to his cheeky parody: "Lol sir, no offence ah, I also like guitar."

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drimac@asiaone.com

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