PSP chief hypebeast Tan Cheng Bock vibes with millennial and Gen Z voters while learning new lingo

At the grand age of 80, Progress Singapore Party (PSP) chief Tan Cheng Bock is getting woke to the lingo of millennials and Gen Zs — and he’s glad to announce to the voters of Singapore that, yes fam, he’s a hypebeast. 

In a series of Instagram posts and stories, the oldest candidate contesting in GE2020 showcased how he has been embracing the concepts of generations a lot younger than him. 

Instead of being a cringefest, the content Dr Tan put out in recent days is actually real wholesome — very much emitting the same energy as the series of videos featuring a nonagenarian trying out trendy food and drinks. 

The PSP leader’s first sign of glow-up surfaced on Tuesday (June 30), when the man shared a clip on Instagram of him learning to say “hypebeast” thanks to his young friend, Jenny. Without being decked out in expensive streetwear, Dr Tan had enough swagger to label himself a “hype beast person”, hoping that others are too. 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CCCU1T5ne3C/[/embed]

Wanting to spread the gospel of hypebeast-ness, Dr Tan went on to teach fellow PSP member Craig Teo, seemingly during the time when the former actor was performing a PSP-themed skit as part of 60s comedy duo Wang Sha Ye Feng. 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CCGIfDgH75S/[/embed]

In subsequent posts, the affable octogenarian made some shoutouts to his younger supporters, displaying his newfound knowledge of the word “woke”. Not at first though, when he responded to an Instagram user that he literally woke up. 

[embed]https://twitter.com/jackyngcomedy/status/1278550731323084800[/embed]

Now cognisant of the term “woke” — the perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice — he welcomed residents to call him that during his walkabouts. 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CCHccktH9LJ/[/embed]

Wanting to keep the hype going with fellow hypebeasts, the man called for young folks to slide into his DMs with videos of themselves.

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CCH2owkHDRC/[/embed]

And lo, they answered the call. “I love Singapore because we have a hypebeast 80-year-old candidate running for Parliament, that’s freakin’ lit,” said one.

“You’ve really re-energised the political landscape in Singapore, I think you’ve really gotten a lot of younger people really, really interested in politics and I think that’s a very important thing for our country,” enthused another. 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CCJE6vfHUX7/[/embed]

CNA conducted a vibe check on the PSP chief earlier on Thursday (July 2) and found out that Dr Tan welcomes new ideas on the campaign trail. 

“I have to respect the new style, new terminology. I'd never heard it in my life but now I’ve got to get into the picture. It’s very interesting,” CNA quoted him.

Of course, Dr Tan can also get serious when he needs to. Yesterday evening, he spoke on behalf of the party in the first Party Political Broadcasts of GE2020. 

ilyas@asiaone.com