Teen who slapped mum repeatedly in TikTok video is sorry, says school

[UPDATE, Oct 6]

The police have confirmed that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.

In response to AsiaOne’s queries, a TikTok spokesperson said its content moderation technology and team identified the video “early on” and took it down as it violated the app’s community guidelines.

“The user account in question has also been removed. We have also flagged this incident to the relevant local authorities for further investigation,” the spokesperson added.

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The hot-headed youngster who had Singaporeans riled up after he slapped his own mother in a TikTok video is "sorry for what he had done", his school has said.

Surveillance footage of the violent incident surfaced online yesterday (Oct 4) on Facebook, garnering over 2,900 shares at the time of writing.

The clip appeared to be a repost of a TikTok video by a now-defunct user, @rainbowcontent. It is not clear how the user obtained the footage.

In the shocking three-minute video, the teen, who remains unidentified, was shown hitting the woman on the head after she said she could not give him more money as she "didn't have more" and was "powerless".

He also slapped her repeatedly and swore at her as she sat on the floor, seemingly attempting to assemble some white storage containers.

The woman protested, telling the boy: "I'm doing things for you, you must still appreciate."

But he continued to hit her and warned her not to "talk back".

"I tell you how many times already," he added, pointing a finger at her face.

The video cut off after the woman asked the boy, "Then how you treat Mummy?"

While the video appears to have been removed from TikTok, it was swiftly reuploaded on other social media platforms, where it had netizens up in arms.

Many were perturbed by the boy's behaviour and called on the authorities to get involved.

Some also identified his school based on the shirt he was wearing and went as far as to tag them in their comments.

The school did not respond to AsiaOne's queries. However, in an email exchange shared by one commenter, the secondary school confirmed that it was aware of the incident and said it was looking into the matter.

"We are in touch with the boy and his parents," the school's principal said.

"The boy is sorry for what he had done and the school is working with him, his parents and the police to resolve their family issues."

kimberlylim@asiaone.com