Is Bobby Saputra the hero Southeast Asia needs? A viral parody of privilege, unpacked
YouTube or
TikTok feeds may have encountered Bobby Saputra, a self-proclaimed Chinese-Indonesian billionaire playboy and 'professional son'. He claims his father, William Saputra, is the seventh richest man in Asia and owns highly profitable companies like bottled water giant Danone Aqua.
Bobby's content has gone viral repeatedly, amassing over 840 million views on YouTube and over a million followers on both YouTube and TikTok, both of which are highly popular among youths and young adults worldwide.
His videos flaunt his family's mansions, luxury watches, supercars, and even Singaporean domestic helpers, mimicking luxury 'flex' influencers showing off affluent lifestyles on social media. He also shares clips of himself giving 'charity' to Singaporeans. In his words, 'there are not a lot of them [Singaporeans], and they're actually very poor.'
But all is not what it seems. Bobby himself is a character played by
Indonesian content creator Ben Sumadiwiria, known online as 'supercoolben'. The luxuries shown on camera are loaned from friends he met during his time as a private chef for wealthy clients, and used solely for filming.
Play
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
a minute ago
- South China Morning Post
Surprising many, Nobody becomes China's top 2D animated film at the box office
There's a new king atop China's 2D animated box office, and it's Nobody. Shanghai Animation Film Studio's movie has overtaken Makoto Shinkai's Suzume as the highest-grossing 2D animated film in Chinese box office history while becoming a dark horse in the nation's summer movie season. With its success, Nobody has dethroned the dominance of Japanese animated films in China. Before Nobody's debut on August 2, the all-time top three such movies at the Chinese box office were Suzume, having generated 807 million yuan (US$112.2 million), followed by The Boy and the Heron's 791 million yuan, and Your Name's 713 million yuan – all produced in Japan. Based on the 2023 online animated series Chinese Bizarreries, Nobody had earned just over 1 billion yuan as of Monday. It continues a unique animation style pioneered by the Chinese studio, incorporating extensive elements of ink-wash painting to create a Chinese aesthetic. The film's supervisor, Chen Liaoyu, said in July that Nobody features 'ink entering the frame', meaning the use of ink to construct the shots rather than using shots to depict ink, as reported by the Shanghai Observer newspaper. 'For example, the two tusks of the little pig demon retain the hand-drawn arc lines, and these details are the most challenging aspects,' Chen was quoted as saying.
South China Morning Post
25 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
China launches plan to improve TV and mini-dramas amid soft power push
China has called for more mini-dramas , documentaries, animations and foreign programmes to air on television to improve the quality of content. Advertisement The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) released a set of measures, made public on Monday, launching a 'content renewal plan' to improve innovation, the management of television series, content censorship and the promotion of programmes. The document stressed that more support would be given to producing quality documentaries and animations, as well as 'outstanding micro and short series to be broadcast on TV' and foreign programmes. It added that efforts should be made to improve the legal framework and copyright protection for these programmes. Mini-dramas and Chinese-produced animations have been taking over the market both domestically and abroad in recent months as authorities seek to expand China's soft power overseas. Advertisement 'Micro-dramas have become a new growth pillar for China's online audio and video industry, with their influence abroad significantly increasing,' said NRTA director Cao Shumin in March at the China Internet Audio and Video Convention.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Exhibition on ancient Egypt ends run at Shanghai Museum
Night visitors at the Shanghai Museum on August 11, 2025. Photo: Xinhua Night visitors at the Shanghai Museum on August 11, 2025. Photo: Xinhua share
