Former co-founder of YouTube channel Night Owl Cinematics Ryan Tan, has returned the $1,000 donation that he received from a stranger after he posted about being “broke” and “barely holding on”.
The stranger who transferred the $1k, Khoo Keat Hwee, spoke to AsiaOne saying that Tan had declined to accept his donation.
The 35-year-old kind samaritan said that he didn’t want his money back, and that he didn’t donate the money to Ryan for publicity.
He had posted a TikTok on 25 June sharing how he donated $1,000 to Ryan after the latter’s story of being broke struck “close to his heart”.
Netizens then sent him messages telling him that Ryan is actually “rich”, pointing out that the latter lives in a penthouse which went through a renovation that costs about $200,000 in 2020.
Khoo later shared a second TikTok video explaining that he had misunderstood Ryan’s meaning of being broke.
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Recap
Former co-founder of Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) Ryan Tan, confessed in a post on social media that he was “officially broke” 6 months after leaving the company that he co-founded with his estranged ex-wife Sylvia, following widespread allegations about the latter’s alleged infidelity and mistreatment of their employees.
The 33-year-old posted on his Instagram stories earlier in the week that he was “officially broke” and that “it’s not a joke”, revealing that he had lost more than 90% of his money since he left NOC.
He added that he’s “barely holding on”, and that his income took a hit due to his legal issues, starting new companies and having no revenue.
However, he did add that his freedom is priceless so he’s not that down about it.
Following his confessions on social media, a few netizens have reached out and donated money to him, with the owner of Mentai-Ya Japanese Cuisine, Khoo Keat Hwee transferring $1,000 to Tan to “help his team a lil”.
He also posted a video onto his TikTok account, Mentaiya Keat, saying: “idk much about noc nor ryan but i came across his stories. my 1k is small but should help his team a lil. Bro lets jiayou and pick up from where we all fell. Lets learn and grow from our pain & mistakes.”
@kayakak idk much about noc nor ryan but i came across his stories. my 1k is small but should help his team a lil. Bro lets jiayou and pick up from where we all fell. Lets learn and grow from our pain & mistakes. #respect @Ryan Tan ♬ At My Worst – Pink Sweat$
Khoo spoke to AsiaOne and said that Tan’s story resonated with him, because when he (Khoo) fell, he ran away and didn’t dare speak to many.
He commended Tan for daring to put down his ego and admit that he messed up, and that he thinks “its okay to give up $1,000 to root for someone who is going through bad days”.
Tan then thanked the kind samaritan on his Instagram stories, describing his donation as “crazy”.
Tan then thanked all his supporters for the messages and told them not to worry, as “business is like that, have ups and downs,” and that he’ll “find a way, I always do”.
