I Am Fat But It's OK, Says Local Plus Size Blogger

As a casual blogger, Yong Wei was never shy or embarrassed to post his photos in his online personal diary. Being sixteen years old does not hinder him from expressing his critical views about his daily eccentricities and life experiences, such as regarding his visits to restaurants or food courts (check out his review on Botak Jones here).

Yong Wei now weighs 125 kilograms and he claims to be contented with it. He describes his favourite food as anything that is eatable but is repelled by processed food. Music provides him the serenity in life; it is used to express his emotions and feelings. He occasionally uploads his very own composed songs in his blog and dreams to be a famous musician one day. His readers are his fans.

Yong Wei has proven that being overweight does not mean that one has to hide under a shell in fear of discrimination by the society. He has showed that what is more important is our passion and commitment to do what we love most (in his case are blogging and music). He hopes to use his growing online popularity to inspire fat people like him by posting articles and reviews of his diet plans.

Yong Wei has definitely defied a popular belief that to be a successful blogger, one needs to possess an attractive and slim figure. His finalist position in the Singapore Blog Awards, organized by Omy.sg, was definitely the breakthrough in his blogging 'career'. In this interview, he reveals to us about his weight issues, blogging and how our society responds to people like him.
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The following are details of an interview by TPJCian magazine, conducted via e-mail. Some of the questions have been edited for brevity and clarity, and extraneous material omitted.
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1) How long have you been blogging? Why did you start blogging?
13 months ago, I was thinking of blogging about how much I've cycled around Singapore but end up doing more than that. And blogging about cycling is pretty lame I guess. I have to stop every once in a while just to snap some photos of my surroundings. You know, I'm kinda a photo guy, I'd rather blog with pictures mostly.

2) Do you blog for fun or do you consider yourself as a professional blogger, writing to earn money?
I think I'm a wannabe.

3) What do you think of the notion that to be a successful blogger, one needs to be good-looking?
Of course, I'm pretty good looking:























I find myself pretty cute and attractive.

4) Have you ever felt embarrassed to post your pictures in your blog?
You mean this?























If it entertains, I would post it I guess; not really sure what people think of me.

5) Have you ever come across nasty comments by your readers taunting your weight issue?
Hmmmmmm, are you one of them?

6) Have you ever experienced weight discrimination in our society, let it be in school or any other public places in Singapore?
I remember once or rather....many times, people called me this in class "Eh you know ah, when Yong Wei takes a shower, his leg is dry one". And I would shout it out across the classroom "Oi, talk bad things about me ah! You watch out! Later I call TAF club people chase you". And there goes the bursts of laughter. Yeah, I do, not sure how other fat people think of themselves, but I think I'm great the way I am. Of course, I would want to slim down.

7) I am not fat, I am big boned...Is that the true or are you trying to conceal the truth?
Dude, you should totally find out who Eric Cartman is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Cartman). It's actually joke. Of course, I'm fat, but I like to keep it that way, makes me look humorous, and people say I'm living in denial.

8) Do you feel a need to lose your weight now so as to inspire your readers who may be suffering the same problem as you too?
Geez, people can be fat all they want, but I'm of course trying to lose some weight, Fruits, Oldenlandia water, more meat less rice. Trust me, I cycle a lot sometimes, I play basketball, and jog sometimes before I had a ankle injury. Yeah but I still cycle like, probably once every week at least?

9) You mentioned that people can be fat all they want. Don’t you think that mentality can be harmful to their health?
Wow, this is a hard question to answer. Mentally, if you don't decide to do anything about your weight, you won't. Scare tatics and all have been used, what else can we do for them? It's really up to oneself to get oneself up.

10) I understand you are really passionate about music. Do you intend to start a career in the music industry or is it just for fun? If not, what do you dream to be in the future?
I enjoy music, so that's fun. And of course, I try to be as professional as I can be, maybe soon I'll release a album next year and hold a gig, who knows? I would rather live my dreams, than to had never even tried.

11) Have your schoolmates or any members of the public ever criticized you for widely exposing yourself in our local community as attention-seeker? If so, how do you react?
I have read many forums and all talking about me - some love me, some hate me. Come on, Edison also a lot people like and hate him right? I'm kinda like him, just without those nude photos...


12) Are you happy with who you are and have now? (As in your weight now and your achievements as a blogger)
I'm kinda like 125kg right now, and of course I should be happy, like what Robbin William said, " Laughter is the best medicine". And I am happy, but I'll be happier to be slimmer
and I have friends who like me, and I like them too. I'm not that douchebag who goes around changing friends all the time.

13) What cultivates your compulsive eating habit? Is it stress or were you pampered with food since young?
Hmmmmm, I guess I'm greedy sometimes, but I've been changing my habit for the past few months; seems to look better in photos. In fact, I have been doing a photo-a-day project for the past 200 days, and believe me, my chin looks smaller than the first few days of my photos.

14) Are you embarrassed to approach a girl because of your size?
If it's a girl I've never met before, I would be shy till someone introduces her to me. I do have girl-friends.

15) Does your parents know about your famous blog? If yes, what did they think about it?
I'm famous? You might wanna ask my parents. I keep everything secret you see; not sure if they do know.

16) Do you think Singapore lacks bloggers who serve as good role models for the youngsters?
Nah, with me around there's no lacking. Everyone should follow me as a role model.

17) If you are given a chance to meet someone now, who would it be and why?
SR Nathan! Because I've never met him in real life!