Local actress Oon Shu An’s open letter to Anton Casey goes viral

The fall out against Anton Casey continues and amid this, an open letter to the British expat who has now fled Singapore has gone viral.

Penned by actress and television host, Oon Shu An, 27, and published on Facebook on Saturday, the letter explained to Casey why these “poor people smell”, a reference to Casey's "poor people" Facebook post earlier this week.

“Poor people stink because they run ten times as fast to earn in a lifetime what you earn in a month… Poor people smell. And it’s the smell of a fight,” said the actress, who has been acting since she was 14.

The 27-year-old Fly Entertainment artiste's letter has been shared over 400 times and garnered over 200 Likes as of Sunday. It has also received a string of praises from other Facebook users.

Oon, who appeared in local movie Becoming Royston, then turned the table around and said the rich expat — who lost his job as a private wealth manager and packed his bags and left for Perth with his family on Friday -- had a stench too.

“You stink, like the rich people who think of ways not to change the system that allows people to be paid less than minimum wage, [the system] that allows contracts that terminate you for bogus reasons because it’s cheaper to get someone else.”

Here is her open letter in full:

"So he got fired, and he's left the country. But I still felt like I wanted to say this to him.

Dear Mr Anton Casey,

Im sure you are having a hard time right now. I cant tell if it is actually affecting you. I doubt it. I think you are sorry... That people found out... maybe.

Anyway, i just wanted to tell you... That you are right. A lot of poor people -do- smell. And you know why they smell? Some people actually cannot afford soap. Some people haven't been taught hygeine. Some people cant afford deodorants or fancy perfumes. Some people work in the sun the whole day but get paid so little that ten cent fare hikes make a difference. Some people work behind fast food counters for such long hours until the smell of french fries stick to them and the smell refuses to leave, refuses to be scrubbed off, to feed other poor people who saved enough to bring their families for a little treat of meat that isnt even real meat, of food that claims to be cheap, fast and good when -we know- that of this holy trinity, u can only buy two, and maybe, the illusion of the third. This fast food, is their good food. because the "good food" has been priced out of their reach.

Poor people stink because they run ten times as fast to earn in a lifetime what you earn in a month.

So yes. Poor people smell. And its the smell of a fight. You. You. Have a different kind of stink.

The stink of entitlement. The stink of a rich person who thinks his money should buy him respect. Who thinks that his money is a result of his hardwork. And only his hardwork. Nothing to do with his race, with his birthplace, what he was born with, with his parents, with his education, with people that believed in him. None of those things. His hardwork, and only his hardwork, brought him his money, and therefore, he has earned it.
You stink, like the rich people who think of ways not to change the system that allows people to be paid less than minimum wage, that allows contracts that terminate you for bogus reasons because its cheaper to get someone else. Thank you for your years of service. But we will be letting you go. You stink like the rich people who only want to game the system. Which is fine, to each his own. But then they turn around and piss on the people who make their world run.

Mr Casey, Id rather be on the train."

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