S’porean Tutor Accused Of Copying Local Influencer’s Ideas, She Says Designs Are From Canva

Tutor Accused Of Copying Singapore Influencer’s Business Concepts On 8 Nov

In a growing and competitive creative industry, issues of plagiarism are serious.

Recently, local tutor Denise Soong was called out for allegedly copying another Singaporean influencer’s ideas, such as the logo for their businesses, among other accusations.

In response, she posted a lengthy explanation on her TikTok account addressing the allegations, saying the logo designs were from Canva.

The tutor also explained that she was in the process of clarifying the issue with the influencer.

TikTok user accuses tutor of copying Singapore influencer’s ideas

On 8 Nov, user @elliebabana posted a video on TikTok about the similarities between the tutor and the influencer @sugaresque, also known as Brooke Lim.

Brooke became known on the platform after she started her own tutoring business at 18 years old, inspiring many young teens.

In the video, the user accused the tutor, Denise Soong, of copying Brooke’s content and pointed out some similarities between them.

Firstly, the user claimed Ms Soong had copied Ms Lim’s idea of booking a cinema for their students to watch a movie after their exams. They noted that the latter had done so three months before Ms Soong did.

Next, they compared their logos, saying the similarities were “glaringly obvious”.

Lastly, they alleged that Ms Soong plagiarised the idea of a free online learning platform for students, and that the copywriting on the websites was alike.

Finally, the user concluded by saying the apparent similarities were “unethical and embarrassing”.

Tutor addresses allegations copying influencer’s ideas

In response, Ms Soong posted a video addressing the situation on 13 Nov, a week after the accusations were made.

First, she talked about the allegation that she copied the idea for the movie night.

Ms Soong explained that the movie night was a reward and a treat for her students who ended their exams. Due to the pandemic, there was only a limited number of activities she could conduct with a large number of people.

Thus, she said a movie was the most “logical option”, and that many tuition centres have done the same.

Next, she addressed the claims of the plagiarised logo. Ms Soong revealed the logo was designed on Canva using preset templates, showing the original mock-up they used.

She stated that they simply changed the font and icons, pointing out that other elements such as the curved text were already in the mockup.

Then, she told viewers to look at the designs on Canva for themselves, saying that many had “the same look and feel”.

Lastly, regarding the website copywriting, Ms Soong admitted that she did see the similarities. To this, she apologised to Brooke and her team.

Before addressing the issue, she provided context for viewers — an intern was managing most of the administrative matters, such as social media and website registration.

Denise justified this by saying that she wanted to focus more on planning classes and materials instead.

However, she also recognised that it was her mistake to approve the designs and only realised it after.

The intern later approached her, confessing that most of her work was inspired by Brooke’s concept.

Denise then discovered the intern had signed up for Brooke’s classes, using information she learned there as reference.

She also shared that her free online resources dated back to 2021, saying that it was industry standard.

Reached out to Singaporean influencer

Following the confession, she immediately contacted Brooke’s team, wanting to clear the air.

While they agreed, they did not reply to Denise’s request for a phone call for about a day. During that time, the user posted the accusations against her on TikTok.

Denise revealed that she was facing much pressure at the time, but decided not to respond publicly.

She ended the video by saying that she felt regretful for the incident, and that staying quiet would “do no good at all”.

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Featured image adapted from @denisesoongeelyn on TikTok.