Many Question the Selection of Chinese Actress Fan Bingbing as Melaka Tourism Ambassador

Source: X 

The actress from “The 355” has been appointed as the tourism ambassador for Melaka to promote Visit Melaka 2024 starting from June 15th.

Recently, renowned Chinese actress Fan Bingbing was appointed as the tourism ambassador for the state of Melaka. To elevate the state’s name on a global level, Fan is scheduled to start promoting Visit Melaka 2024 beginning June 15th.

This announcement was made by Melaka Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh through an Instagram post, where he shared his meeting with Fan’s representative to detail the upcoming visit.

The announcement quickly went viral on X (formerly Twitter), sparking various reactions from the public regarding the appointment.

Fan Bingbing Previously Involved in Tax Evasion Case

Influencer Ceddy shared his thoughts on X, expressing his surprise at the ministry’s decision to appoint Fan Bingbing as Melaka’s tourism ambassador.

He pointed out that it was puzzling since Fan was previously banned in her home country due to a tax evasion scandal in 2018. She was reported to have avoided paying a significant amount of taxes, which was exposed by the government.

The actress from “The 355” disappeared for a while during that year as Chinese authorities investigated her. According to the BBC, she was fined around $129 million (approximately RM593,388,983.57) for tax evasion and other offenses.

“Does she still have influence here? I think so because many people admire Fan for her beauty and her roles in major shows before. Maybe locals will say, ‘Omg, this (Melaka) is where Fan Bingbing ate before.’ But it’s unclear how Chinese tourists will feel about this,” Ceddy remarked.

Netizens Believe There Are More Suitable Candidates

Scrolling through the comments, many netizens suggested there were better candidates for the role of Melaka’s tourism ambassador.

“I think if Lin Dan was chosen as the ambassador, the Chinese would be more pleased. Despite his past cheating scandal, overall, people in China still admire and like him,” said one man.

Some wondered if the authorities were aware of Fan’s past issues from 2018.

“As soon as I saw this news, I thought, do they not know that Fan Bingbing has a problematic history?” questioned one woman.

Meanwhile, many felt that selecting Fan Bingbing as the ambassador was not the best decision, arguing that the ministry should have chosen a local Chinese citizen instead.

“If you want a Chinese ambassador, why not pick our own citizens?” asked one X user.

However, there were also some who expressed excitement about Fan’s appointment.

The reasoning behind appointing her as an ambassador in hopes to get tourists from China is bizarre because she is banned by China due to a major tax evasion scandal in 2018. Basically she was reporting lower earnings and evaded significant amount of taxes and kantoi by the gov.… https://t.co/dhDiaEgfw9

— Ceddy (@CeddyOrNot) May 29, 2024

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