Jakarta –
Fan Xiaoqinlook-alike boy Jack Ma until it is called ‘Little Jack Ma’ is again the subject of conversation on Chinese social media. Because the video showing Fan begging on the street suddenly went viral.
In a video recorded at the end of 2022 and which has just gone viral, Fan is seen stopping a car in the middle of a busy street in Yongfeng, Jiangxi Province, China.
In another video, a man in a car points his camera at Fan and taunts her: “Look, Little Jack Ma begging money from me on the street.”
Local government officials said Fan was ordered to beg by members of his family. Fan, who is 15 years old and intellectually challenged, doesn’t understand what he’s doing.
But according to another government employee, the Fan family does not experience financial difficulties because they receive a monthly government assistance of 2,400 Yuan or around Rp. 5.2 million.
On January 17, Fan’s cousin, Huang Xinlong, apologized via a video posted on Douyin. In the video, Huang says Fan was tricked by other kids while he was on a business trip and couldn’t look after him.
Huang said Fan’s parents couldn’t take care of him and his brother. His father lost his right leg amputated due to a venomous snake bite, while his mother had eye problems and intellectual disabilities.
The first fan went viral and was known as ‘Little Jack Ma’ after Huang uploaded the photo on social media in 2015. The photo went viral until Jack Ma himself re-uploaded it on his Weibo account saying it was like looking in a mirror.
In 2017, Fan was contracted by an agency to become an internet celebrity. He was given a luxury apartment in Hebei Province complete with a nurse, and was sent to a local school.
Despite being sent to school, Fan reportedly rarely paid attention to class and never took exams. He then returned to his hometown after his contract expired in 2021.
Viral video Jack Ma small begging instantly made Chinese netizens furious. They questioned why his family and the entertainment industry are still exploiting the boy.
“He is a very pitiful child, whose life was ruined by his family and greedy capitalists,” said one netizen on Weibo, as quoted by the South China Morning Post, Thursday (25/1/2023).
“Why call him ‘Little Jack Ma’? Just call him ‘Fan Xiaoqin’,” said another netizen who pointed out that the nickname was a form of exploitation.
Watch Video “Jack Ma Finally Speaks, Discusses the Fate of Teachers and the Pandemic“
[Gambas:Video 20detik]
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