Raymond, a man who does the same dance at different MRTs, has taken TikTok SG by storm

You know one of those things on Tik Tok where you can’t quite explain how or why it became viral? And before you know it, it is everywhere and everyone is doing it.

Yeah, this is one of them. We can’t quite put our finger on it, but what we do know is that it is pretty wholesome, and we’ll do our best to walk you through it.

@raymondl88

Thanks for meeting. Be happy #MRT @lilys455

♬ 百年孤寂 – 184 諺

Raymond, whose videos gave garnered more than 100,000 likes on Tik Tok, is a man of a few words. He has many videos, but only a few captions. His captions are usually one of the three following things:-

a) Thanks for meeting. Be happy.

b) In one hundred, is lonely. Thanks for meeting.

c) Farewell my concubine《霸王别姬》Thanks for meeting

As you can see, Raymond is always courteous. He is, also, as his captions and videos evidence, a creature of habit. He does the same 10 second dance, consisting of simple dance steps that any of us can do, at different MRT stations around Singapore. He also usually spots the same red or yellow polo tee.

He usually dances to this Chinese song (原聲) but he does mix it up sometime with Eruption’s timeless classic “One Way Ticket” (the latter also comes with a simple 10-second dance).

@raymondl88

Thanks for meeting be happy #merlionpark @lilys455 @dianeeey

♬ 百年孤寂 – 184 諺

As far as we can tell, he has been doing this at least from February 2022. And sometime around the end of April 2022, his videos blew up. The first video at the top of this article attracted almost 400,000 views at press time.

@raymondl88

Thanks for meeting @lilys455 #MRT @ㅤ

♬ 百年孤寂 – 184 諺

His Forrest Gump-like simplicity and endearing character has won him many fans on Tik Tok. Many of his supporters often ask him to make an appearance at a various MRT station, presumably in the hopes of bumping into this legend (like the kids in the video above).

When other TikTok influencers started doing Raymond’s dance, that was when his fame skyrocketed. Some of the early adopters included Nadia, Djin, and Maddie from SGAG. The trio thanked Raymond for “bringing more life to the MRTs!!”

@nodioooo

Thanks for meeting. Be happy #MRT @raymondl88 @djintoh @poisonmochi #fyp #foryoupage #tiktoksg

♬ 百年孤寂 – 184 諺

Up next, we had Simon Boy, who performed the dance in front of a bus stop. He may have missed his bus in the midst of his dedication to the craft as a bus (the bus stop only has 1 bus) could be seen approaching the bus-stop as the video cuts off. Simon’s video garnered more than 200,000 views.

@simonboyyyyyyy

thanks for meeting, be happy. @raymondl88 #teamsimonboy

♬ 百年孤寂 – 184 諺

Influencers like Royce Lee, Buff Baby, Ian Jeevan, and Kel Tan got in on the action too. True to form, all of them expressed gratitude for meeting and passed on Raymond’s mantra of “Be Happy”.

@buffbaby88

thank you for meeting me. have a good life 💕 @kelkeltan @ianjeevan @theroycelee

♬ 百年孤寂 – 184 諺

@kelkeltan

Where to meet that uncle?

♬ 百年孤寂 – 184 諺

SG Troller, also known as Charlene Oh, had a funny take on Raymond’s dance. She said that Raymond was doing “God’s work”. In her comments section, she seemed to agree to dancing at the MRT, but only on the condition that Raymond is there too.

@sgtroller

👴🏻doing God’s work

♬ 百年孤寂 – 184 諺

If you would like to see more people trying out Raymond’s dance, do scroll through the videos using this audio. A large proportion of videos with the audio relate to Raymond. If you’re wondering what the lyrics mean, this duo have helpfully translated the lyrics for us:-

“A hundred years ago

You are not you

I am not me

Sorrow is real, tears are fake”

@chinese_hackers

Thanks for meeting. Be happy #tiktoksg #fyp

♬ 百年孤寂 – 184 諺

There are a couple of videos that may offer us a glimpse of what Raymond is like when he is not dancing. As Simonboy noted, “Raymond got a pinned video in his tiktok showing him starting a dance but ended up helping to hold an old uncle up the bus. That particular video show the true side of Raymond.
Raymond is the best!”

@raymondl88

This old man is very respectable, he said to me: Thank you, I can do it myself. #thebusstop @lilys455

♬ 原声 – Raymond – Uncle Raymond

Is there some modicum of meaning to all of this? Is there some meaning to life? Well, we’ll leave you with Raymond’s wisdom.

Thanks for reading. Be happy.

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