Novita Lam
Novita Lam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1994 |
| Education | Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration (Hons) |
| Alma mater | National University of Singapore |
Novita Lam (born in 1994) is an Indonesian born Chinese residing in Singapore. She was working in Citibank and Bank of Singapore before joining AWST as Head of Partnerships & Ecosystem.[1] She is best known for being a beauty and lifestyle influencer who currently has over 441k followers on Instagram and 129.6k followers on TikTok, as of March 2026.[2][3]
Background
Personal life & family
Novita Lam was born in 1994 to Indonesian-Chinese parents and has a brother and older sister, Heinrich and Stephanie Lam.[4][5] As part of the 放个大招给你看 (translates to Let Me Show You A Big Move) trend on TikTok, she also revealed her mandarin name, 林竹意.[6]
Education
Novita had been enrolled at the National University of Singapore (NUS) from between 2013 and 2017.[1] During this time, she was often involved in Summer and Exchange programs at overseas institutions like Fudan University, HEC Paris, and Imperial College Business School.[1]
In 2018, she officially graduated from NUS with a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A), Finance (hons).[1]
Career
Social media influencer (Present)
Novita Lam is active on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, where she often posts aesthetic photos of her travels across the globe. She also shares beauty tips and products, as well as her fitness journey.[2] Currently, she has amassed over 441k followers on Instagram and 129.6k followers on TikTok.[2][3]
Paid partnerships
She is often seen to participate in advertisements and paid partnerships with both local and international brands, including Shopee, Lazada, and Pocari Sweat.[7][8][9] In fact, other than her day-to-day TikToks, many of her partnerships on the platform have gone viral. As of March 2026, her post for Lendela managed to rack up over 4M views.[10]
Making the news for her trip to Germany during the Covid-19 Pandemic (October 2, 2021)
On 2 October 2021, local newspaper The Straits Times published an article on the Singapore-Germany Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) Scheme.[11] Novita Lam had been interviewed and featured as one of the members of the first tour group from Singapore to leave for Germany, which had departed on 22 September in the same year. Her group was among the first in not just Singapore, but also Asia to travel in Germany since the Pandemic.
Speaking to The Straits Times, she spoke of her first overseas trip in a while and commented that there were “fewer people crowding the streets and squares than in Singapore”.[11]
“The step towards normality feels reassuring."[11]
- Novita Lam on the reopening of borders during the Pandemic.
Banker (2018 to 2020)
Novita worked as a full-time banker with Citibank Singapore from January 2018 to September 2020.[1] She has continued to post TikToks of her work every now and then, which appears to be in a corporate environment. However, it is unclear whether she has since taken on a similar role at a different company.
Product Marketing Intern (2017)
During her penultimate year at NUS, Novita became a Product Marketing Intern at the Bank of Singapore.[1]
Business analyst (2015 to 2016)
During her exchange at Fudan University, Novita took up the role of Business Analyst at 6e Digital from August 2015 to July 2016.[1]
Newsworthy incidents
Her viral controversial Instagram post (March 2026)
On 3 March 2026, Lam faced significant backlash after posting a pun on her Instagram and TikTok, which many netizens deemed insensitive given the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.[12][13]
The video in question showed Lam jogging in the Marina Bay area, with her Strava stats displayed on screen. The caption read:[12][13]
"Iran this, Israel that. IRAN 10km and the pain ISREAL"
The caption was a play on words that used the names of Iran and Israel to highlight the demanding nature of her exercise.[12][13]
Public backlash
With both Iran and Israel currently locked in an escalating conflict, many netizens felt that the timing of the post was highly inappropriate.[12][13] While both posts were quickly deleted, numerous screenshots had already surfaced online.[12][13]
Lam faced criticism directly on her TikTok account, with many commenting on her lack of self-awareness given the gravity of the situation. As the backlash grew, Lam turned off the comments on some of her TikTok videos.[12][13]
A Reddit thread titled “Influencer Novita Lam with a disgusting Instagram story that has been taken down quickly” pointed out that Singaporeans could be affected by the conflict, as the Singapore government had issued travel advisories to the Middle East due to the escalating situation. The thread further highlighted how the use of such a serious issue for a pun was seen as tone-deaf.[12][13]
However, not all netizens were critical of Lam's post. Some felt that those who were offended by her pun were overreacting to what they viewed as harmless wordplay.[12][13] Additionally, some commenters, apparently inspired by what they saw as her "wit," even contributed their own country-related puns in response to the controversy.[12][13]
Lam's apology
Lam subsequently posted an apology on her Instagram story, where she sincerely apologized for her "insensitive and hurtful" post. Lam also added:[12][13]
"I removed it as soon as I realised my mistake."
This incident was reported by multiple outlets, including AsiaOne, STOMP, and MustShareNews.[12][13]
References / Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Lam, Novita. “Novita Lam”. LinkedIn. n.d. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lam, Novita. “novitalam”. Instagram. n.d. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lam, Novita. “novita.lam”. TikTok. n.d. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ Lam, Heinrich. “heinrichlam”. Instagram. n.d. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ Lam, Stephanie. “stephielam09”. Instagram. n.d. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ Lam, Novita. “novita.lam”. TikTok. November 25, 2021. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ Lam, Novita. “novitalam”. Instagram. December 7, 2020. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ Lam, Novita. “novitalam”. Instagram. May 26, 2020. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ Lam, Novita. “novitalam”. Instagram. June 3, 2020. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ Lam, Novita. “@novita.lam” TikTok, 23 August, 2023. Accessed 4 March 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Wortz, Tilman. “Over 1,000 people have travelled under S'pore-Germany Vaccinated Travel Lane scheme”. The Straits Times. October 2, 2021. Accessed 29 July 2022.
- ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 Sidin, Nurshahiylia. “S'pore influencer Novita Lam's ‘Iran this, Israel that’ pun sparks backlash, she apologises” Mothership, 4 March, 2026. Accessed 4 March 2026.
- ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 Lian, Gerome. "S'pore influencer posts apology after backlash over pun using names of Iran & Israel on social media." MustShareNews, 4 March, 2026. Accessed 4 March 2026.