Sneaky Sushii (Singapore YouTuber)

Sneaky Sushii is a Singaporean YouTuber and content creator.[1] As of August 2020, he has over 60,000 subscribers on YouTube and over 15,000 followers on Instagram. He gained attention in July 2019 for his debut video, which criticised fellow local YouTubers such as Night Owl Cinematics (NOC), JianHao Tan and Wah!Banana.[2][3]

Sneaky Sushii
Sneaky Sushii 2020.png
EducationDiploma in Film, Sound and Video
Alma materNgee Ann Polytechnic

Background

Education

The second-born of three children,[4] Sneaky Sushii completed his pre-university studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.[5] He graduated with a diploma in Film, Sound & Video from the School of Film & Media Studies.[6] He then attended university to pursue a degree in filmmaking but left the course after one and a half years.[7]

 
(Left) Sneaky Sushii pictured during his younger years in school. Photo from YouTube.

Dropping out of university

According to Sneaky Sushii, he enrolled into Nanyang Technological University around 2014, where he studied filmmaking at the School of Arts, Design and Media.[8] However, he dropped out after a year and a half and spoke about his decision on his channel:

“The thing about filmmaking is that you don’t really need a certificate to advance in your career. It’s not like becoming a lawyer or a doctor where a degree is actually beneficial for your career. That’s my story, and that’s why I decided to drop out. Because I didn’t see the value in taking four years and spending so much money to get a degree in something that I can basically learn from YouTube.”[9]

YouTube

Sneaky Sushii (2019 - present) - Content Creator

Sneaky Sushii established his YouTube channel on 4 July 2019.[10] As of August 2020, Sneaky Sushii has uploaded over 60 videos on his channel and garnered over four million views. His content is comedic and satirical, mainly focusing on controversial incidents happening in Singapore. Of his videos, 'Singapore's Cringiest TikToks...(i died)'[11] and 'XMMs Have Gone Too Far'[12] are the most popular with over 300,000 views each.

 
The thumbnail for one of Sneaky Sushii's best performing videos as of August 2020. Photo from YouTube.

Controversy with local YouTubers

In July of 2019, Sneaky Sushii made his debut with “How Not To Be A Singaporean YouTuber”.[13][14] It was a satirical video about the tendencies that popular Singaporean YouTubers have when making their videos and how they are repetitive in their concepts.[15] In the video, he included photos taken from Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) and Wah!Banana videos, among others. This prompted NOC to launch a copyright claim against him, which caused his video to be taken down from YouTube.[16] In an interview with Mothership, he said:

“I’m not hating on the people who run the channels, the content they produce just don’t (sic) appeal to me. So I thought I’d make a video on how I feel about the whole “Youtube scene” here in Singapore.”[17]

Sushii Films - Fortnite Movies (2018 - 2019) - Content Creator

 
The thumbnail for Sushii Films' most viewed video with over eight million views. Photo from YouTube.

Sneaky Sushii is also the owner of Sushii Films, a YouTube channel dedicated to Fortnite short films. He created the channel on 6 July 2018, after closing down his online clothing business.[18] The videos on Sushii Films were well received, with each video receiving an average of 200,000 views.[19] His most popular video has received over eight million views as of August 2020.[20] At the time of writing, the channel has 345,000 subscribers.[21] He stopped uploading videos on Sushii Films in end-May 2019,[22] before starting Sneaky Sushii about a month later.[23]

Entrepreneurship

Online clothing store - Founder

Before starting YouTube, Sneaky Sushii was the founder of an online clothing business. He opened the store during his university gap year and eventually extended his gap year to continue operating the store. Despite the success of his business, he eventually closed it down. He says:

“It just felt very transactional. It just felt empty. Like, it didn’t fully resonated (sic) with me. I mean hey, I love money man. But I think at this point I started to value my happiness and fulfilment more than earning money.”[24]

References/ Citations

  1. Sneaky Sushii. YouTube. n.d. Accessed on 14 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbWZP5Fuvq1WzD1u-yTwyIw
  2. Sneaky Sushii. “HOW NOT TO BE A SINGAPOREAN YOUTUBER”. Facebook. July 5, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  3. Wong, Pei Ting and Ong, Lauren. “The Big Read: Power, fame and fortune - a glimpse into Singapore’s lucrative YouTube industry”. Channel News Asia. January 13, 2020. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  4. Sneaky Sushii. “I'm Dating A Fan”. YouTube. June 21, 2020. Accessed on 18 August 2020.
  5. Sneaky Sushii. “How I Dropped Out Of School for YOUTUBE”. YouTube. October 28, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  6. School of Film & Media Studies”. Ngee Ann Polytechnic. n.d. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  7. Sneaky Sushii. “How I Dropped Out Of School for YOUTUBE”. YouTube. October 28, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  8. Undergraduate”. Nanyang Technological University. n.d. Accessed 14 August, 2020.
  9. Sneaky Sushii. “How I Dropped Out Of School for YOUTUBE”. YouTube. October 28, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  10. Sneaky Sushii. YouTube. n.d. Accessed on 14 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/c/SneakySushii/about
  11. Sneaky Sushii. "SINGAPORE'S CRINGIEST TIKTOKS... (i died)". YouTube. August 14, 2019. Accessed on 18 August 2020.
  12. Sneaky Sushii. "XMMS HAVE GONE TOO FAR". YouTube. April 3, 2020. Accessed on 18 August 2020.
  13. Sneaky Sushii. “HOW NOT TO BE A SINGAPOREAN YOUTUBER”. Facebook. July 5, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  14. SUSHII. Instagram. July 5, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/p/BziBcMPnqrp/
  15. Chen, Dennis. “Why Do Some Singaporeans Refuse to Watch Singaporean YouTube?”. Rice Media. August 4, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  16. Wong, Pei Ting and Ong, Lauren. “The Big Read: Power, fame and fortune - a glimpse into Singapore’s lucrative YouTube industry”. Channel News Asia. January 13, 2020. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  17. Thet, Nyi Nyi. “Man makes hilarious video showing 3 things popular S'porean YouTubers do for views”. Mothership. July 7, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  18. Sneaky Sushii. “How I Dropped Out Of School for YOUTUBE”. YouTube. October 28, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020.
  19. Sushii Films - Fortnite Movies. YouTube. n.d. Accessed on 17 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/c/SushiiFilms/videos
  20. Sushii Films - Fortnite Movies. “MORE THAN JUST FRIENDS…| A Fortnite Movie”. YouTube. April 1, 2019. Accessed on 17 August 2020.
  21. Sushii Films - Fortnite Movies.YouTube. n.d. Accessed on 17 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/c/SushiiFilms/about
  22. Sushii Films - Fortnite Movies. "THE NOOB WHO FOUND A FRIEND... | A Fortnite Movie". YouTube. May 29, 2019. Accessed on 18 August 2020.
  23. Sneaky Sushii. YouTube. n.d. Accessed on 14 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/c/SneakySushii/about
  24. Sneaky Sushii. “How I Dropped Out Of School for YOUTUBE”. YouTube. October 28, 2019. Accessed on 14 August 2020.