Malaysian YouTuber & influencer Harvinth Skin has found himself in the center of yet another social media storm for crowd-sourcing donations just so he could afford to a pair of Nike Yeezy 2 that costs RM 24,000.
On 24th May, the influencer had posted to his 136,000 followers on Instagram requesting for donations of RM1 from each of them in order to afford the shoes.
In an exclusive phone interview with Fly’s AM Mayhem Monday morning, Harvinth broke down the full story behind #OurShoe.
“I’ve always had this idea of each person giving my RM1, then I would get more than RM100,000 if each of my followers donated because that is what all the international gaming streamers would do. “
I don’t know whether to be impressed or dumbfound with Malaysian “influencers” and their fans. Harvinthskin really be out here posting his bank acc and asking fans to donate 1 ringgit per person to help him get a RM 24,000. Best part is people actually be sending him money .
— Dash (@Dash_Darsh) May 24, 2019
Harvinth’s actions quickly gained a lot of traction online – by many Malaysians who accused him of misusing his influence for personal gain, and such large amounts of money should be channelled to the needy instead.
Those who donated RM1 to Harvinthskin are really the dumbest ppl anyone will ever know. Donations are for the needy not for the greedy.
— PORSCHE™ (@SPorchelvan) May 25, 2019
our earth is 12 years from irreversible damage but yall out here donating money for harvinth skin to get his 24k shoes which he absolutely doesn’t need. @harvinthskin if you can use your platform for this, imagine the positive impact u can use to change this world.
— ᵇᵃᵈ ᵇⁱᵗᶜʰ (@AAZELIAAAA) May 25, 2019
Harvinth added, “My intentions were pure and my fans who donated to me they wanted to donate to me. What is the wrong in it?”
Some Malaysians do agree with him that donations are a private matter, and the donor has the right to pick who they chose to donate to.
I really don’t understand why people are so pissed with @harvinthskin I mean, say a famous celebrity gets tonnes of fan mail and gifts, no one is gonna say anything about it.But in his case it’s literally RM1. His fans, their problem la. No one force you to donate pun?
— SUJITHA (@sujibiscuit) May 26, 2019
Marketing genius by @harvinthskin , respect man. To all the hate tweets who were sooo fast to judge? If people send money from their own pocket, what’s the issue?
— Hollow Watermelon (@VaishMxx) May 27, 2019
Harvinth then released a video last night on YouTube, documenting his journey from Friday which ends with him using the RM1500 he collected to purchase 30 sets of shoes for orphans instead.
Do you agree with his actions? Listen to the full interview below: