Nas Daily says first night in S'pore in 2014 scared him, brushes off petition banning him from moving here

Serafina-annemarie Basciano
The New Paper
March 25, 2019

The first time popular travel vlogger, Nas Daily, 27, was in Singapore in 2014, he was frightened by the many posters warning people about dengue fever.

Equating it with malaria, the vlogger, whose real name is Nuseir Yassin, was afraid of contracting the disease and wondered why he was in the country. But he decided to explore Singapore the next day and fell in love with its friendly people and vibrant culture.

Mr Yassin has been back several times since. He loves Singapore so much, he and his girlfriend will be moving here on April 15 from Israel to run their content-making business.

He was last here in August last year and has been travelling the world since 2016.

He visited between 55 and 60 countries in 1,000 days and posted a one-minute video every day on Facebook.

Last Thursday, he told The New Paper it was time to begin the next phase and focus on growing his company.

He said: "Singapore has a good environment for business. It offers clear guidelines on how to set up and build a business."

On his first visit here in 2014, before he created Nas Daily on Facebook, he was on a one-day layover and had landed at 11pm.

When he arrived at the hostel, he found it closed and spent the night on the roof of the building.

He said: "It was so hot and there were dengue signs everywhere, which made me so scared. It was not until the next morning, seeing the craziness and vibrancy of the city, that I decided this was the place I need to give a shot."

It was when he created Nas Daily, which now has more than 12 million followers, that he saw the business opportunities the country had to offer.

He said: "I have to do what is right for the business and right now my focus is work, work, work. I really value the good living conditions and the friendliness of the people, and also the fact that Singapore is near many places where I enjoy making content and want to visit again."

Mr Yassin announced his move in an Instagram post on Wednesday that racked up more than 120,000 likes. Many Singaporeans welcomed him.

One Instagram user said: "I think most Singaporeans will be really proud that a well-travelled guy like you... has chosen to settle down here. Thanks for the vote of confidence in this country I call home."

But some people started a petition to "ban Nas Daily from entering Singapore".

Mr Yassin brushed it off: "I don't think about it. It is a small percentage compared to the 120,000. I won't focus on it until it gets 100,000 signatures."

He had one message for Singaporeans: "Let's make videos!"